Stimulate your vagus nerve with 2 powerful tools

In a recent group coaching session, we were discussing how yoga and meditation allow you to experience yourself as a whole being consisting of mind, body and spirit, versus a floating head, disconnected from your body. Yoga means “to unite” so as you practice, you’re joining all of the aspects of you into one complete and beautiful being. 

These connections run deep. Let’s look at the science of it. 

Inside your body, you have the vagus nerve, which is 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 impacts 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 and reduce stress: 

✔️ Long deep breathing - think of the movement of the breath as you inhale deeply and expand the belly, using the breath to massage the vagus nerve

✔️ Chanting - the vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords so chanting mantra creates a vibration that directly stimulates the nerve

These are foundational components of Kundalini Yoga and part of every class and our Sadhana Huddle. You 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.

Keep that tank full, keep pouring into yourself. 

You can learn more about how stress affects your body and how you can use your practice to complete the Stress Response Cycle in the our free Stress and Anxiety mini-course. 

With love, 
Jodh