A Mindfulness Teacher's Go-To Breathing Exercise To Stimulate The Vagus Nerve

It has been said that the longest journey in the world is the distance between the head and the heart. However, for the vagus nerve, it’s all in day’s work. The word "vagus" comes from the Latin word for "wandering." This is because the vagus nerve “wanders” from the brain through the neck, into the chest and abdomen, transmitting critical information along the way.

The vagus nerve is the longest and most complex of the 12 nerves connected to the brain and spinal cord. It has several important functions, from transmitting sensory information to aiding the movements of speech and swallowing.

The nervous system has two branches: sympathetic, which is responsible for alertness, and the parasympathetic, which helps with relaxation. The vagus nerve is the parasympathetic nervous system’s main informant, letting it know when to activate, which it does by slowing the heart rate, increasing digestive motility, and lowering blood pressure and inflammation.

I’ve written a lot about the amygdala and its relationship with the fight, flight, or freeze response (the sympathetic nervous system). In the same way that oxygen from deep breaths cues the amygdala that it’s safe to stop sounding the alarm, deep breathing also signals the vagus nerve to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

The vagus nerve takes clues from our breathing patterns and sends that information to the heart1 and the brain. Breathing slowly also slows the heart rate, which relaxes the body. The healthiest heart has a constantly varying beat, in a measure known as heart rate variability, or HRV. If you want to increase your HRV (yes, this is a good thing!) and reduce your stress1, deep breathing with a longer exhale than inhale can help.