Vagal Tone

Do you ever feel your body is working against you? Then you may need to improve your vagal tone.

Of the 12 cranial nerves, the vagus innervates the deep swallowing muscles at the back of the throat.

Most people don’t know it’s there, but it’s incredibly important to get to know your vagus.

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in your body.

It connects your brain to many important organs throughout the body, including the gut (intestines, stomach), heart and lungs.

Vagus means wanderer in Latin, which accurately represents how the nerve wanders all over the body and reaches various organs.
Of particular interest, the vagus nerve is also a key part of your parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system.

It controls digestive function and heart rate, all of which can have a huge impact on your mental health. Breathing has a huge impact on the vagus nerve and is one tool to better connect to its capabilities.

But what you really need to pay special attention to is the "tone" of your vagus nerve. Vagal tone is an internal biological process that represents the activity of the vagus nerve.

Increasing your vagal tone activates the parasympathetic nervous system, and having higher vagal tone means that your body can relax faster after stress. If you feel you get stressed easy, you need to improve your vagal tone.

One measure of vagal tone is heart rate variability (HRV). When your heart rate variability (HRV) is high, your vagal tone is also high. They are correlated with each other.

How to improve your vagal tone the easy way:
1) Deep diaphragmatic breathing
2) Gargling for 60 seconds – a great start to the day.
3) Cold showers
4) Low Chanting or ‘humming’. Focus on creating the deep hum from the belly and feel it vibrate up the back of your throat. There are more hacks, but these are my favorite!

The vagus nerve is key in healing from trauma + creating overall wellbeing.

The vagus nerve is actually a bundle of nerves that begins at the brain stream + connects to all of our organs.

It’s the pathway of communication between the brain, the nervous system, + the gut (also known as the gut-brain axis.

In short: the vagus nerve IS the mind-body connection.

When we have unresolved trauma, the vagal tone becomes weak. A weak vagal tone is linked to high inflammation (scientifically linked to all psychiatric illness), chronic illness, digestive issues, cardiovascular disease etc.

Having a weak vagal tone means we don’t recover from stress quickly + are “stuck” in nervous system fight, freeze, or shutdown.

A strong vagal tone is associated with emotional stability, low inflammation, a feeling of wellbeing, + improved bodily function

Your body was made to heal