Vagus Nerve 101:

If you have ever noticed that a long slow exhale settles something in you — or that cold water on your face changes your state almost immediately — you have already met your vagus nerve. You just did not know its name.

It comes up a lot in the work I do, and I have been meaning to write a proper explanation of it for a while. Not the version you see on social media — “hack your nervous system in 30 seconds” — but the real one. What it actually is, what it actually does, and why supporting it matters so much for the women I work with.

If you would like to follow along with me, I also recorded an 11-minute video walkthrough — Vagus Nerve 101 — plus a short 5-minute practice you can do anywhere. You can watch it here →

What the vagus nerve actually is

The vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve — and it earns its name. Vagus is Latin for “wandering,” and that is precisely what it does: it wanders from the brainstem all the way down through the neck, chest, heart, lungs, and into the gut, branching as it goes.

It is the longest and most complex of all the cranial nerves. And it is the primary pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system — the system responsible for rest, digestion, recovery, and repair.

When people talk about “rest and digest” as the counterbalance to “fight or flight,” the vagus nerve is the physical structure that makes that possible. It is not a metaphor. It is anatomy.

What vagal tone means

Vagal tone refers to the activity level of the vagus nerve — how well it is doing its job of keeping the parasympathetic system engaged.

High vagal tone is associated with better emotional regulation, more resilience under stress, lower inflammation, improved digestion, better heart rate variability, and more restful sleep. The body recovers well. It can move between activation and calm with relative ease.

Low vagal tone is associated with anxiety, poor digestion, chronic inflammation, disrupted sleep, a heightened stress response, and difficulty returning to calm after something activates you. The nervous system gets stuck in the on position.

Vagal tone is not fixed. It responds to how you live, breathe, move, eat, and rest. This is what makes it so important — and so workable.

Heart rate variability — HRV — is considered the gold standard measure of vagal tone. If you track it on a wearable, higher HRV generally indicates better vagal function. You may notice it shifting as your breathing and rest practices develop.

Signs that your vagal tone may be low

These are some of the patterns I see most often in the women I work with:

You find it difficult to wind down in the evening, even when you are exhausted. You startle easily, or feel on edge without a clear reason. Your digestion is sluggish, irregular, or uncomfortable. You get ill more often than you used to, or take longer to recover. Your sleep is light, fragmented, or not restorative even when you get enough hours. You feel the effects of stress for much longer than the stressful event warrants.

None of this is a personal failing. It is physiology. And it shifts when you give it the right conditions.

The part most people miss: your gut

Here is what rarely comes up in the vagus nerve conversation online: approximately 80% of the nerve fibres in the vagus nerve carry information upward — from the gut to the brain, not the other way around.

This means your gut is not passively waiting for instructions from your brain. It is actively sending signals up through the vagus nerve, constantly. The state of your gut — its microbiome, its inflammation levels, its serotonin production (and 90% of your serotonin is made in the gut) — directly influences how your brain feels, how your nervous system responds, and how well your vagus nerve functions.

This is why gut health and nervous system health are not separate conversations. They are the same conversation. Poor gut health suppresses vagal signalling. Good gut health supports it.

Supporting your gut is, in a very real and physiological sense, supporting your vagus nerve.

How to support your vagus nerve

These are the approaches with the strongest evidence — and the ones I use both personally and with clients:

Slow, conscious breathing — particularly a longer exhale than inhale. The physiological sigh (double inhale through the nose, long exhale through the mouth) is one of the fastest ways to shift vagal tone. Even three repetitions changes your state.

Humming, singing, or chanting — the vagus nerve is connected to the muscles of the throat and larynx. Vibration in the throat directly stimulates it. This is not incidental — it is why certain practices have always used sound.

Cold water on the face or back of the neck — activates the dive reflex, which triggers a rapid parasympathetic response. A cool shower, a cold flannel, even a bowl of cold water.

Restorative yoga and supported rest — particularly with proper support for the head and neck. The neck is rich in proprioceptors and the position of the chin has a direct influence on vagal activation. This is why how you are held in a pose matters as much as the pose itself.

Gut-supportive nutrition — fermented foods, diverse plant fibre, anti-inflammatory eating. What you feed your microbiome affects the signals your gut sends upward through the vagus nerve.

Social connection and safety — the vagus nerve is sensitive to relational cues. A genuine conversation, laughter, feeling seen and understood — these are not soft additions to nervous system health. They are direct inputs.

A note on vagal stimulation devices

You may have come across wearable devices designed to stimulate the vagus nerve electronically — ear clips, wristbands, and similar products are increasingly on the market. I am aware they exist, and I am not dismissing them entirely. Some research, particularly in clinical settings, does suggest a degree of benefit for specific conditions.

But my honest view — from both the evidence and my own practice — is that the foundational approaches remain the most effective, the most sustainable, and the most accessible for the majority of us.

A slow breathing practice costs nothing. Humming in the car costs nothing. A restorative session, a nourishing meal that supports your gut microbiome, a genuine human connection — these are not inferior alternatives to technology. They are the thing itself. The vagus nerve evolved over millions of years to respond to breath, sound, movement, touch, and safety. Those remain its most natural inputs.

I would always reach for the breath first. It is free, it is immediate, and it works.

The vagus nerve is not a trend. It has been doing this work in your body your entire life. What changes is whether you are giving it the conditions to function well — or depleting it further with a pace, a diet, and an environment it was never designed to sustain.

Small, consistent inputs matter more than dramatic interventions. Five minutes of slow breathing every morning. A restorative practice once a week. Meals that support the gut. A little less rushing.

Come and experience this in person — Verve Studio, this month

I am hosting a 90-minute Restorative Immersion Group Session at Verve Studio — a deep rest, resilience, and release practice designed to support exactly what we have been talking about today.

This is a special offering. Verve Studio is going through some changes this August — a new look, ready for September. It may be a little different on the other side. So if you have been coming to classes there over the years, or if you have been curious and this is the right moment to try — please come and enjoy this beautiful space as it is, before it changes.

Immerse into an evening of calm, rest, and restore. Fully supported. Fully held.

90-minute Restorative Immersion · Verve Studio · £28. Book your place through this link → or email me on julia@neurowellness.one

If you'd like to go deeper — Slovakia, November

Four nights of full immersion in nervous system regulation, restorative yoga, and gut-brain nutrition — with the vagus nerve running as a thread through all of it. Small group. Intentional space.

24 November · Women's NeuroWellness Retreat · Slovakia

Come and explore deeper → julia@neurowellness.one

With warmth,
Julia 🌿

P.S. The vagus nerve is one of the threads running through both the Somatic Gentle Movement and Restorative Yoga pages on the website — if you'd like to go deeper into how this translates into practice. You can find them both under Programme.