The Secret To Calming Anxiety: Vagus Nerve Activation

Are you feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious? Here's a quick and powerful technique that helps calm your mind and reset your nervous system using simple neck and eye movements.

This practice takes just a few minutes and can make a big difference in how you feel. When we activate the vagus nerve, we’re helping our bodies regulate stress, boost mood, and improve resilience to daily pressures. Whether you’re dealing with chronic stress or just need a quick reset during a busy day, this technique is a simple yet powerful way to feel better fast.

Transcript

Hi, Welcome. Today I'm going to guide you through a very simple but powerful technique to reset your nervous system using gentle neck and eye movements. Now, As always, Whenever you do a practice with movement, Honor your needs. If anything hurts, Please stop doing it. If it feels good, Continue on with doing it. Meet yourself where you're at and don't hurt yourself any further if you do experience any pain. So let's get right into the practice. What we're going to do is we're going to start by making sure you're centered in your chair, Feet flat on the floor, Shoulders relaxed, And inhale. And on the exhale, Looking to the right, Holding this for a breath, And then coming back to center. Pausing here for a moment. And when you're ready, Looking as far the opposite way as you can, Holding this for a breath. And when you're ready, Coming back to center. And now, If it feels right for you, Clasp your hands behind your neck. And this movement is just to keep your face looking forward. So if you have mobility issues and cannot keep your hands clasped behind your back, You can place your hands on either side of your cheeks. And this is just to simply keep your face looking forward because your hands will help you to notice when you are trying to look to the left or the right. So hands on the cheeks or hands clasped behind your head. And when you're ready, Looking as far to the right as you can and holding this until you notice your body wants to respond with perhaps a yawn, A sigh, Or a deep breath. Looking as far to the right as you. . . Oh, My goodness. Okay. Looking as far to the right as you can until you get a response. And after you have that response, Which can take anywhere from immediately to three minutes, Looking the opposite way until you get another response. That time, It was the urge for a deep breath. And when you're ready, Looking back at center, Dropping your arms and hands to your side. And now, We're going to test out how it feels. So once again, Going back to the first movement of looking as far to the right as you can. And you might notice you have more mobility. You might notice your neck has a little bit more freedom. You might notice that you just feel slightly different, Perhaps slightly better, Or you might notice a huge improvement. When you're ready, Looking the opposite way and seeing how you feel here, Holding this here and noticing what it is that the body is doing in response. My ears actually just popped with this movement, Which shows that my nerves are relaxing. And when you're ready, Coming back to center and noticing how you feel in this moment. So what exactly is happening during this exercise? When you start to combine neck and eye movements, You're stimulating your body's natural ability to calm itself. Moving the eyes left and right sends signals to your brain that you're safe. And this triggers the activation of the vagus nerve, Which is a very huge key player in your body's relaxation response. After you have faced a stressful situation and you realize that you've been in fight, Flight, Fawn, Or freeze, Which are adrenaline responses to the stress you've been going through, You want the vagus nerve to start working to help you to calm down. The gentle stretching of your neck also stimulates the area around the carotid sinus, Which interacts with the vagus nerve. And so that this combination causes you to yawn, Take a deep breath, Have a deep sigh. And that is a sign to you and your nervous system that you are in a place to relax. You're in a place to calm down. You're in a place to feel safe. You're ready to shift gears from a high stress state to a more relaxed state where you can be in a rest or digest mode, Which is what we want after the stressful situation. So what exactly is the vagus nerve and why is it so important to balance it? The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body running from the brainstem back here through the neck, Into the chest and abdomen. It helps to regulate your heart rate, Your digestion, And your mood because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, Which is the rest and digest system. That's what we want to start to activate after we have gone through trauma or stress. We want to be able to go back into the, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling calm. I can handle all that life puts my way. When the vagus nerve is out of balance, It can show up in many different ways. Chronic stress, Poor digestion, Anxiety, The difficulty calming down, Reproductive imbalances, Or even inflammation. A balanced vagus nerve means that you can easily shift between active and relaxed states, Helping you feel more grounded, Calm, And focused. So when you have a stressful situation coming your way and you handle it, But then afterwards you can't quite calm down now, Using this technique can help you to return to being grounded, Calm, And focused. And when you're grounded, Calm, And focused, You can achieve all your dreams. You know that you can trust in yourself to be able to handle anything that comes your way. Now, Why is this technique effective? The combination of eye movements and neck stretches can have a quick impact on resetting your nervous system. By stimulating the vagus nerve, We help the body shift from a state of tension to a state of relaxation. This is particularly helpful for those moments when you're feeling overwhelmed and need a very quick way to unwind and come back to being in the present moment. Because it's low risk, It can be done anywhere. It's an easy addition to your daily routine for managing stress. But remember, Consistency is key. Practicing this technique regularly can help you feel more balanced over time. And as with any practice, We tend to hone our techniques. So if perhaps it took you several minutes today to feel the yawn, The sigh, Or the deep breath, Or perhaps if you didn't feel it at all, Keep on trying. You are going to be training your nervous system in how to calm down. It's as much as learning a new language or learning a new sport, You are learning a new skill in how to keep yourself relieved of stress. Because stress is always going to be happening for us. And it's important to learn the techniques to help us stay calm, Centered, Grounded, And focused. If you found this helpful, Imagine what it would be like to have a whole toolkit of techniques to keep your stress in check. I am Jessica Kronowski. I am the CEO and founder of Pure Life Therapy. I'm a holistic health practitioner and a stress management mentor. Working together with a stress management mentor teaches you a plethora of techniques and tools that will help you live the life of your dreams. We use holistic health, Neuroscience, And mindfulness to find realistic ways that work for you and your unique lifestyle. So if you want to be able to face all your stress, Feeling calm, In control, Centered, Grounded, Like you're ready to face whatever comes your way, If that lifestyle sounds ideal to you, And you're interested in taking the next step, Please feel free to reach out today and let's start your journey together towards a calm, Focused, And successful life where you see all of your wildest dreams come true.