Ah the good and old nervous system. Yes, that one that its main purpose is to protect us, scan for threat and communicate with us through feelings and sensations in the body. We do live in such chaos nowadays, with so many stressors present, busy lives and all our past traumas and experiences living rent free in our bodies. It’s not an easy life to navigate, I’ll tell ya that much. Unless we intentionally learn the tools and language of the nervous system so we can communicate with it too.
So first things first.
**Before I begin, I want to make sure I make it clear that one should always connect with their body’s state, listen to any clues that say it’s not comfortable. Some of these exercises might resonate with you than others, and that’s ok. The work here is to practice somatic awareness and respect our bodies. **
What the heck is the vagus nerve?
In a nutshell, the vagus nerve is the largest cranial nerve that goes from our brainstem and passes through our head, neck, chest and abdomen. It’s connected to the parasympathetic nervous system (a system of rest and digest), helping slow heart rate, controlling breathing and helping digestion. And by stimulating the vagus nerve, we activate our parasympathetic nervous system, calming our bodies and coming back to a resting state. It’s a beautiful thing.
And how exactly do i stimulate it?
I thought you’d never ask! There are MANY ways to do that, so I selected 5 quick ways to get you out of the woods, so to say. If you are experiencing high anxiety, activation in your body, emotional dysregulation, you can try some of the techniques I’ll share with you here.
1. Breathwork
By far my favorite technique, and the quickest and most effective (in my personal and professional opinion) ways to regulate your body. There are many different ways to breathe intentionally, consciously, and deeply.
Here are some examples:
- Conscious Connected Breathwork: a technique where you inhale and exhale through your mouth, connecting the breath, meaning as you finish inhaling, you right away exhale.
- Box Breathing: a well known technique where you inhale, hold, exhale, hold for the same amount of time each step. For example: inhale for a count of 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Rinse and repeat.
- Pursed-lip Breathing: this focuses on a longer exhale, calming the body down. Inhale slowly through your nose and exhale through pursed lips, making the exhale longer than the inhale.
- Breath of Joy: this type of breathing involves some movement. It consists on 3-parts inhale through the nose and one big exhale through the mouth.
Lift both arms in front of your body (inhale), then spread yours arms wide (inhale), bring them up (inhale), them drop both arms as if to touch the floor with a big exhale through the mouth.
2. Humming
And you thought that the gurus meditating and humming were joking around…
The vagus nerve passes through our neck and the vibration of our vocal cords “massages” and stimulates it. It’s such a potent way of calming down, feeling the vibration in our head, throat and body. Quite the powerful technique.
Let’s take the example of the famous Om mantra chanted by the Hindus and other cultures.
Some of the benefits of chanting the Om mantra are:
- Reduces stress and anxiety.
- Improves concentration.
- Slows the mind down.
- Regulates heart rate.
- Brings a sense of calm and peace.
3. Movement
Walking
It’s crazy how we take movement for granted. It’s such a simple yet vital for regulation. A simple way to calm the body can be just going for a walk. You wouldn’t believe how effective that is for grounding, regulating our emotions, helping us breathe deeper and increase the release of endorphins.
Dancing
Put some music on, close the blinders if you have to, and dance it out! Literally! Dancing is an uplifting, fun, somatic way of releasing anxiety, anger, frustration, activation of any kind stuck in the body.
Shake It Off
It’s pretty implicit what this does. Shaking it off literally releases stuck trauma and dysregulated energy from our bodies. The sillier you do it, the better it gets!
4. Cold Exposure
Trust me, I don’t like it either, but it does work. Cold exposure, for example submerging your face on a bucket of cold water or taking a cold shower stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping the body to feel safe and calm. The feeling after a cold plunge is amazing. I confess the seconds before doing it are torturing for me and maybe the seconds in the cold water as well, but the feeling once you are out is incredible. I’ll let you decide this one for yourself. 😉
5. Get cozy
I know, you weren’t expecting this one but I promise it’s the best. So our nervous system is always trying to feel safe, and when it’s not, it warns you in very unpleasant ways. I don’t know about you, but to me, coziness is what makes me feel the safest in life. Tell me how you feel when you are in a house with dimmed lights, a fireplace warming up the place, a comfy couch, cushions and blankets, with some hot chocolate or a nice cup of tea. Add some nice soft music and…. OMG… are you relaxed already? Cause I am just by typing this.
Speaking the language of the nervous system and learning what yours need is essential when it comes to self regulation. These are just some suggestions for you to try them out, see how it lands and have a chat with your body. Enjoy the process, it’s ok to be playful and silly. The nervous system actually loves that!
Happy Regulating!
About The Author
Raquel Nicolau is a Trauma Counsellor and specializes in nervous system regulation, Polyvagal Theory and Somatic Therapy. She supports people navigating the consequences of trauma stuck in their bodies, help them release the energy and learn how to self regulate. Raquel has extensive experience with adults dealing with anxiety, depression, addiction, PTSD, CPTSD, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and domestic violence. It is her passion to provide knowledge and empowerment to clients through education, a safe and non-judgmental space for clients. She lives in the beautiful Squamish, BC – Canada.
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