Vagus nerve yoga involves specific breathwork and certain exercises designed to stimulate the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in the body’s parasympathetic nervous system’s rest and digest response. Practices include belly movements, stretches, controlled breathing and self-massage to activate the nerve and promote relaxation, improve vagal tone, and reduce stress.
Key Yoga Practices for Vagus Nerve Stimulation
- Breathwork: Focus on slowing down and lengthening the exhalation, which directly stimulates nerve fibers in the lungs and initiates a relaxation response.
- Belly Movements: The vagus travels down via the brain via the center of our body. The right belly movements improve nervous system responsiveness and provide a useful and easy way to stimulate the vagus nerve.
- Self-Massage:
- Ears: Use your middle fingers to gently trace small circles inside your ears, applying gentle pressure and allowing your mouth to softly open and close.
- Chest and Solar Plexus: Gently tap your fingertips along your chest, moving down toward the solar plexus (under the sternum), and then around the stomach area.
- Self-Contact and Sweeping Motions:Use sweeping motions across your head, face, and throat, and massage areas like your temples and earlobes to make a connection with the body and stimulate the nerve.
- Stretches: Specific poses such as gentle back bends and twists can engage the vagus nerve.
How Vagus Nerve Yoga Works
- Stimulates the Parasympathetic Nervous System: The vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for the body’s rest, digest, and repair functions.
- Increases Vagal Tone: Regular practice can improve “vagal tone,” which is the ability to switch between the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) states more easily.
- Facilitates the “Rest and Digest” Response: By sending chemical messages to the body that it’s time to destress and relax, vagus nerve stimulation can lower heart rate and initiate a calming effect.
Benefits of Vagus Nerve Yoga Stress reduction, Improved emotional and mental flexibility, Enhanced digestion, Trauma recovery, and Increased nervous system flexibility.
Interested in learning how to stimulate your vagus nerve? Take one of our online courses or visit us at the Ashram in Portugal for in-person guidance at a private retreat or group retreat or schedule a free 30min info call to learn more about our offerings.