The holidays are here! Are you feeling a little out of control or unable to calm yourself? Most of us do at one time or another, this time of year particularly.
I'm getting straight to it today, my friends. Following are a few tips for learning how to self-soothe when it feels like your thoughts or body have taken over. That out of control feeling is usually associated with the sympathetic nervous system.
To put it simply, our sympathetic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that mobilizes us into action. If our nervous system detects a threat, real or perceived (like that absurd comment from a family member), it triggers our fight/flight/freeze response. If there isn’t an actual threat, and we do not need the mobilization of our protective mechanisms, then we need to recruit our parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part that calms us down.
The vagus nerve is the most influential nerve in our parasympathetic nervous system. It functions like your body’s natural reset button. Thank you vagus nerve! Learning how to stimulate your vagus nerve allows you to bring about the calm, collected feeling we all desire.
Quick Ways To Activate Your Vagus Nerve
- Slow, rhythmic, diaphragmatic breathing.
- Splashing cold water on your face.
- Holding a bag of ice against your face or chest, with slow breathing.
- A more private way of doing this is by submerging your tongue in cold liquid.
- Meditating. If it has to be in your car or outside on the porch, so be it!
- Do yoga. It can be a quick 5 minutes of moment.
- Humming, or making the “om” sound stimulates the vocal cords and facilitates long, slow, exhalation.
- Valsalva Maneuver: Exhale against a closed airway by keeping your mouth closed and pinching your nose while trying to breathe out. It increases the pressure inside of your chest cavity thereby stimulating your vagus nerve.
- Spend time in nature.
- Prosody, the act of speaking slowly, rhythmically and melodically as if you’re soothing a young child.
- Engage in positive healthy relationships.
- Laugh loudly. A full belly laugh stimulates the vagus nerve and is contagious!
- Engage in gratitude or prayer.
- Mild exercise stimulates gut flow and the vagus nerve.
- Massages. Self massaging around the carotid sinus (sides of your neck) can stimulate the vagus nerve.
- Gargling activates the vagus nerve by activating the muscles in the back of the throat while exhaling slowly.
Yes, all that from the vagus nerve!
I invite you to start a daily practice of stimulating your vagus nerve. Going to an event? Keep some of these tips on hand. Small changes can have a big impact!