The vagus nerve starts at your brain stem and enervates your respiratory and digestive systems, heart, throat and facial muscles. It’s the longest cranial nerve in your body and is the mediator between your thinking and having a gut feeling.
The vagus nerve regulates the rest and digest response (parasympathetic nervous system).
The health of the vagus nerve is known as vagal tone, just like muscle tone it can be improved through specific activities/exercises.
Increased vagal tone helps slow heart rate and respiration, lowers blood pressure, decreases inflammation, improves sleep, and focus and helps you relax easily.
Here are some activities that stimulate the vagus nerve:
Deep breathing
Laughing
Gargling
Singing
Forward bends
Cold water showers
Regular relaxation sessions help stimulate and therefore calm the nervous system and take our bodies and minds out of a state of stress into a more calm state.
