Regulating The Nervous System With The Voo Breathing Method

One of the keys to overcoming stress, anxiety and trauma is regulating the nervous system. This guided meditation does that by tapping into the vagus nerve, which directly impacts how our bodies respond to stress. Through the Voo breathing method, the vibrating sound on the outbreath settles this bundle of nerves—from brain to gut—optimizing your vitality, boosting your immune system and lowering stress. Enjoy!

Transcript

Today,

I'm going to introduce you to one of the most important things you can do to optimize your health to reduce inflammation lower stress Regulate heart rate and blood pressure Support your digestion and allow more room in your life to feel safe calm spacious Creative and connected There is one daily practice I can teach you to do all of this begin by finding a comfortable place to be seated upright a Place where you have support behind you and beneath you close your eyes and As I walk you through the explanation of this practice Bring your awareness to the places in your body that I'm referring to So inside the body our nervous systems are guiding us every moment to stay safe Just as it did millions of years ago It continues to first notice the potential for threat It's its way of keeping us safe but often It has difficulty the nervous system Distinguishing between the saber-toothed tiger it recalls from our primitive world and A stressful conversation with our boss partner friend or child in the modern world We need to teach it how to do that to distinguish between real and perceived threats So that the body and mind can feel spacious open Creative and connected when we're not in threat when we're safe The vagus nerve is the answer Vegas is the Latin word for wandering You'll understand why as we begin to visualize it Now follow me as we bring our awareness to the body the vagus nerve Begins its journey at the brainstem and it wanders its way to the throat to the voice where it assists in vocalization and Wanders its way then to the windpipe and down into the lungs Where it helps us regulate our breathing and then to the heart Where it regulates heart rate and then connects to the spleen Liver Stomach Pancreas Kidney and Our digestive system the large and small Intestine where it supports digestion So knowing that that critical bundle of nerves is there to protect us It's also there to help us relax So when we're relaxed this bundle of nerves Supports our health by regulating these very critical organs in the body When we're under stress This nerve will constrict these organs in an effort to conserve our energy for a survival response Fight flight or freeze That's important if we're under a real physical threat But most of the time the nervous system and this vagus nerve is misfiring We don't need it to go into a survival response When we're in conflict with our boss or partner When we're in a traffic jam when we're preparing to present in front of a group What we need is to be open and spacious and access to our higher-order thinking So to regulate the vagus nerve Here's the one simple practice you can do Developed by dr.

Peter Levine the founder of the somatic experiencing model I'm going to teach you his breathing method Which vibrates the vagus nerve and over time?

Will help you regulate your nervous system So close your eyes Place one hand on your heart space just to the right of your heart right in the center of your chest Place the other hand on your belly Feel the support behind you and beneath you and begin by breathing in through your nose nice long in breath through the nose and Out through your mouth Again long deep in breath through the nose and long out breath through the mouth at your own pace Continue to breathe and As you keep breathing Put some space between the top and bottom teeth Relax the jaw Check to ensure that the tongue is resting in your lower palate Continue to breathe long in breath through the nose and Long out breath through the mouth And we're going to introduce the vibrational sound that helps to vibrate the vagus nerve now That sound we spell it V as in Victor.

Oh Voo V.

Oh And we make that sound on the out breath So that it vibrates the entire vagus nerve from the brain stem to the vocal cords and throat and the windpipe down into the heart and lungs and All the critical organs all the way down to your digestive tract.

And so if you'll join me we'll be doing the voo on the out breath and We'll do that five times together and in between The voo out breath.

We're gonna do two gentle breaths Before we do the next foo So you can listen to me on the first practice round and then we'll do five together So with hand on heart space hand on belly I'm bringing my attention inside my body and Breathing in through my nose And on the out breath,

I'll be making that voo sound and bringing my attention to the vibration under my hands Now two gentle breaths I'm going to take a moment and just notice if I feel anything different and we'll do this together in the practice in the next five rounds Breathing in join me on the voo breath now Two gentle breaths repeat that four times together breathing in Two gentle breaths and again voo breath breathing in Two gentle breaths the next voo breath breathing in Two gentle breaths and last round And now your two gentle breaths We just completed the portion of this practice that allows the nervous system to meet communicate and reassure The primitive part of our brain the amygdala that we're safe Now to reinforce safety Let's have our higher order part of the brain our executive brain called the prefrontal cortex Communicate the same back to our nervous system using language So on the next out breath,

We're going to repeat the words out loud I am safe I am safe Cascading those reassuring words all the way down into our bellies Let's try that now breathing in Out I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe And notice what feels different in the body notice if you feel an opening there in your chest more spaciousness more calm a Feeling of safety in the body Notice if you feel more energized from the practice or notice if you feel more relaxed with the practice If you feel more energized Or you feel Very little or nothing.

No sensation Try doing this practice first in the morning If you feel more relaxed Try this practice at bedtime Some people find that this practice Energizes them so it's good to do it in the morning To start your day off with more energy But if it's more relaxing for you,

It'll help you sleep at night.

So try the practice at bedtime.

I Hope this practice is supportive of your overall well-being And I wish you well many blessings

Reviews

Profound practice. Thank you for sharing the wisdom of Somatic Experiencing

wonderful practice ! I will
use this again ! Thank you !

One of the most soothing, grounding, helpful guided meditations I have found! Thank you.

Thank you so much for this practice 🙏🏼 Will try it again at night. But it was very helpful with the morning anxiety.
Thank you 🙏🏼

I am very intrigued by this breathing technique! I have a very strong freeze response that I would like to calm and intense early morning insomnia, hopefully this can help! Thank you so much 🙏🏽🥰

Wow this was exactly what I needed! Thank you, this will now be included in my routine to decompress. I instantly felt more calm, at ease and have energy for the day!

That was so powerful. I am getting ready to start a very challenging job so I know this will be very useful for me.

Lovely! I can feel the shift in my chest and body. I feel soothed and energized. Thank you!🙏

Beautiful and calming! Thank you for your guiding 🌷

This is absolutely amazing thank you so much! I have been doing the voo breath myself but found this guidance really calming and helpful. Thank you

Lovely thank you. I liked the I am safe breath at the end. Now I’m yawning and feeling relaxed.

Love this! So gentle and comforting. Many thanks 🙏🏼

I love you Rebecca ♥️ this was the most awesome meditation I have found on this app so far. Your voice is very soothing. Makes me feel like I'm a child laying in my mother's arms.

Just what I needed before jumping into
my sales calls. Thank you!

That was awesome! I felt very relaxed and energized. Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed your guidance throughout the practice. 🙏🏾❤️🙏🏾

This is lovely! Great blend of the science with practice. Namaste

Wowza! Feeling the most tranquil and clear headed that I've been in, well, ever. Many thanks!!

70 years old, Suffering from a severe anxiety disorder I’ve had for the past 50 years or so. I’m in a strong relapse right now. This exercise gave me a sense of calm after lying here for 2 hours in a feeling of anxiety and fear. Not fun, so not comfortable. This left me feeling relaxed. Is it ok to do twice a day? Am pm ? More ? Thank you so much. ❤️

Thank you, I was completely overwhelmed and this has centered me 🙏🏼☀️

Very lovely felt energised and at one with my body thanks