Strengthen vagal tone in unique ways you never knew. Stress is a word that’s become all too common in our society, and it can have major effects on mental health.
However, there are ways to combat this stress through various techniques such as deep breathing or meditation, which help keep you calm.
Your nervous system functions remain under conscious control rather than sub-consciously controlled, as most things related to emotions happen nowadays.
The vagus nerve is a key player in managing stress and fear. When it is working properly, we have more control over our emotions and the ability to combat anxious feelings like anxiety or panic with ease.
The information in this article will help you increase your vagal tone and live a healthier, happier life.
Table of Contents
Vagus Nerve? What is That?
The vagus nerve is the longest in our body, originating from the brain and traveling down to interact with every single major organ. It helps control the parasympathetic or ‘rest and digest’ part of the nervous system, which has an opposite effect on flight-or-fight response as seen through sympathetic chain gangrene actions happening at higher levels within the same structure.
Understand What Vagal Tone Is
The vagus nerve is the key to activating your parasympathetic nervous system. Vagal tone can be measured by tracking heart rate and breathing rates, as they speed up when we breathe in but slow down slightly during the exhalation period.
Stress is an inevitable part of life, but it doesn’t have to be debilitating. A person’s vagal tone can help them recover more quickly from stress and maintain health over time by relaxing their body faster after a stressful event or situation has ended.
A high-level difference between inhalation heart rate vs exhalations indicates greater amounts in power-related areas such as breathing patterns. And low values indicate less strain placed on these systems, which may lead one towards healthier living habits overall.
What High Vagal Tone is Associated With
High vagal tone improves the function of many-body systems, which are responsible for better blood sugar regulation and reduced risk of stroke or cardiovascular disease. It also helps digestion through improved production rates from stomach enzymes like gastric acidity and pepsinogen.
The vagal tone of voice is an interesting and important factor in our emotional well-being. It can influence how we feel, think about things, stress or anxiety levels, among other emotions that may come up for us at any time during the day without warning.
One way to strengthen your brain’s connection with this muscle fibers ability (the nerves) would be through meditation and other unique ways.
According to studies done on those who practice meditation, there is a significant reduction in cortisol release rates when compared to people without regular meditation practices over eight weeks.
What High Low Tone is Associated With
It has been shown that people with a low vagal tone are more likely to develop an inflammatory disorder. This link could be because of how the body’s natural defense system works, or it may also have something to do with what we eat and drink.
Unique Ways To Increase Vagal Tone
When the vagus nerve is active, it influences heart rate and breathing. It means that there are many techniques we can use to improve our physical health by calming this essential organ down through taping or otherwise stimulating its activity with certain practices like deep-breathing exercises.
There are many ways to help strengthen your vagus nerve, but here are the top five:
Deep Breathing
Your autonomic nervous system has an important role in regulating your breathing patterns. When you’re stressed or fearful, the way you breathe changes to be shallower and faster than when relaxed – but there are some other differences between calm times with deep breaths.
The next time you are anxious, take a deep breath and slow down your speeding heart. By consciously controlling this autonomic response with intentionality in mind- even if it’s only for an instant -you’ll trick your body into thinking that you are relaxed.
It’s not just the physical benefits of taking deep breaths that make them so good for your emotional well-being. Research suggests they can increase vagal tone, improve oxygen saturation levels in our bloodstream and decrease feelings associated with anxiety.
Cold Showers
Cold exposure has been said to increase vagal tone by enhancing the activity of your parasympathetic nervous system. It means that you will be more relaxed, calm, and in tune with yourself than usual when taking a cold shower or spending time outside during the winter months.
Research has shown that when you are first exposed to cold temperatures, your sympathetic nervous system kicks on.
However, once the person becomes adapted and acclimated to the type of climate change, it will result in more parasympathetic activity because there isn’t any threat anymore, which leads them into a different state called vagal dominance.
Cold showers are a great way to experience cold exposure. The best part about them? You only have 30 seconds before your body adapts, and then you can get into warm water.
Laughter is The Best Medicine
When the pleasures of friends are shared, everlasting laughter can be found in their company. As we share smiles and joys, our hearts find peace at day’s end when they refresh us like dew on flowers.
Our lives would lack much without these little moments spent together. Let them last long enough for both heartbeats to grow fonder.
Laughter is a great way to release tension. The increased activity of our low state’s system makes us feel happier while stimulating more calming hormones like serotonin which helps with sleep patterns and moods.
Laughter not only helps prevent SNS activity by releasing emotional stress, but it also improves our cardiovascular health. The diaphragmatic movements induced from laughing cause the heart rate and blood pressure to decrease.
Laughter is a powerful thing. It is the best way to end your day and start it off every morning with some good vibes! Not only does laughter leave you feeling happier, but there are plenty of proven health benefits too.
Hug
Hugs are one of the most comforting things to give and receive. When you hug someone, your body produces oxytocin (also known as “the love hormone”) which is released from your vagus nerve.
The release of oxytocin is intimately tied to feeling safe that it can be triggered from any type of positive social interaction. It includes things like hugs, kisses on the cheeks, and handshakes.
Cuddling is good for your heart. When you hug or cuddle, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which increases heart rate variability.
Take Probiotics
Your gut-brain axis is a highway of bi-directional information that travels from the brain to your metabolism.
Your brain and gut are constantly communicating with one another. The vagus nerve, which connects the two worlds of our body’s microbes (our microbiome) to mental activity in your central nervous system, is key for this communication process. It sends messages back up from where they come about what kind of information needs sending down again-gut instinct.
When you’re stressed, it can affect the health of your vagus nerve and allow inflammation to occur. This, in turn, impacts what’s going on with our microbes.
The connection between our gut and brain is so strong that it can alter how we feel. Probiotics are beneficial for the nervous system.
Harmonize Your Thoughts
The vagus nerve is a crucial part of your body’s nervous system that helps to regulate many different functions.
When we stimulate this network internally, it can send an environmental message for the mind and body to relax, which leads to long-term improvements in mood stability and resilience against future stressors or trauma exposure.
Strengthen vagal tone today and send a message to your body that it is time for relaxation and stress relief. It could improve moods with resilience levels. Fighting anxiety or depression is possible too.
It’s time for you to meet Xen. Tackle stress, boost sleep, improve focus. Neuvana’s vagus nerve stimulation device helps you with improving vagal tone just by listening to music. Discover more about this easy and stress reliever device.
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