If you want to activate your vagus nerve, a great way to do it is by chanting “OM” over and over again. This is often used in yoga, mantras and different faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Whether you perceive it as a spiritual practice or just a meditation practice, it helps to calm you and create inner peace. Studies have shown that this creates greater relaxation.

Yoga can also be helpful for the same reasons. Just make sure you pay attention on your breathing. ExerciseResearch shows that reflexology (a kind of massage) can increase vagal tone and even decrease blood pressure. Working out and getting your body moving can affect your vagus nerve, research shows. Interval training and endurance training can increase your vagus nerve activity and improve your heart rate variability. There are many things you can do to activate your vagus nerve and many benefits to a healthy vagal tone. It is your secret weapon to a better you. Turn to this practice to help calm your mind and focus on deep breathing. While doing meditation, try extending your exhales, making them longer than your inhales. This will help slow your heart rate.

uOttawa says, it’s “clear to researchers that gut bacteria improve brain function by activating the vagus nerve.”Your vagus nerve plays a powerful role in your body. Keeping your vagus nerve strong and balanced can help you respond more effectively to a variety of emotional and physiological symptoms. When we speak, shout, sing, the vagus nerve is lit up like a Christmas tree— which is one of the reasons why those activities can be so cathartic and emotional for so many of us.” But when it comes to your vagus nerve (pronounced like the city of Las Vegas), it carries signals to your brain, heart, lungs and digestive system. It’s the longest cranial nerve in your body, running from your brain all the way to your large intestine. To stimulate the diving reflex, you need cold exposure. You can splash cold water on your face or put ice cubes in a ziploc bag against it. According to Dr. Arielle Schwartz, “The diving reflex slows your heart rate, increases blood flow to your brain, reduces anger and relaxes your body.” Christopher Bergland says he uses Cora Harris’s mantra to stimulate his vagus nerve, “The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly.”

Headache and facial pain specialist Emad Estemalik, MD, talks about the vagus nerve and how it plays a role in your mental and physical health. How to stimulate your vagus nerve Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve is Stanley Rosenberg’s personal expression of his insight into and appreciation of the role that vagal pathways play in the healing process by calming the body and enabling the body to welcome touch. By intuitively understanding this integrated process, Stanley has developed a system of manipulations that promote states of safety, allowing the body to retune the nervous system, thus optimizing behavior, mental health, and physiological homeostasis.… His powerful insights, metaphors, and treatment models are beautifully conveyed and archived .”—From the foreword by Stephen W. Porges, PhD, Distinguished University Scientist, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, and professor of psychiatry, University of North Carolina ASMR sends “tingles” from your scalp down your spine and helps calm your nervous system with the use of triggers or tools. This entails whispering, scratching, tapping and other noises that pull you into a trance. There are many on Youtube.For those with epilepsy, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been used to treat seizures. This medical procedure places a device inside of your body to help stimulate the vagus nerve with electrical impulses. It can also be used for those with depression who haven’t had success with other treatments.