How to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve
1. Let Yourself Have a Full-Body Laugh
Laughter makes you feel good, connects you with others, and is one of the best medicines for stress. “Laughter has been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve,” says Leaf. But for this to work, you’ll need to encounter humorous situations that make you let out a big, out-loud guffaw — quietly chuckling in your head just won’t cut it. So, turn on a movie or comedian who cracks you up, schedule a night out with friends you always have a good time with, and send that LOL meme to a loved one so they can get the benefits, too.
2. Meditate Daily, Even for a Few Minutes
One of the great things about meditation is that your only real job is to bring awareness to what is present, like your breathing, and calm your mind. When a stressful thought pops into your head, you can simply acknowledge its presence, without judgment, and imagine it floating on by. And while this awareness practice can help calm you down, the breathing changes that accompany meditation — namely, slow, deep breathing — also stimulate the vagus nerve to quell stress, according to one study. If meditation is intimidating or you don’t know where to start, you can start small. Try it for one to five minutes — whatever time you have available — and consider guided meditations on an app, like Headspace or Calm, to direct your breath and focus.
3. Take a Handful of Deep Breaths
Even though deep breathing is a large component of meditation, you can use deep breathing outside of meditation, making it even more accessible. (You can do it anytime, anywhere, and you don’t need to close your eyes or clear your mind.) While there are many different types of breathwork — from box breathing to 4-7-8 breathing or lion’s breath — you can dabble in them all and practice the one that most resonates with you.
“Just make sure you’re taking deep belly breaths rather than shallow chest breaths,” says Carrie Howard, a certified clinical anxiety treatment provider in Gunter, Texas. And take the time to home in on what you need at the moment, she suggests. “Take several deep breaths until you start to feel the anxiety lessen; it’s more effective than saying you must do deep breathing for a certain amount of time, because response time will vary from person to person, and the intensity of your anxiety response will fluctuate in different situations as well,” says Howard. Remember: This is about cultivating a practice that you can use again and again to soothe stress in the moment.
4. Hum Your Favorite Tune
Give a little hum right now. How good does that feel on the back of your throat? You might feel comforting vibrations there, too.
“That vibration from the throat to the chest is the vagus nerve vibrating,” says Jennifer Anders, PsyD, of Yellowpine Therapy in Boulder, Colorado. “I find myself using this technique when I’m in a moment of acute discomfort or distress,” she explains. “Humming really blunts the effects of the way I’m experiencing stress to help calm me down.”
What’s more, it’s been shown to have a physiological effect on the body, too. People with hypertension who used “bee humming breathing” (a yogic breath where you hum like a bee on the exhale for as long as possible) for five minutes benefited more from reduced blood pressure than a control group, according to one randomized controlled trial.
