The Wandering Nerve

The Vagus Nerve: The Body’s Super Highway

The vagus nerve (VN) is the longest cranial nerve of our parasympathetic nervous system. It branches into two and traverses its way throughout the body, innervating major organs, glands, and blood vessels. It even controls some skeletal functions, such as the muscles of our face, digestive tract, inner ear, and larynx.

Communication Between the Body and Brain

Approximately 90% of the vagus nerve’s fibers are afferent, meaning they carry signals from the body to the brain. This means the vagus nerve primarily relays information to the brain about the state of our internal environment. For example, the stimulation of afferent fibers in the gut can influence brain systems that play a key role in regulating mood. This is why some connections between Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and anxiety can be understood through the communication between the vagus nerve and the gut’s enteric nervous system. Vagus nerve stimulation is one technique that may be used to alleviate IBS symptoms.

A Super Highway Connecting the Self

The vagus nerve acts as a super highway, connecting the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of ourselves. It works in conjunction with the gut and heart to coordinate our emotions. When our vagal tone is healthy, it helps bring us back to equilibrium after a stressful experience. However, when our sympathetic nervous system is primed for fight, flight, or hide responses, we may struggle to detect safety and can become stuck in a trauma response where our defenses remain engaged, even after the threat has passed.

Understanding Maladaptive Behaviors

Maladaptive behaviors vary from person to person. Some may experience numbness in the body, while others may feel a hypervigilant need to “keep moving.” This heightened state can also make us more vulnerable to misinterpreting the cues of others. It’s important to help people understand that their reflexive state is the body’s heroic attempt to protect them and keep them alive.

We can prime the vagus nerve by convincing the body that it is safe by giving it cues of trust and safety in our environment. When we know we have a choice to work with our body, we can recontextualize our inner narrative from one of victim to one of empowerment, increasing our resilience to stress.

• Make your exhales longer than your inhales. Quick exhalations activate the sympathetic nervous system. Slow exhalations, however, cause the vagus nerve to secrete acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter which binds to receptors in the heart, slowing it.
  
  

Our breath is both an involuntary and voluntary action that is free and accessible anytime, anywhere. We can utilize this powerful healing technique in line at the grocery store, while driving, cooking, getting dressed, etc. Singing, humming, chanting, and playing a wind instrument all restore vagal tone with long, slow exhalations.

• The vagus nerve connects to your larynx, which controls swallowing, breathing, and sound. Singing, humming, chanting, and playing a wind instrument activate the vagus nerve by stimulating all three of these functions. You can pay attention to the tones you use when speaking as well. Find a speaking tone that is soothing to you.
  
  
• Don’t perseverate on the story, rather befriend your nervous system. Ask yourself, what am I feeling in this moment, and where do I feel it in my body? Put your hands there. Breathe into that space with long Relax the muscles in your face, shoulders, and pelvic floor.
  
  

Visualizations of safety dissipate feelings of threat. Now, think of a time you felt safe, calm, happy, or joyful. Even if it was just a moment. Visualize/describe/recreate every detail of that moment. Immerse yourself in the visualization and allow the feelings to flood your body, still breathing into your body with slow exhalations. Allow the visualization of your “safe space” to remain front and center in your conscious mind throughout the day, and know you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system by returning to it whenever you choose.

• Inquire
  
  
  • Could I be having a vagal reaction to a current situation due to a learned emotional response from my past?
    
    
  • What “need” do I have that’s not being met? How can I articulate it so I will be heard?
    
    
• Our thoughts directly influence our biochemistry!
  
  
  • What thoughts are floating through my head today?
    
    
  • What experiences or conversations have I had today that may be affecting my mood?
    
    
  • Again, stay out of the story. Use this as an opportunity to identify toxic thoughts, relationships, or conversation topics so you can consciously and appropriately Choose a different way to create a different
    
    
• Sometimes when we ask for a miracle, what we get is a change in
  
  
  • What is my belief? Does this belief serve me?
    
    
  • Who would I be, and how would my environment feel safer if I had a different belief/perspective?
    
    
• Gratitude gives the body cues of safety – Don’t tell, rather show your body you are safe by using as much detail as possible to describe how grateful you
  
  
  • What colors, sounds, sensations, textures, feelings, etc are associated with my gratitude?
    
    
• Taking responsibility for how we show up does not mean we are bad or shameful. It means we can own, and learn from our imperfections, and then shift into a healthier state of
  • What part do I need to take responsibility for?
    
    
  • Am I taking responsibility for something that does not belong to me?
    
    
• Forgiveness does not mean we condone what happened. It means we accept (and can even be grateful for) the lessons that came with the experience and choose to move forward and be
  
  
  • What would it look like to have a deeper level of understanding and compassion for myself or another right now?
    
    
  • What would it feel like to forgive myself or another right now?