10 vagus nerve exercises for in between

Have you also noticed that you come across the “vagus” more and more often in magazines or on websites? The vagus plays an important role in our nervous system and is significantly involved in how well (or not well) we can deal with challenges. You can train it to work well. And with some very simple exercises directly in everyday life.

With these 10 simple vagus nerve exercises, you can consciously activate your recovery nerve and send positive stimuli from your brain to the rest of your body. Click on each individual exercise and you will find brief scientific explanations as well as information on how the exercise works.

1. Bauchatmung

To improve the ability to regenerate, digestion, reduce stress and switch off. Whether in the office or on the move, you can do this exercise anywhere.

In stressful situations, we tend to breathe shallowly and quickly. With this exercise, we consciously draw attention to our breathing.

This is how it works:

Sit up straight with your spine straight and close your eyes. Draw your attention to your abdominal wall and place your palms on your stomach. Now consciously breathe into your stomach and against your hands for 3-4 seconds. Feel the lifting of the abdominal wall. As you exhale, which should also take 3-4 seconds, you will feel your stomach retract.

Repeat this exercise 10 times and incorporate it into your daily routine.

Over time, you will notice how your deepened abdominal breathing has become automatic and relaxation sets in faster and faster.

2. herzhaft Lachen

Laughing helps to reduce stress hormones! It strengthens the psyche and promotes the vagus nerve. Why not book an hour of laughter yoga! If heart rate variability is measured, an increase in HRV would be detected during laughter (“Effect of laughter yoga on mood and heart rate variability in patients awaiting organ transplantation: a pilot study.”Dolgoff-Kaspar et al., 2012). Conversely, vagus nerve stimulation can also lead to loud laughter.

Or make a date with your loved ones. Positive social relationships also promote the vagus and feelings of happiness (“How positive emotions build physical health: perceived positive social connections account for the upward spiral between positive emotions and vagal tone“. Kok et al., 2013).

3. Singen

If you measure with our My Autonom Health software and receive the performance “Exhaustion” during Autolenken, you will receive the following tip: Recharge your batteries with singing! Turn up the radio and sing along loudly. Because music is a powerful pick-me-up.

If you don’t like singing along so loudly, you can also hum along. As the vagus nerve runs along the vocal cords and the esophagus, the nerve is activated by the voice.

4. kalt duschen

Did you know that cold stimuli also stimulate the vagus nerve?

Start the day with alternating showers. First let the cold water run slowly over your arms and legs and then over your whole body, especially along your neck.

Cold dampens the sympathetic nervous system, the stimulating part of our nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system, which includes the vagus nerve, becomes active.

5. Kuscheln Sie mit der Nachbarskatze und dem Bürohund

Allow yourself 5 minutes every now and then to grab your pet and cuddle it. This stimulates both your own and your pet’s vagus and you can relax together

6. Progressive Muskelentspannung nach Jacobsen (PMR)

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)

In PMR – progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobsen – the aim is to achieve a state of deep relaxation throughout the body by deliberately tensing and relaxing certain muscle groups.

Exercise: Lie comfortably on your back and close your eyes. Make sure you breathe deeply and calmly.

Now concentrate on your right forearm and your right hand. Slowly clench your hand into a fist. Feel the tension in the muscles of your right hand. Tighten the muscles more and more and hold the tension for 5-7 seconds. Now open your hand and let it fall loosely back to the floor. Feel how the tension disappears from your hand.

Now concentrate on your left forearm and your left hand. Slowly clench your hand into a fist. Feel the tension in the muscles of your right hand. Tighten the muscles more and more and hold the tension for 5-7 seconds. Now open your hand and let it fall loosely back to the floor. Feel the tension disappear from your hand and enjoy the sensation.

Concentrate on the whole right arm and the right hand. Slowly clench your hand into a fist and tense your whole arm. Tighten the muscles more and more and hold the tension for a few seconds. Relax your hand and arm again and enjoy the feeling that spreads throughout your right arm.

Now concentrate on your entire left arm and left hand. Slowly clench your hand into a fist and tense your whole arm. Tighten the muscles more and more and hold the tension for a few seconds. Relax your hand and arm again and enjoy the feeling that spreads throughout your left arm.

Now concentrate on your face.

Squint your eyes and feel the tension. Hold the tension for a few seconds. Now relax your eyes again and feel how your muscles relax.

Now frown and feel the tension. Hold the tension for a few seconds. Then relax your forehead again and feel your muscles relax.

Now concentrate on your mouth. Pull up the corners of your mouth and feel the tension. Hold the tension for a few seconds. Then relax your mouth again and feel how the muscles relax again.

Now concentrate on your jaw: clench your teeth tightly and feel the tension. Hold the tension for a few seconds. Then let the jaw relax again and feel how the muscles relax again.

Now concentrate on your neck and back muscles. Pull your shoulder blades together, push your head forward and press your body towards the floor. Tighten the muscles a little more and hold the tension for a few seconds. Then relax the muscles again and enjoy the feeling of relaxation that settles over your neck and back muscles.

Now concentrate on your right leg and your right foot. Stretch your leg and tense your leg muscles. Tense the muscles a little more and hold the tension for a few seconds. Relax the leg again and feel how the tension disappears from the leg.

Now concentrate on your left leg and your left foot. Stretch your leg and tense your leg muscles. Tense the muscles a little more and hold the tension for a few seconds. Relax the leg again and feel how the tension disappears from the leg

7. Bewegung an der frischen Luft

Enjoy along walk in the fresh air, take time for a relaxed jog or brisk walk, book an hour of yoga. Get your circulation going regularly.

Researchers have shown in various studies (e.g. see blog “Yoga ignites your fire of life” ) have found that adequate exercise is good for our psyche and has a positive influence on our autonomic nervous system

8. Gurgeln

A simple exercise in times of gargle tests, right? Gargling activates the vagus nerve as it runs along the vocal cords and the esophagus.

So how about adding gargling with a mouthwash to our daily tooth brushing routine

9. Übung “Kopf drehen”

This is how the exercise works:

Slowly turn your head to the left and fix your eyes on something close to you. Then slowly turn your head to the right and focus on an object with your eyes. Repeat a few times to stimulate the part of the vagus nerve that runs through the neck

10. Herz-Atemübung

Turning the head towards the heart

The breath is not forced, but allowed. As soon as this is possible, lower your head with your chin towards your heart as you inhale. On the exhale, the head straightens up again. For a moment, you can then enjoy the upright position, which happens during the breathing pause. The process begins anew with the insertion of the next inhalation. During the exercise, the inner concentration is focused on own heart While seated, the forearms can be placed loosely on the thighs. When standing with your feet hip-width apart, your arms can simply hang loosely out from your shoulders and do not practise for longer than 3 minutes at the beginning – it can sometimes lead to dizziness

Vagus nerve explained simply

In order to understand the significance of the vagus, we will describe below what the vagus actually is, what it does and what it can do.

“Vagari”, from the Latin, means “to wander”.

The vagus is the longest of our twelve cranial nerves and belongs to the parasympathetic nervous system. It begins in the brain, runs through the neck, extends across the chest, splits into left and right vagus and leads to the heart, lungs, stomach, pancreas, intestines, etc.

The vagus is therefore directly connected to everything that is important. Because it connects the brain with the abdominal cavity, it controls blood sugar, breathing, heart rate, the release of digestive juices, tears and much more.

There is another theory, the polyvagal theory (Porges). A distinction is made between a posterior and anterior vagus nerve. The front one reacts faster and has the tasks of self-healing, recovery, digestion, contact and communication. An active anterior vagus is the normal case and predominant in a healthy organism. However, if this is overwhelmed, the sympathetic nervous system is activated and the organism switches to “fight or flight” mode. If there is no solution, the parasympathetic nervous system takes over and the posterior vagus shuts down all functions – the organism stops, freezes, blood pressure drops, dizziness, a slowed pulse, etc. set in.

The vagus can therefore be strong or weak. If it is strong, the body can recover well after stress, heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and digestion are ideal. There are studies that describe a positive correlation between a strong vagal tone and positive emotions and health. High vagotonus is associated with increased serotonin and dopamine levels and better interpersonal relationships.
A weak vagus, on the other hand, is associated with inflammation, increased susceptibility to illness, negative emotions and even depression, heart attacks or strokes.
This is why it is so important to train our rest and recovery nerve. With our 10 exercises described here, it can be activated in a targeted way, inner tensions are released and we can deal with stress better.