Vagus Nerve Activation Techniques

In this special session, we’ll explore a gentle, guided practice designed to soothe your nervous system and tap into your body’s natural ability to relax and heal.

What to expect:
-Learn several techniques to activate your parasympathetic nervous system (rest & repair mode)
-Feel grounded, safe, and mentally rebalanced
-Learn science-backed techniques to calm anxiety and stress—anytime, anywhere

Perfect for all levels—whether you’re brand new to meditation or already practicing.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Transcript

So,

If you are interested in healing,

Calming your nervous system or boosting immunity or just feeling more grounded or alive,

Then you would have heard about something called vagus nerve.

This nerve is the master switch so to speak for your parasympathetic nervous system and this is the part of your body that is responsible for rest,

Repair,

Digestion and deep healing.

So unlike the fight or flight system that gets triggered by stress,

The vagus nerve activates what we call the rest and rejuvenate mode.

Rest and rejuvenation.

And it's the longest nerve in our body starting at the brain stem towards the bottom of our brain and weaving its way down through our face,

Throat,

Lungs,

Heart,

Diaphragm,

The entire digestive system and even our gut microbe.

So it literally connects our mind and body.

And it can be trained to help regulate emotions,

Reduce inflammation and increase resilience.

This is very ancient wisdom taught for thousands of years in yogic and ayurvedic tradition and how nice it is that science is also confirming the effectiveness of these practices.

So when your vagus nerve is activated,

It can lower your heart rate,

It can regulate your breathing,

It can improve your digestion,

It can balance your immune system and it can lift your mood.

And the best part is all we need is simple daily practice as opposed to pills and gadgets.

Some of these practices involve eye movements,

Breathing techniques,

Humming or chanting,

Yoga,

Smiling and laughter.

So all of these can stimulate the vagus nerve and bring your body into balance.

In fact,

Study shows that even smiling for two minutes can increase your what is known as vagal tone.

Your body's ability to return to calm state after a stressful situation.

That is what is known as vagal tone.

So just smiling for two minutes can help increase your vagal tone.

And more genuine the smile,

Greater the benefit.

So if your eyes are not closed already,

I invite you now to close your eyes and smile.

Close your eyes and smile and just listen to this gentle music,

Listen to my words and see that how your awareness finds meaning to my words without any attempt.

So let go of any attempt,

Effort to understand and tell yourself that you are here just to rest.

So sit upright in a calm,

Composed posture.

But if you are at home and if you wish to recline,

You are more than welcome to recline.

But ensure that your body is straight,

Parallel and more importantly at rest.

In the next phase of this meditation,

We will guide you through a simple but powerful exercise designed to activate your vagus nerve.

Continue to sit in a relaxed posture,

Breathe naturally,

Normally,

Smile.

And remember that your body knows how to heal,

We are just helping it to remember.

So take a slow deep breath in and a longer steady breath out.

Again breathe in deeply and exit fully.

Allow your body to settle and allow your breath to begin to guide you more and more inward.

And as you continue breathing gently,

Know that you are already activating one of the most powerful systems of healing and balancing your body,

The vagus nerve.

So now as you continue to breathe in and out,

I'll introduce counts.

So I'll count from 1 to 4 as you breathe in and then we will pause gently and then you'll exhale for count of 6,

So slightly longer inhale.

So when you're ready,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

One last round,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Pause,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

And continue to breathe in this cycle on your own,

At your own pace.

Slightly longer exhale signals the vagus nerve to shift your body into healing mode.

In the middle of the day,

If you come across a stressful situation or you wish to activate your vagus nerve,

Remember to smile and exhale longer than your inhale.

Do not have to count as such.

Continue this cycle for a few more rounds on your own.

The other breathing exercise which involves,

As you breathe in,

Making sound around your nose,

Around your throat,

Which could sound like.

.

.

So as you breathe in and as you breathe out,

You're making sound.

Your mouth is closed and you're breathing in from your nose,

But there is a distinct humming sound as you breathe in and as you breathe out and you feel the vibration of your breath in and around your throat.

See if you can induce that,

See if you can do that on your own for a few more rounds and feel the vibration of your breath around your throat.

Now bring your awareness to your body and allow the breath to be natural,

Normal.

Become aware of your face.

Become aware of your face and allow a gentle smile to form on your lips and see how that smile feels to you,

The sensation of your smile feels to you.

See how the smile is softening your entire face.

Be curious,

Be curious as to how your smile is actually softening your forehead,

Paying attention to the sensation on your forehead as you smile and see how your smile is softening your eyes and your lips and your cheeks and as you smile,

Know that you are activating your vagus nerve,

The nerve that induces rest,

Healing and rejuvenation,

The nerve that controls your entire body's parasympathetic nervous system.

So continue to smile,

Continue to breathe naturally,

Normally and as you become more and more at rest,

Let's introduce one another practice to activate your vagus nerve.

This time bring your awareness to your eyes and let's practice what's called Divergent Gaze.

So with your eyes still closed or very softly open,

Imagine looking straight ahead and then slowly shift your gaze to the right and pause,

Do it gently and then slowly shift your eyes,

Both eyes to the left and pause,

Again gently,

There's no need for strain,

Again shift your gaze to the right,

Be at rest and pause,

Then again slowly shift to the left and pause.

Now repeat this gently two more times on your own,

Diaphragm as you breathe in and out,

Your diaphragm is just below your ribs,

It's a muscle that moves as you breathe in and out,

Allows our lungs to breathe in and to breathe out.

So as you breathe in,

Feel the area of your lung expanding and as you exhale feel it softening.

Your vagus nerve pass through diaphragm and connects with every major organ in your stomach and in your torso,

So each breath is a massage to your inner body,

See if you can feel the sensation of your breathing,

See if you can feel the sensation of your in-breath,

In and around your lungs,

Your chest region and to your abdominal region as you breathe in and out,

So simply paying attention to this part of your body as you breathe in and out activates vagus nerve.

So continue to sit in a relaxed posture,

Continue to smile,

Continue to breathe naturally normally and know that you are just resting and as you sit here imagine a golden thread of energy starting at your brain stem,

Traveling down through your throat,

Heart,

Lungs,

Diaphragm and into your belly and gently spreading to your every organ,

This is your vagus nerve pathway.

Your own inner healing current,

Visualize this golden thread lightening up with each breath from your brain stem to your stomach connecting every organ including lungs,

Heart,

Diaphragm,

Belly and visualize that this golden thread is lightening up with each breath.

Inhale and feel energy moving down and exhale and feel it radiating outward inducing the balancing,

Healing,

Calming effect.

Continue to visualize that with each breath you are nourishing your body and with each out breath you are relaxing your body and stay here for a few moments in silent awareness of this golden light.

Another simple way of activating your vagus nerve is to be in nature,

Is to be calm,

Curious and just be a being in nature,

The easiest way,

Most natural way,

You would have experienced this many times in your life,

So imagine yourself in your favorite spot,

A natural beauty surrounding you and you are not doing anything particular in this place,

Just at rest in nature,

With nature,

Being as natural as you are,

No agenda,

Nothing particular to do and as you sit in nature you are intuitively aware of the oneness that you share with nature,

Often we think ourselves as someone separate from nature,

Something separate from nature and that's quite wrong,

We are made of nature,

Nothing in our body and mind that is not found in nature,

There is essentially no separation between ourselves and nature and we know this intuitively,

At very deep level we know this,

So letting go of any boundary between yourself and nature and being more curious towards nature than anything else,

So let go of any sense of control,

Management and surrender,

Continue to breathe in and out and know that each breath is exchanging elements with nature,

What was inside is now outside and what was so cold outside is now inside with your breath,

It is constant exchange,

So become more open to the possibility that you are one with nature,

Spending time in nature is a powerful way to activate your vagus nerve,

In your mind eyes feel that you are grounded in nature and your heart is open and I silently repeat this after I do,

I am safe,

I am grounded and I am healing,

I am safe,

I am grounded and I am healing,

Repeat this two more times on your own,

At your own pace and now bring a sense of gratitude into your awareness,

Gratitude for nothing in particular,

Gratitude for being here,

Gratitude for being,

Gratitude for having this life,

Gratitude for everything,

Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotional states for activating the vagus nerve,

Think of one thing just one that you are grateful for in particular and hold it softly in your heart,

Continue to be effortless,

Continue to breathe in and out naturally and normally and know that your vagus nerve was activated today and is still activated and know that you can return to this state anytime,

Through your breath,

Through your smile,

Through your humming in your voice,

Through your awareness,

So take one more full breath in and a long breath out and when you are ready gently open your eyes and come back into your space,

Calm,

Present and aligned.

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