Creating Safety with Food Through Toning Your Vagus Nerve

I share frequently here about how eating can be a way to numb out from the body. Eating can be a distraction from the emotions and sensations that feel too much to be with. Eating can also be an invitation into connection with your body. When you eat, you're stimulating all of your senses and bringing yourself into this present moment. When your body has felt unsafe to be in, food can then become an overwhelming sensory experience. Every time you’re about to come into relationship with food, you may notice anxiety and fear which may create an impulse to then want to stay away from food to not feel these emotions. If you resonate with this kind of experience with food, then your body is going to need support knowing it’s safe first before you start to eat.

One of the resources you can utilize to cultivate that sense of safety can be through vagus nerve toning exercises.

The vagus nerve originates in the brainstem and travels down through the neck, chest, and abdomen, branching out to various organs. It is the main nerves in the parasympathetic nervous system and so it plays an important role in your ability to optimally rest and digest. The vagus nerve regulates heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate, and is the highway of communication between the brain and the gut, heart, and lungs.

The vagus nerve plays an important role in stress. When activated, it facilitates a relaxation response where you will feel more calm, at ease, and less stressed. However, chronic stress can inhibit the vagus nerve, and increase the experience of anxiety, depression, and digestive issues in your body. A well toned vagus nerve provides better emotional resilience. An undertoned vagus nerve can contribute to food coping mechanisms as your body struggles to regulate.

The vagus nerve is under discussed when it comes to your ability to enjoy your meal. As you eat, the vagus nerve is activated releasing digestive enzymes and enhancing nutrient absorption. And, as the stomach expands with food, stretch receptors are activated, sending signals through the vagus nerve to the brain. This triggers the release of hormones like CCK and PYY, which create a feeling of satiation prompting you to stop eating. The more toned your vagus nerve is, the better communication that occurs from your gut to your brain, which will enhance your ability to interpret hunger and fullness cues accurately.

A toned vagus nerve is going to support you in feeling safer in your body and also create greater capacity to navigate the anxiety that shows up when interacting with food. 

Here are 5 vagal toning exercises you can utilize before you eat to stimulate your vagus nerve

1. Deep belly breathing

Slow abdominal breathing, especially making your exhale longer than your inhale, stimulates the relaxation response and tones the vagus nerve. Before you eat, you can place your hands on your belly and inhale on a count of 4, hold for a second, and then exhale on a count of 6. You can do this for 3 rounds and observe the gentle rocking of your hands moving up and down as your belly expands and contracts.

2. Singing, humming, or gargling

The vagus nerve passes the vocal cords so any act that activates this part of your body is going to stimulate your vagus nerve. As I've recently shared, my favorite vagal toning exercise to do before I eat is to gargle water. You can also play with humming or singing one of your favorite songs.

3. Cold pack on the back of your neck

Research has found cold stimulation can activate the parasympathetic nervous system. One of the most effective places on your body to stimulate the vagus nerve through cold exposure is on the back of your neck.

4. Meditation and yoga

These mindful practices can decrease your fight or flight response and increase your vagal tone. Before your meal, you can lie down on the floor, draw your knees into your chest and then drop them to the right as you open your arms into a T-shape. You can keep your head straight looking up at the ceiling or turn your face to the left. Then, you can switch sides. Twists can promote peristalsis enhancing digestion. You can also experiment with taking a minute to close your eyes and focus on your breath. 

5. Laughter

Laughing makes us breathe into our belly and this deep rhythmic breathing that occurs while we laugh can tone the vagus nerve. Laughter also reduces cortisol so that your vagus nerve can properly function. This is where social media can be used as a resource where you can watch funny videos before you start eating.

A lack of safety around food can be offering you many different bodily messages. You don't always need to understand why you feel unsafe. The practice can be to trust what you're receiving from your body and support it the best you can in the moment. If you try out some of these vagus nerve toning exercises when around food, email me at support@stephaniemara.com anytime and let me know how it's going. And, as a reminder, if you're enjoying the Satiated Podcast, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, become part of Satiated+, and share it with someone who you feel might be supported by these episodes.