Hello and welcome to The Healthy Coconut Blog. This blog is dedicated to bringing you information on trauma and trauma healing from a holistic perspective. I’m Gabbie Bodkin, a licensed mental health counselor, and the author of this blog. Today I’ll be sharing information covering the Vagus Nerve.
More specifically I’ll be reviewing…
What is the vagus nerve?
What is vagal tone?
How to achieve a high vagal tone.
First off, it’s important to note that everyone can benefit from understanding the function of the vagus nerve and ways to increase vagal stimulation. The reason for this is because the vagus nerve is one of the main components of our parasympathetic nervous system, also known as “the rest and digest” mode or response.
What is the Vagus nerve?
The vagus nerve is the 10th longest cranial nerve that starts at the brain stem (base of the head and neck) and branches outward in a few directions. Most cranial nerves stay within the head and neck region but the vagus nerve specifically wanders up to the face, head and neck, weaves through the entire digestive tract, wraps around every organ, and ends in the colon. The vagus nerve is responsible for communicating information between the brain and body to signal that we are “safe” and can be in a state of “rest and digest” or be in a parasympathetic nervous system response state. When our vagus nerve is not activated we are in a state of “fight or flight” or the sympathetic response state- which is not ideal for optimal functioning.
If you’ve followed along my blog for some time now, you know how often I emphasize the fact that the brain is wired for survival and the brain is responsible for scanning our environment for danger and moving us into a mobilized/ “take action” state or a calm/ “rest and digest” state. When we are operating from a “rest and digest” state, our bodies are operating as they should- the organs are communicating well, we aren’t sending out inflammatory markers and alarm messengers and not surging our brain and bodies with the stress hormone called cortisol.
The coolest (I think) thing about the vagus nerve is that 80% of the communication between the brain and body is actually happening in the direction of body to brain. Only 20% of the communication is from brain to body. So this means that when we engage in body healing practices we are helping our brain and body switch into that restful state more quickly than when we try to solely rely on changing our thoughts or just mentally regulating without some form of body intervention.
What is Vagal Tone?
Vagal tone essentially is a fancy term used to describe how resilient our nervous system is. The more resilient our nervous system is, the higher vagal tone that we have and the less resilient it is, the lower the vagal tone.
We can measure vagal tone by calculating heart rate variability (the measure of variation between heart beats). The higher the heart rate variability, the more likely you have a high vagal tone. If you don’t have the ability to calculate your heart rate variability, you can determine your vagal tone by assessing symptom clusters.
For example, symptoms such as: difficulty falling and staying asleep, getting sick frequently, digestive issues, skin issues, difficulty regulating emotions, feeling on edge most of the time or feeling numb and immobilized most of the time, trouble concentrating, etc. would indicate a low vagal tone. Symptoms that are the opposite: easy time falling and staying asleep, generally healthy, no digestive or skin issues, can regulate quickly after experiencing unpleasant emotions, feeling calm and in control, would indicate a high vagal tone.
There are many things that can influence whether or not we have a high or low vagal tone. It really comes down to traumatic experiences and lifestyle choices. If someone has experienced childhood trauma, but they had the resources to process the trauma and maintained healthy lifestyle choices they can still have a high vagal tone. However if someone experienced childhood trauma, never fully processed the trauma and maintained unhealthy lifestyle choices or experienced more lifestyle adversity and chronic stress, their vagal tone would most likely be low.
How to achieve a high vagal tone
Here are the lifestyle choices that can directly relate to vagal tone:
Sleep hygiene
Nutrition habits
Exercise routines
Work/life balance
Financial status
Social interactions
Alcohol/ drug use
Cognitive stimulation
Spiritual connection
Sun exposure
Counseling history
If you want to increase your vagal tone, here are some things you can add in and things you can take out of your lifestyle to optimize on your nervous system health.
Add In’s
Sun exposure right when you wake up to set circadian rhythm
Eat nutrient dense foods
Exercise daily with moderate to high intensity movements at least 3 days per week
Cold exposure (i.e. cold plunge, face plunge)
Sauna sessions
Limited screen time
Meditative practices
Time in nature
Social engagement
Coping skills for unpleasant emotions
Good sleep hygiene
Stretching/yoga
Take out’s
Alcohol/drug use
Toxic relationships
Blue light before bed
Eating before bed
High stress
Poor posture
Sedentary lifestyle
Processed sugar
Processed foods
It’s important to note that as you aim to fine tune your vagal tone, you use a gradual approach to adopting lifestyle changes. This is so you can focus on implementing one change until it becomes a habit and sustainable. After something becomes easy and has been fully integrated into your lifestyle you can add more changes (one or two at a time).
Thank you all for reading this post. As always, I hope you found this information useful. This information is purely intended to inform, not to treat. If you are struggling with brain health issues or childhood trauma, speaking to a healthcare professional is recommended to receive a specific plan for treatment and healing based on your individual needs. You can follow along for more posts and psychoeducational tools on trauma and trauma healing from a holistic perspective. You can also check out my website, thehealthycoconut.com or Instagram the_healthycoconut for more resources or to book a free consult with me. If you found this blog helpful, please like and subscribe to support these resources.
Safety Disclaimer:
If you find any of this information triggering or do not feel safe being alone with your thoughts, call a support person or 911 if you feel you are at risk of hurting yourself or others. I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and I help adults heal from childhood trauma. Follow along for more self-help tools and psychoeducation on trauma and trauma healing.
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