5 tips to Activate your Vagus Nerve
to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

The new buzzword in managing stress and anxiety, not just in yoga but also in the scientific field, is the ‘vagus nerve’. This word is the Latin for ‘wandering’ and connects our brains with the body’s major organs, influencing speech, eye contact, and facial expressions. Now, more than ever, scientific research demonstrates that the vagus nerve can support the potential treatment of health issues such as anxiety, arthritis, depression, obesity and stress. This nerve is a vital factor in managing our rest and digest response and, therefore, our parasympathetic nervous system. Check out these top five tips for managing ongoing stress and anxiety today:

1. Breathe

Connect to your breathing with long and slow exhales whenever you feel anxious or stressed. This will facilitate the ventral branch of the vagus nerve and thus allow for optimal oxygen balance in the body. Step into a quiet space, even on your bed if at home, and close your eyes with awareness of your breathing. Place your hands on your belly and allow the exhalations to become longer as you breathe and settle the nervous system. By practicing this technique regularly, you can let go of anxious thoughts and feelings and reduce your levels of anxiety

2. Improve postural alignment

When we practice optimal postural alignment through yoga asana (postures) and reduce shoulder tension, particularly the trapezius muscles, we can encourage the cranial nerves that connect directly to the vagus nerve to function correctly. Lie down with your knees bent and feet hip-distance apart, underneath your knees. Place the hands softly on the abdomen, connect with the breath, and turn your head slowly to the right; take time to breathe into the left side of the neck and shoulder. Return the head to centre with the breath. Inhale and exhale as you turn the head to the left side, and repeat. Return to centre and allow the shoulders to sink into the floor, letting go of any tension or stress in the neck and shoulders. By improving the postural alignment in the neck, we can facilitate the optimal function of the vagus nerve and relieve stress in the body and mind.

3. Practice eye movements

To further reduce neck tension from being at the desk for long periods, we can practice eye movements to increase the free movement of the suboccipital muscles. These muscles allow the head to move into rotation, extension and side-bending and are connected to the first two vertebrae. Practicing eye movements without head movements can reduce tension and misalignments in the cervical spine (C1 & C2). Sit comfortably in a chair or seated cross-legged, and work with your breath using the eyes to count around a clock face — 12 o’clock, 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, and so on, and then reverse and repeat both ways. Close the eyes, place the hands over the eyes, and breathe deeply into your hands to encourage tension in the eyes and face to fall away and bring a sense of calm to the mind.