Put the Brakes on Your Stress

You may have noticed the current trend for “breakthrough” scientific articles about Vagal Nerve Stimulation and references to the “poly-vagal theory” to improve your health.

In a nutshell- your Vagus nerve helps you “put the brakes on” your stress response. It is part of your Parasympathetic Nervous System that is the anecdote to the fight, flight, or freeze stress response. The Vagus nerve is linked to the “Rest and Digest” response to slow down your heart rate and breathing and decrease the amped-up stress hormone response so you can relax. It controls the involuntary functions of digestion, heart rate, and breathing.

The left and right vagal cranial nerve fibers relay information between your brain, your heart, your lungs, and your digestive system. They run along each side of your neck from your brain to your gut.

The good news about this natural built-in stress resilience system is that you stimulate these nerve bundles every time you take long, slow breaths. Breathing slowly down into your belly is key to creating calm during moments of mindful awareness. When you feel anxious or stressed, pausing to take a few long deep breaths is key to putting the brakes on to slow down your anxious stressed system.

Other ways to stimulate the calming effect of the Rest and Digest system are when you sing, chant, hum, have a good laugh, or exercise. Both the vibration of the vocal cords and the slow deep inhales and exhales will naturally stimulate your Vagus nerve system to put the brakes on your stress response and facilitate calm.

Two specific practices for mindful awareness directly trigger this calming response.

The Pause-Notice-Choose practice can be done anywhere, anytime in a meeting, in the car, or at your desk. It acts like an instant stress reboot. This is how it works:

1. Pause: take 2-3 slow deep breaths into your lower belly with slow exhales
2. Notice: Pay attention to what you are sensing or how you are feeling in that moment without judging what you notice as good or bad.? What is your truth at this moment? Name it.
3. Choose: What action can you take to support yourself that will empower you and not sabotage you? Empower with ten more deep breaths? A stretch? A drink of water? Taking a walk? Vs. sabotage by numbing distractions like stress eating and social media scrolling.

4-7-8 Breath (or any count of Box Breathing) This one is good for quieting a busy mind and calming overwhelmed or triggered emotions. It comes from Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, from Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

• Inhale deeply for a count of 4

• Hold your breath for a count of 7

• Exhale slowly for a count of 8

Repeat for 4 cycles

You will see a lot of research on the benefits of Vagus Nerve Stimulation from the medical standpoint and you can start working with your built-in system today.

For more Stress Mastery Tools and Tips check out my book on Amazon and Audible:

“Courage to Shine. How to Feel Confident Outside Your Comfort Zone”.

You can schedule your Stress Mastery Consultation or Workshop at www.Directions4Wellness.com