Tone Your Vagus Nerve: Two Techniques You can Do Now to Support Vagal Regulation

Inputs such as a tuning fork along the vagus or at the mastoid process is another way to upregulate the vagus!

"One of my favorite vagal tone exercises to give my patients is simple, can be done nearly anywhere and any time, and is generally enjoyable to everyone I have prescribed this exercise to."

-Dr. Jessie

WHAT IS THE VAGUS NERVE?

The Vagus Nerve is one of the most profoundly influential nerve complexes in the human body. It serves both as a cranial and peripheral nerve - a unique feature that links its function intimately between the brain & emotional states to digestion and visceral structures throughout the body. The Vagus is actually two nerves on each side of the body with many, many branches.

These very long nerves originate in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem, exit through the jugular foramen, and travel down the neck within the carotid sheath, branching extensively to the heart, lungs, throat, esophagus, lower esophageal sphincter, and nearly every digestive organ including the stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine, and upper large intestine via celiac and superior mesenteric plexuses. The Vagus also exerts gut-brain axis effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.

Approximately 80-90% of vagal fibers are sensory (afferent), carrying information from organs back up to the brain, while the rest are motor (efferent), providing control from the brain to the organs. The "Vagal brake" refers to the influence that the vagus nerve has on the SA node of the heart, putting on the brakes so that a resting heart rate remains 60 beats per minute for adults; if we were to remove your vagus nerve, your resting heart rate would be upwards of 90-100 BPM. This resting heart rate check is a quick way to self-assess your own vagal tone! A high heart rate indicates low vagal tone or dysregulation.

WHAT IS VAGAL TONE?

Vagal tone is a way to describe how active or inactive your vagus nerves are at a given time, an indicator of how all the functions that are monitored and regulated by the vagus nerve are working. You can think of vagal tone in a similar way you might think of muscle tone. A toned muscle is strong, flexible and available to engage or relax when appropriate. When the vagus nerve is toned, it functions optimally, engaging appropriate emotional self- and co-regulation, supporting digestion, providing heart rate variability and normal sinus rhythm, normalizing blood pressure, keeping inflammation at bay, and many more functions.

HOW DO WE MEASURE OR TRACK VAGAL TONE?

There are various methods to identify and keep track of vagal tone, including following:

• Heart Rate Variability

• Uvular Test for Vagal function

• Vitals such as heart rate (BPM), breath rate, and blood pressure (mmHg)

• Vocal quality, hoarseness, lump in throat sensation

• Digestive function (constipation or IBS can indicate poor vagal tone)

• Valsalva response

• Tilt table

• Emotional status

• Presentation of symptoms (see the drop-down list below)

During an exercise or a vagal treatment session, we keep track of vagal tone using the above metrics to ensure that the treatment approaches we apply are effective.

WHAT DOES THE VAGUS NERVE DO?

Vagus nerve functions are many: from reducing inflammation in the body to controlling peristalsis and digestive enzymes, heart rate, breath rate, and blood pressure regulation, and even sexual function. The Vagus can be dysregulated by stress, trauma, or infection and begin to express poor tone, resulting in a myriad of pathological conditions or impairments. Some vagally-mediated conditions appear very suddenly, whereas others are like a slow burn, gradually increasing over time.

WHAT ARE SYMPTOMS OF LOW VAGAL TONE?

Click the drop-down for a list of symptoms and causes of vagus nerve hypofunction:

A-FIB (atrial fibrillation)

Adolescent Trauma

Accident History

Acid Reflux

ADHD

Adrenal Exhaustion

Adrenal Fatigue

Allergies

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Appetite Changes

Asthma

Autoimmune Disease

Back Pain

Blood Pressure Conditions (High or Low, Orthostatic HTN)

Cancer

Cardiovascular Conditions

Chronic Pain

Concentration Issues

Cold Hands & Feet

Congestive Heart Failure

Constipation

COPD

Covid-19 history

Cry easily

Depression

Detoxification Disorder

Diarrhea

Digestive Disorders

Disordered Drinking / Smoking

Disordered Eating

Dizziness

Early Childhood Trauma

Epstein-Barr Virus

Eye / Facial Tension

Fertility Challenges

Fibromyalgia

Frequent Flu

Forgetfulness

Gastroparesis

GERD

Glucose Sensitivity

Hiatal Hernia

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Headaches

Heart palpitations

Hoarse Voice

Home Environment is Unsafe

Hopelessness

Hormone Imbalances

Hyperventilation

Inflammatory Condition

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Infections

Insomnia

Irregular Heartbeat

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritability / Anger

Loss of Voice / Decreased Volume

Lump in Throat

Lyme Disease

Excessive use of Medication

Memory issues

Menstrual Pain (excessive)

Metabolism Changes

Migraines

Mold Exposure

Motion Sickness

Multiple Sclerosis

Muscle Tension

Chronic neck & shoulder muscle soreness

Nightmares / Night Terrors

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

POTS

Restlessness / Restless Leg Syndrome

Loss of Libido / Sex Drive

Shortness of Breath

SIBO

Skin problems

Sleep Apnea

Sleep Issues

Sore throat

Stomach Acid Changes

Swallowing Difficulties

Excessive Sweating

Surgical History (at any time)

Tense, hard muscles

Thyroid Dysfunction

Tinnitus (Ringing in Ears)

Tooth grinding

Toxic Load

Trauma

Stomach Ulcer

Weight Fluctuation

Excessive Worries

Vaccine injury

Vertigo

So: what can I do about it?

#1 EXERCISE YOU CAN DO NOW: HUMMING FOR VAGAL TONE

Humming:

• Set a timer for 3 minutes.

• Press start, and start humming on every exhale.

• Exhale, humming as long as you can. Inhale comfortably, then exhale a long, slow, smooth hummmm again. Continue for the full duration of the 3 minutes.

• If it's feeling good, keep going! It doesn't have to sound pretty, you don't even have to like singing, but the vibration that is created by humming is initiated in part by the vagus nerves, which provide instructions & innervation to aspects of the larynx and the lower 2/3 of the vocal cords.

• Additionally, the vibration created by humming serve to provide sensory inputs to the vagus nerves, triggering safety and regulation signals to the aspects of the vagus that course down the sides of the larynx on their way to the many branches that exist below.

Hum along with this video if you wish!

HUMMING FOR VAGAL TONE TIPS:

• Don't strain your throat as you hum.

• Just create a gentle, pleasant vibration in your throat.

• Practice in this way daily until 3 minutes passes easily. Then, you can try increasing by one minute per week if you remain active with the practice.

• You can progress by exploring moving the vibration to different locations: low throat into the chest / heart, upper throat high in the back of the mouth, more forward in your body, farther back in the body.

• Keep it playful, enjoyable, and light.

#2 EXERCISE FOR VAGAL TONE: HEARTMATH FOR BRAIN - HEART COHERENCE

HeartMath Quick Coherence technique is an evidence-based approach to improve your brain and heart coherence, leaning on vagal nerve pathways to influence the nervous system in profound ways. The best part is it only takes 2 minutes! Practice along with Dr. Jessie in the video:

BUT WHAT IF IT ISN'T WORKING?

If simple online vagal toning strategies don't seem to move the needle for you, do not dismay. This could mean that the true root cause of your vagal hypofunction is either not acknowledged or is not adequately being addressed. Vagal toning can be profound for many folks, but if the true underlying cause of the dysregulation is not being looked at, toning techniques can feel like a band-aid at best, rather than a curative approach to true nervous system healing. These techniques can be helpful, but may not be doing what the body needs for healing.

"I have seen many patients who are doing all the things for vagus regulation to no avail, only to recognize later that some undiagnosed mold toxicity, unresolved early childhood trauma, or faulty stress pattern is keeping them stuck in a loop that no amount of humming, gargling, cold plunging, or diaphragmatic parasympathetic breathing is going to un-lock. That's where root cause-oriented Frequency Medicine come in, to find the right diagnosis, reset the system, and get the nervous system back on track."

-- Dr. Jessie Tierney

Resonant Frequency Medicine

If this feels true for you, it may be worth looking more deeply into the potential root causes of vagal hypofunction. These root causes typically fall into one of three categories:

1. Unresolved Physical or Emotional Trauma

2. Stress

3. Underlying or Occult Infection

The good news is, there are many strategies to identify and work with all of these underlying factors, and Frequency Medicine (Frequency Specific Microcurrent and Frequency Specific PEMF Therapy) has the potential to support virtually all of the above.

LEARN MORE

Do you have questions? Are you curious about frequency therapies for Vagus Nerve regulation and support? If you are interested in learning more about the Vagus Nerve and additional strategies that can support vagal tone, book in for a free consultation with Dr. Jessie!

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