Vagus Nerve Basic Practice

This meditation is the Basic Exercise from Stanley Rosenberg in his book, Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve. This simple practice is only one to two minutes long and can be done daily to reset the nervous system so you are moving it into the rest and digest state. It improves mobility in the neck and spine that are often chronically tight from stress. The healing results are cumulative so you are creating new healthy neuro-pathways in the brain.

Transcript

Welcome to the Basic Practice to Stimulate and Soothe the Vagus Nerve by Stanley Rosenberg from his book Accessing the Healing Powers of the Vagus Nerve.

This will help reset the nervous system away from the stress response,

Moving it toward rest and digest.

We will begin on our back.

As you become more familiar with this simple two-minute practice,

You can do it seated or standing as well,

But it's best to learn the practice on our back.

Lay on your back with your knees bent.

We will start with a pre-test to test the range of motion in your neck and head.

Look straight up at the ceiling and then turn your head to the right as far as it feels comfortable,

Just noticing.

Then back to center.

Turn your head as far as it feels comfortable to the left.

Move the head back to center.

Now interlace your hands behind the base of your head,

Right where you feel the base of the skull,

Allowing the elbows to wing out to the sides.

Hands are resting at the ridge at the base of the head.

The thumbs will be down on your neck.

Rest and take a deep inhale and release and let go on the exhale.

Focus your eyes on a spot on the ceiling.

Now without moving your head or your body,

Just move your eyes to the right as far as you can.

We hold here with the eyes directed to the right for 30 seconds to one minute.

The eyes may feel a little strained at first and may not be able to focus,

But just keep cutting your eyes as far as they will go to the right.

The muscles behind the eyes are directly connected to the brain stem where the vagus nerve is innervated or engorged.

Keep your eyes to the right,

But begin now to notice your mouth and throat.

Just notice if you sense a great deal of saliva being produced.

You may swallow or take a deeper breath.

These are signals from your body telling you that you've stimulated the vagus nerve.

Now look back up and find a point on the ceiling with your eyes.

Relax and take a breath and now shift your eyes to the left without turning your head.

Hold all of your attention on keeping your eyes to the left.

Your eyes may pop up,

But just redirect them.

And the more you do this practice,

The easier it will become.

The eyes are directly connected to the eight suboccipital muscles which you feel beneath your hands.

We are inviting these muscles to release.

Keep your eyes to the left and direct your attention to your mouth and throat.

Again looking for signs of release.

Sleet,

Swallows,

A deeper breath,

Yawns.

Just notice.

As you become more accustomed to this practice,

You will be able to release the eyes when your body signals you.

Now return the eyes back to center and find that spot on the ceiling.

Release your hands alongside your body.

Let's end with the post test.

Now move your head to the right,

Just noticing,

And then to the left,

Finding out if you perhaps feel a freer range of motion in your head and neck.

When these suboccipital muscles release,

We definitely feel less tight in that area.

This is a great quick practice that you can work into your schedule once a day to reset your nervous system.

Enjoy my friends.

Deep peace.

Namaste.

Reviews

Felt a difference at the end of practice, will try to do this once a day as you suggested!

This was so good. I have been doing a lot of your vagus nerve exercises, every night for 4 weeks or more. This practice was intense, I felt it was hard to keep the eyes looking to the right or left, however I felt the release of my neck at the end. I will definitely try again this one . Thanks a lot! 🙏

Thank you for this relaxing and liberating practice. Namaste

Excellent short practice. Very informative. Thank you!
Amazing release of the neck muscles!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge you are a wonderful teacher!
I'm on the journey with you , my friend.
Thank you....

Powerful, practical, peaceful practice. Thank you. 🙏🏼🌿

This was really amazing! First time and will be doing this everyday. Thank you!

I’m so happy to discover your practices today. I love them and will try them all. This short practice is surprisingly effective. I experienced all of the signs of nervous system release, yawning, saliva, and eyes watering too. My neck feels relaxed and ROM increased. So simple and practical, thank you so much. 🥰🙏🏻I am amazed. 🤩

This was great! Eyes muscles had a good stretch & feel more relaxed. Will have to do this repeatedly to see if the saliva production was from the eye stretch or from your words causing my mind & body to follow your instructions - not sure which triggered the response. Thank you for the clear & concise exercise.
🙏🏻

Christie, thank you so much for your response to my review and your suggestions . I greatly enjoyed this practice. It is amazing to feel the immediate effects of these practices within my own body. Because my Vagus nerve is missing about 50% of functional MC4Rs, I notice a great benefit with these helpful tools that help me utilize the other 50% of my MC4Rs that work beautifully. I am grateful for this practice and you.

This was an inspiring delight. While I enjoy the many traditional meditations on insight timer, I really loved how this was an actual actionable step that I could apply into my life - paired with the knowledge of the science behind the practice - and all within five minutes so it didn't feel overwhelming! This makes me feel empowered and with a newfound sense of hope. Much appreciated!

Very effective technique, conveyed by clear instructions, and I appreciated the background information about what was happening in my body as I did the exercise.

That was crazy! I tried the Basic track at your suggestion, and my neck range of motion doubled on one side! My new short practice before bed. Thanks!

Thank you for suggesting this—it was easy to do and I saw an immediate increase in range of motion.

This was excellent too. I love that it’s so quick and easy. Thank you 🙏

Thank you. Very easy to follow and hopefully something that can be included in my daily routines now.

Wonderful to practice this and learn about the vagus nerve a little bit. Keen to keep practicing to see what I notice and how I feel.

This is so useful thank you. I’m recovering from Long Covid and ME/CFS so this will really help. And also you breathing exercises in other meditations. Thank you. X

These practices are simple and effective. It’s easy to dismiss them, but they work everytime. Very grateful for this practice.

Wow- this is fantastic. Thank you for explaining it so well. ❤️

Amazing! My improved movement my range was significant and I feel lighter. Thank you 🌷