What a nerve.
Meet the Vagus Nerve – it’s the biggest nerve in your body and crucial for health. Keep reading to find out more and learn a simple breath meditation to strengthen it.
If you’ve never heard of the vagus nerve, look up a picture of it. It is massive and seeing it visually may help to get your head around how it connects everything in our bodies from our brain to the vocal and breathing apparatus in our throat to our spinal cord, heart, lungs, liver spleen, and even the large and small intestine. This mega nerve is always regulating our key bodily functions, to maintain balance and stability amidst the ever-changing conditions that we experience. Homeostasis (stability in our biological systems) is not just crucial for our very survival (shivering to keep us warm, sweating to keep us cool), it allows us to thrive; for our body, brain and mind to function optimally.
The Vagus Nerve plays an integral role in homeostasis because it connects the sprawling areas of the body, providing a feedback loop where it can gather information from receptors and pass this data to the brain and other relevant areas of the body that can then make necessary changes or responses to keep us in balance. It can regulate heart rate, digestion, blood sugar, and even our immune responses.
And this complex and extremely long nerve (it is hard to pinpoint the average length of it as it varies greatly between individuals, but we know it has around 105,000 fibres on the right side of the nerve and around 87,000 on the left side) is paramount to a healthy nervous system.
The vagus nerve & the nervous system
We have 2 sides to our nervous system; the ‘parasympathetic’ (rest and digest mode) and ‘sympathetic’ (preparation for fight/flight/freeze responses). The vagus nerve is primarily focused on that calmer, restorative parasympathetic mode and ensures we access this state to keep equilibrium (this state lowers stress and anxiety). The stronger and more ‘toned’ a vagus nerve is the better, as at optimum capacity it supports a person’s entire health and wellbeing.
But what if this amazing nerve becomes damaged? Someone asked this recently in one of my classes because this nerve can be cut during various surgeries among other things. The short answer (I am no scientist!) is that it does have the capacity to regenerate. The vagus nerve is classed as ‘periphery’, meaning it contains axoms (transmissions of electrical pulses away from the cells in the nerve) with the natural capacity for regrowth. However regeneration can be a very slow process and depends on key factors like severity and location of the damage. Here’s the good news: we can improve the tone of our own vagus nerve using some simple breath meditation techniques, and even those with a damaged vagus nerve can use these to potentially aid recovery and support their holistic health and wellbeing.
A simple way to strengthen the vagus nerve
When we inhale the cells in our lungs stretch, this causes the brain to ease off the ‘vagus break’, which means the heart rate accelerates, putting us into the ‘sympathetic’ nervous system where we’re in preparation for fight/flight/freeze responses.
When we exhale the cells in the lungs return to normal, the brain therefore applies the ‘vagus break’, the heart rate slows down and the nervous system is in the ‘parasympathetic’ mode, where our body and mind is in ‘rest and digest’.
So, if we extend our exhale, we’re stimulating the vagus nerve and helping tone it, by keeping it in that ‘rest and digest’ mode for longer periods than the ‘fight/flight/freeze’ mode.
Here’s how to start a simple extended exhale breathing technique*:
Inhale for 3...Exhale or 5
Sit comfortably on a chair or the ground and either close your eyes or allow your gaze to be soft, bringing your attention inwards to your natural breath for a few moments.
Begin the extended exhales by counting to 3 inside your mind for your inhale, then allowing your exhale to lengthen, counting to 5 inside your mind. You could also try tapping your finger on your leg to track the counting.
Know that it may take several rounds to get into the flow, and ensure you still breathe at your own pace; you pick the speed of your counting and you are always in control. Stop if it feels uncomfortable, take a few normal breaths then try again when you feel ready.
As you become more comfortable with this technique you can use it almost anytime anywhere for 5-10 breaths, with your eyes open, to access the calmer rest and digest state. You could add it to you daily routine...maybe use this breathing technique while the kettle boils, while you wait in the queue at a shop, or whenever you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
By breathing with an extended exhale, we can access the quickest way of calming our nervous system, stimulating and strengthening the incredible vagus nerve so that it can better support our crucial biological functions, and all we need to do it is our own breath. What a nerve huh?
Emma x
*As always, if you are new to meditation, please read the below health and safety statement before trying it: Meditation is a safe and effective stress management tool. However, if any of the following applies to you, it is your responsibility to seek consent from your healthcare provider before starting meditation: Under supervision with mental health team or healthcare provider / Depression / Bipolar / Schizophrenia / Epilepsy / Complex PTSD