Supporting Vagus Nerve Health

As you know, my training is in chiropractic. Chiropractors are doctors who have done the same number of credits as medical doctors. The difference is chiropractors focus on adjusting, nutrition and physiology. Medical doctors focus on pharmacology and they don’t know how to manually adjust the spine. 

In chiropractic school, spinal anatomy was a hard class for me. Once I got out of chiropractic school, I learned more about how supplements, nutrition, getting adjusted and exercise play into physiology and I loved it. Learning about functional physiology is more interesting to me. I love getting to apply what I learn and educate on it. Recently, I have been working more on my vagus nerve health. 

The vagus nerve is a spinal nerve. More specifically, it is the 10th cranial nerve. It comes out of cranium and goes all the way to the colon. It innervates (gives nerve energy) to every organ system from your head to your colon. Which is every organ system. That’s a LOT of power this one cranial nerve has. 

The vagus nerve is so important and I don’t think we talk about it enough. I don’t believe we work on our vagus nerve health enough. I am guilty of it myself. But I’m changing that and starting to work on my vagus nerve. 

The vagus nerve is responsible for a lot of communication in the body. The communication between the gut and the brain is vagus nerve communication. It also supports our parasympathetic (calm/ rest and digest) nervous system. In addition, the vagus nerve is involved with our mood, immune system and nervous system. 

The vagus nerve is very important.  So how do we know what we need to do with it.

Here are a few signs that our vagus nerve needs support:

• Low or almost no gag reflex
• Heart rate abnormalities
• Gut symptoms
• Hoarse voice
• Pain
• Blood sugar issues
• Adrenal fatigue
• Thyroid Issues
• Hard time detoxing

A lot of time there is a vagus nerve component to any of the symptoms listed above. In addition, stress of any kind can damage the vagus nerve. However, the opposite of stress builds the vagus nerve. 

We have all seen some cheesy wall art that says “laughter is the best medicine”.  When it comes to the vagus nerve, this is so true. Laughter and enjoying life is the opposite of stress. 

How do we work on vagus nerve and vagal nerve tone? 

So some of these are funny and sound weird but stick with me. Bring these things into daily life. 

Singing – sing loud in the car, in the shower, or have a karaoke party with your kids. 

Gargling – gargle really forcefully. Until you gag or almost gag. Maybe make it your routine to gargle after brushing your teeth or in the shower or bath. This kind of gargling isn’t that much fun. 

Box breathing – Breathing from the belly and practicing box breathing. Breathe in and hold for 4 seconds then exhale and hold for 4 seconds.  This kind of breathing is very calming to the body. 

Laughter – Laughter is the best medicine right?! Find ways to laugh throughout the day! 

Connecting with people – We need community and fellowshipping with others. It is so important for our health all around. The scriptures tell us this and so does science. 

Foot massages – You may need to convince your spouse to help you on this one. 

Cold exposure – A quick run outside in the cold or splashing cold water in your face should work. You can also do a quick splash in a cold shower or dunk your face in cold water for a couple of minutes.   

We all experience stress at times which means we can all work on our vagus nerve tone. This is one way we can add to our healthy lifestyle. Don’t stress about adding things into your routine to work on your vagus nerve. The stress won’t help anything. 

Add one or two things from the list above to your daily routine. If you are experiencing more signs that your vagus nerve could use support or you are doing more healing, add some more vagus nerve work. 

My goal is to make health stuff feel like you can do it. I hope that this feels actionable and simple to you to add to your healthy living routine.

Related Links & Resources:

• Blog Post: 6 Ways to Minimize Stress in Your Life
• Blog Post: How to Make Healthy Choices When You Lack Motivation
• Ep. 109: Encouragement for When Healthy Living Feels Hard

Thank you for reading! Interested in more ways to simplify you health? Join my 30 Day Simplify Your Health Challenge with the link below.