Powerful strategies to activate your parasympathetic nervous system Your vagus nerve serves as the “on/off” switch to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
As you may know, your vagus nerve is a sensory nerve that starts at the base of the brain and travels down both sides of your neck through your stomach and intestines, enervating your heart and lungs, and connecting your throat, neck, ear and facial muscles.
The following practices engage these areas of the mind-body feedback loop to enhance and stimulate healthy functioning and well being.
1. COLD EXPOSURE
Cold water is one of the simplest ways to stimulate your vagus nerve and improve your vagal tone.
2. HUMMING, SINGING AND CHANTING
Your vagus nerve passes through your vocal cords and inner ear. The vibrations of sound, including singing or humming, can stimulate your vagus nerve by engaging it through your throat, your diaphragm (as you breathe) and even through your heart.
3. BREATHING
Deep and slow breathing stimulates your vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. In fact, breath is one of the fastest ways to influence our nervous system, especially deep breathing that activates both the lungs and the diaphragm, especially when you breathe deeply from your diaphragm. This means when you breathe in, your belly should expand or go outward. When you breathe out your belly should cave in. The more your belly expands and the more it caves in, the deeper you’re breathing.
4. GUT HEALTH
Your vagus nerve connects your gut and brain. Supporting gut health and the healthy balance of gut bacteria (also known as gut microbiome) helps support the parasympathetic nervous system.
5. EXERCISE AND PHYSICAL MOVEMENT
Exercise helps to activate the parasympathetic state. Any kind of physical movement enhances healthy oxygen and blood flow, stimulating the vagus nerve which travels through both the lungs and the heart.
Research has correlated parasympathetic activation with exercise. Movement and exercise help release and discharge stress. In fact, animals naturally shake to release tension after a life threatening event. Moving your body helps release and discharge these stress hormones and shift out of flight-or-fight mode and into the parasympathetic state.
6. YOGA NIDRA
My favorite form of meditation to activate your parasympathetic nervous system is Yoga Nidra.
7. SUNLIGHT
Sunlight is the primary source of energy on earth and energy derived from sunlight powers everything on earth, including the healthy function of your body. Exposing your skin to sunlight for at least 20-30 minutes at a time, ideally first thing in the morning helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
8. GROUNDING
Grounding, a technique that helps you connect to the healing energy of nature and the Earth, helps balance heart rate variability and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Research shows that being in nature even for a few hours has a calming effect on the mind and body lowering blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the levels of stress hormones like cortisol in the bloodstream.
9. ESSENTIAL OILS
Essential oils are the natural, highly concentrated essences extracted from specific herbs in their living state for their healing capabilities. Essential oils have both olfactory (smell) and transdermal (topical application) qualities. For example, inhaling essential oils such as lavender or bergamot has been shown to improve heart rate variability, a key indicator for vagal tone.
10. LAUGH AND SMILE
Laughter truly is the best medicine as it helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Laughter creates movement in your face, chest, diaphragm, and stomach, naturally engaging your parasympathetic nervous system to change your breathe, heart rate, and blood pressure.
11. SOCIAL CONNECTION
Your parasympathetic state can activate and be activated though social connection. It’s important to note that your vagus nerve physically connects to your mouth and eyes, helping to both trigger and respond to safety cues from others, like smiling and eye contact.
We are social creatures and we are wired for connection.
12. SELF-COMPASSION
Self-compassion and the practice of self-generating positive emotions can activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Remember that your brain cannot differentiate between anticipatory thought driven stress and actual physical danger. When you focus on fears and worries, you activate your sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system. When you shift your focus to positive feelings like love, compassion, and goodwill toward yourself and others, you calm your stress response and activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
13. Epsom Salt Bath
My favorite Healing Bath Recipe:
- 2 cups Epsom salt
- 1 cup Baking Soda
- 3 – 7 drops of Eucalyptus, peppermint or Lavender Essential Oil
14. PRACTICE GRATITUDE
Practicing gratitude is one of the fastest and easiest ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Here’s why! when you are feeling grateful, and focusing on positive things, your mind shifts out of a state of worry and fear where anticipatory stress over potential future scenarios no longer activate your sympathetic nervous system or trigger the release of stress. A gratitude practice can be as simple as starting your day on one thing that you are grateful for and connecting to it for 30 seconds to a minute.
15. MASSAGE & ACUPUNCTURE THERAPIES
Massaging certain areas of your body, such as your neck and your foot, helps activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
You can also stimulate the neck by doing head rolls. Bring your chin to chest, then roll your head in a complete circle 3-5 times. Reverse the direction of the circle to stimulate your vagus nerve.
Reflexology foot massages have also been shown to increase vagal activity and heart rate variability while lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Acupuncture has also been shown to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, especially when focused on auricular acupuncture points in the ear.
16. CHIROPACTIC ADJUSTMENTS
A structural misalignment in your spine can block vagus nerve signaling. If you are out of alignment and your spine becomes altered in its positioning or ability to move freely, a chiropractic adjustment can help align the spine and nervous system to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.