Vagal Nerve Meditation

This integrates vagal nerve exercises into a breath oriented meditation. This is a wonderful way to reset the nervous system and can offer individuals a science-backed way to reduce anxiety in the present moment.

Transcript

So simply begin this meditation by drawing your attention to the feeling of the breath in your body.

Feeling it go in,

In doubt.

See if you can really pay attention to the qualities of the breath.

Whether it's fast or slow,

Hot,

Cold,

And where you feel it in your body.

As you start to notice this,

See if you can just also notice how your body's feeling.

Is it tight,

Is it loose,

Is there areas of pain,

Areas of openness?

See if these things can come into awareness as you go deeper in your breath.

And then drawing a big breath in allow yourself to make that noise all the way out,

Triggering the vagal nerve,

The v,

The VU sound.

Noticing the vibrations in your chest and throughout your whole body.

Doing this till the breath is completely exhausted and taking a pause and waiting for the body to ask for the next breath.

And when it does,

Allowing the lungs to fill again before doing the same v noise till it's all the way out.

Should feel this sensation,

Particularly in your chest area,

Around the heart,

But you can also maybe even feel it in your shoulders and around your chest area or other particular areas of the body.

The noise is that v noise that you can feel vibrate.

Continuing this way,

Allowing yourself to completely exhaust the breath And don't just go for the next inhale,

But really waiting for the body to ask for what it needs.

Allow yourself to fully complete the next cycle.

And then changing the breath till it's back to just noticing the inhale and the exhale.

You might notice as you are doing this exercise that there are particular noises around you or thoughts or feelings or sensations that come up.

That's okay.

There's nothing wrong with this.

Just allow yourself to notice that they're there and with a sense of kindness and a sense of compassion,

Bring yourself back to the breath.

As you're breathing,

See if you can once again take stock of your body,

Noticing if anything has changed from that nerve exercise that you just did.

Maybe your shoulders feel looser or maybe there's just a general feeling of being more relaxed.

Or maybe there's not.

Just notice what's there without evaluating it,

Without judging it.

Just noticing what is.

And then allow yourself to take another big inhale and continuing again in the vvvvvvvvv exercise,

Till the breath is all the way exhausted.

Do this for four rounds of breath with each round starting with that inhale,

Feeling and triggering that vagal nerve with the sound and then waiting for the breath,

Waiting for the next breath after it's been exhausted.

As you continue with this exercise you might notice certain thoughts come up,

Certain feelings come up or maybe even find yourself drifting off a little bit.

These are all just part of the experience.

They deserve no more judgment than the simple observation of the inhale and the exhale.

You don't need to do anything with them.

If you find yourself particularly stressed and your mind's racing,

Allow yourself to just notice that as you do this nerve exercise.

And once you've completed that fourth round,

Once again returning to the breath,

Feeling the inhale and the exhale as they go in and out of your body.

And once again take stock.

How is your body?

Does it feel different at all?

Are there places that are more open?

Places that are more relaxed?

See if you can just notice what is there.

And then after you've kind of scanned your body from head to toe,

Allow the awareness just to rest at the bottom of your feet,

However they are,

Whether they're cross-legged or just resting on one object.

Just allow them to be observed,

Highlighted even.

Feel the four corners of each foot and how the weight is with each one of them.

Maybe you can even allow yourself to feel the individual toes.

Notice this and rest your awareness there.

And once you feel that you have fully rested your awareness there,

Feeling the solidity of your toes,

Of your feet either on the ground or folded in a particular way,

Allow yourself to close this exercise,

Opening your eyes in the time and the space that feels right for you.

Not on my timeline or anyone else's timeline,

But what feels right and appropriate for you.

Reviews

One of the more interesting meditations I’ve done lately - the vagal nerve is on my radar because I have an anxious rescue dog but now I’m starting to think about my own! Thank you, David, for sharing this 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Fascinating! I feel soft and fluffy. I have so many questions now... how often can i/ should I do this in a day - like, is it a "whenever you need it" exercise or a "do this 3 times a day for 2 weeks to strengthen your nerve" thing? Is two rounds, like you guided us through, the full exercise or can I do more in one sitting? I feel a deep dive of research coming on, and, any info you can provide would also be appreciated.
*update* thanks for the reply. That is helpful. Be the vuu, rather than do the vuu. 😉

Love that you don't have any background sounds. Spaced out calm voice. Simple practice

I loved the simplicity and effectiveness of this. Just what I needed this morning.Thank you.🙏

This was one of the most beneficial breath exercises I’ve experienced! Thank you!

Helpful integration of breathing and banal awareness with stimulation

Love how this integrates mindfulness of breath with vagus nerve!

That was awesome. I’ve recently been listening to activate the Vagus nerve and wasn’t aware at all of it’s significance so than you for this

thoroughly enjoyed this breath-focused meditation.

I noticed restlessness in my body during retention between breaths, which revealed an attachment to stillness during today’s sit.

giving myself the agency to move through discomfort was the reminder I needed to feel today.

very grateful for this practice 🙏🏾.

Loved this. Feel so different. Thank you so much 🙏🏻

Really simple and helpful exercise. I felt my body vibrating with energy and life afterwards. I'm sure this is healing in myriad ways. Thank you so much for creating and sharing 🙏💗✨

This was my first vagal nerve practice and I found it very helpful. Thank you!!

My first time doing this meditation. It really helped my anxiety. I feel much calmer and rested after doing this. I will do it often. Thank you 🙏🏼

I really enjoyed doing this on waking up this morning. It gave me the time I needed to ease myself gently into the day…🙏🏼

Surprisingly powerful results from a fairly simple meditation. I had never put all the pieces together in that way before. Thank you

Felt stressed this morning and this really helped thank you! ☺️

Simple, pleasant voice, effective. Thank you kindly :)

I love vagal exercises and thi is one of my favourite meditations now. Thank you!

I love that I found this as I had forgotten about the simplicity and effectiveness of this practice.

I appreciated the soothing voice and pace. The meditation was really helpful!