2 powerful tools to stimulate your vagus nerve & throat chakra

May 23, 2023
2 powerful tools to stimulate your vagus nerve & throat chakra

Yoga and meditation allow you to experience yourself as a whole being consisting of mind, body and spirit. Yoga means “to unite” so as you practice, you’re joining all of the aspects of you into one complete and beautiful being. If you’ve ever felt like you’re a floating head, disconnected from your body, regular yoga and meditation practice can help to rebuild your connection with yourself. 

Inside your body, is the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the human body.

It connects your brain and your gut, specifically the large intestine. Your gut contains millions of neurons that communicate with your brain, via the vagus nerve, which can explain that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach. Bacteria that live in your gut not only influence gut health, but also impact your thoughts and emotions as they share information with the brain. Stress can change this bacteria and impact your mood. Because stress creates inflammation in the body, it can lead to painful digestive issues.  

Think of your vagus nerve as a circuit, taking information from your brain down to your gut, and taking information from your gut back to your brain. Yoga and meditation allow you to tap into these connections, understanding and appreciating the union of your body systems, and experiencing yourself as whole and complete. 

Here are two powerful practices to stimulate your vagus nerve, reduce stress, and stimulate your throat chakra: 

  1. Long deep breathing - as you breathe, the waves of expansion with your inhale and contraction with your exhale massage your vagus nerve. Slowing your breath, slows your mind and brings you into your body. The breath moving through your throat helps to balance this energy center and helps you connect with your authentic voice.  
  2. Chanting mantra - the vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords so chanting mantra creates a vibration that directly stimulates and massages the nerve. If long deep breathing is difficult for you, chanting is a way to reap the benefits of breathing without overly focusing on the breath. Chanting gives your mind something else to focus on. The sound vibration also helps you connect with your voice so you can feel more comfortable and confident in its sound and what it has to share and express. The act of creating sound with your voice helps to clear obstacles and open your throat chakra. 

 

These are foundational components of Kundalini Yoga and part of every class we teach. You may already know how breathwork and chanting make you feel. Imagine how these practices transform the messages being sent between your brain and gut via the vagus nerve. 

Every time you practice, you’re using breath, sound and movement to unite all of the cells in your body to support your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. 

And you’re transforming how messages are being shared in your body.

Our HLF Self Practice has lots of breath and mantra meditations, and of course many yoga sets that will help you connect with your body, stimulate your vagus nerve, balance your chakras, and relieve stress. Begin your free trial here

With love, 
Jodh


Photo credit: Geralt on Pixabay

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