The Vagus Nerve and 5 Ways to Tone It

Self-Regulation

Presented by Ashley Turner (source)

The Vagus Nerve

Also known as the “Wandering Nerve”
- Connects to most vital organs
  - From the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen
  - Carries information from the gut, liver, heart and lungs to the brain
- Mediator of our parasympathetic (rest & digest) response
- Influences breathing, digestion and heart rate
  - Sends message to slow down heart rate
    - Releases: acetylcholine (a calming chemical)
Listen to: Polyvagal Theory with Dr. Stephen Porges to learn more about the different branches of the vagus

5 Ways to Tone the Vagus Nerve

Deep Belly Breathing: lengthen the inhale + exhale; calms, tones + soothes the vagus nerve
- e.g., Meditation 🧘🏾‍♀️

photo of woman singing — Photo by White Gold Photography

Chanting: singing or chanting are great ways to tone the vagus nerve
- e.g., Singing songs from your favourite Spotify playlist 🎵
Spinal Flexion: massages the vagus nerve
- e.g., Yoga (cat/cow, seated spinal movements) 🌸
Belly Laughing: increases circulation, blood flow, tones diagram + strengthens the vagus nerve
- e.g., Watch comedies 😂
Splash Face: tones your vagus nerve in the morning and resets/wakes up your nervous system
- e.g., Splash face and eyes in the morning with cool water 💦

Why Tone the Vagus Nerve?

Decreases stress and anxiety (activates rest & digest system)
Deepens breathing
Lowers heart rate and increases circulation in the body
Opens emotional capacity (feeling grounded and lighter)

Ready to get started?

Vagus Nerve: Breathing for Relaxation

Spotify – Summer Hits Playlist

Cat-Cow Yoga Pose – Yoga With Adriene

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This website is provided only for informational purposes and not intended to be used to replace professional advice, treatment or professional care. Always speak to your physician, healthcare provider or pediatrician if you have concerns about your own health or the health of a child.

Five Stress Healing Solutions

Health & Lifestyle, Self-Regulation

Presented by Proven

Yoga

Four major researched components of yoga:
- Posture and Exercise
- Pranayama: breathing practices (long, slow, deep breathing)
- Relaxation
- Contemplative: meditative focus of attention
An effective way to boost mood and achieve emotional wellness
Yoga helps you to pay attention and become aware of your body and thoughts
See: The Science of Yoga

Herbs, Adaptogens & Supplements

Ashwagandha
- An adaptogens that helps the body “adapt” to stressors
- Studies have shown:
  - Reduction in anxiety
  - Reduction in cortisol levels
  - Helpful with weight
    - Increases feelings of satiety (feeling full)
    - Decrease in stress eating
- See: Let’s Talk Adaptogens!

Mindfulness Practice

Jon Kabat-Zinn Teaches Mindfulness and Meditation

The practice of bringing full awareness to the present moment (e.g., meditation)
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
- Consists of doing a body scan (brings you to the present)
Mindfulness Self-Compassion
- How to be more compassionate, loving and kind towards self
- Being a better human being starts with you!
See: The Foundation of Mindfulness Practice

Qigong

An ancient Chinese exercise and healing technique
Qi = energy
Internal & external energy work
Deep stances that build up quads and glutes
Can increase the powerhouses of energy in the body
Want more energy? Build up the big muscles in your body
The coordination of eyes, mind, body, breath
- Activates the brain
- Attention turns inward
- Awareness of what is happening inside the body
- Can modulate and control the parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous system

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

How to Tap – with Nick Ortner of The Tapping Solution

Originated by Nicolas Ortner (CEO of The Tapping Solution)
Tapping on end points of meridian on the body to calm body and release stress and overwhelm (example)
- Meridians on the body:
  - Pathways in which qi (our energy) flows
  - When there’s pain there’s a blockage of qi
  - Meridians connect all of the organs and qi flow
Tapping on end points sends a calming signal to counteract fear responses from the amygdala

What are your stress healing solutions?

WEBSITE DISCLAIMER

The Science of Yoga

Health & Lifestyle

Produced by Uplift TV (source)

Four Components of Yoga

Physical
- Postures, stretches, exercises, movements, breathing and relaxation techniques
- Affects our body’s overall functioning
Self-Regulation
- Ability to control internal stress and emotional responses
- Leads to resilience to stress, self-efficacy and equanimity in the face of emotions
Mind-Body Awareness
- Feeling and experiencing what’s going on in the body and mind (being able to observe the flow of thought)
- Leads to increased mindfulness that can change behaviours in a positive way
Experiencing Deeper States
- Spiritual, transformative, leads to positive lifestyle and goals, improves and enhances life meaning and purpose

Benefits of Yoga

Research has shown measures of reduction in:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Psychological distress
- Frequency of negative experiences
Increase in resiliency and the frequency of positive experiences
Improvement in mental health
Creates much needed space in the body and mind
Establishes connections by moving energy through the body
Yoga stretches the body; meditation empties the mind
Enables management of the stress response system

Breathing

Breath is the most powerful tool that everyone has to bring their stress response under their control
It’s possible to reduce blood pressure by controlling breathing
Blood pressure is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (the messenger of the stress response)
Postures in yoga creates challenge that our mind is constantly dealing with; this can be controlled through breathing
Breathing + effort of regulating thought enhance parasympathetic nervous signal and brings sympathetic nervous signal down
Breathing can be practiced within yoga and in daily life

Mind & Brain

Yoga strengthens the power of the mind and how we connect with the world
The mind controls our health and biology
1% of illness is related to genes; 90% of illness is related to stress
Yoga brings the mind into focus and can change brain activity and structure (such as plasticity, resulting in the brain becoming conducive to the benefits that come with yoga and meditation)
Can change and enhance gene activity that’s good for you (improved immune response); down-regulates negative gene activity when under chronic stress (inflammation)

Barriers to Moving Yoga Forward

Perception and misconceptions about yoga, often created by the media:
- Yoga viewed as complex exercise forms and postures; requires you to be flexible, thin, young to practice; is difficult, specific and not adaptable to individual circumstances
  - Yoga practices can be adapted to any population, and still train the same properties (mind-body coordination, mindfulness, awareness)

Chair yoga for elders
Can be done with young children

Global Benefits

Survival requires the foundation of human behaviours and the way we respond to life and to change
Using our individual power for harmony, connection, union
- First done by the individual through healing themselves, taking back power over their behaviour, becoming in harmony and good health
- Establishing awareness, self-regulation, immunity to stress, compassion, high-mindedness, clarity
- Our collective nature as individuals becomes stronger and harmonious, leading to a greater influence on the planet
Engaging in yoga is a practice of evolution and transformation on society as a whole

Ready to get started?

Yoga with Adriene