![]() ![]() You can also achieve the same effect by holding a ziplock bag filled with ice cubes against your face and holding your breath. Splashing cold water on your face, or taking a cold shower, stimulates the dive reflex, which is associated with stimulating the vagus nerve. Lower vagal tone is associated with mood instability, depression, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive impairment, chronic inflammation, and cardiovascular disease. Most importantly, it is associated with increased emotional stability, resiliency and longevity. It leads to better blood sugar regulation, reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, improved digestion and a reduction in migraines. Higher vagal tone is associated with better general health. The higher the tone, the more efficient you are at relaxing. The higher your vagal tone, the greater the difference between your inhalation heart-rate and your exhalation heart-rate. As you breathe out, it slows down a little. As you breathe in, your heart-rate speeds up a little. Heart rate variability is a way to measure vagal tone. The tone of the vagus nerve is significant to the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. It is the longest nerve in the body and it influences heart rate, respiration, and digestion. The nerve was named the “wandering” nerve for the meandering path it takes from the brain to all the organs in the chest and abdomen. Watch this clip from YouTube to get a visual of how the vagus nerve begins to influence the rest and digest qualities of our parasympathetic nervous system. Learning how to stimulate your vagus nerve allows you to bring about the calm, collected feeling we all desire. It functions like your body’s natural reset button. The vagus nerve is the most influential nerve in our parasympathetic nervous system. If there isn’t a real 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. If our nervous system detects a threat, real or perceived, it will trigger our fight/flight/freeze response. Our sympathetic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that mobilizes us into action. ![]() That out of control feeling is usually associated with the sympathetic nervous system. Here are a few tips for learning how to self-soothe when it feels like your thoughts or body have taken over. Are you feeling a little out of control? Like you don’t know how to calm yourself down? Most of us do, at one time or another. ![]()
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