Vagus nerve and HRV

The vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. It has the power to lower inflammation, tame anxiety and ease gut symptoms.

Poor vagal function can cause IBS by slowing motility in the small intestine, lowering stomach and inflaming the gut lining. Improving vagal tone can heal and reverse these issues.

The vagus nerve connects the brain with the heart, lungs and gut, among many other organs, so it can regulate digestion, heart rate, mood, immunity, breathing, etc. These functions are involuntary, you can’t consciously control them. But you can use “lifestyle medicine” to tone the vagus nerve to improve how it functions.

This will help you breath, fee and digest better.

The “tone” of the vagal nerve determines how well it functions to balance the immune system and nervous system.

Toning the vagus nerve

There are different ways to tone the vagus nerve. You can vibrate it at the throat by singing loudly, gargling or gagging. These are the best known ways, but there are many other options.

Laughter is a good way to tone the nerve. If you don’t like watching comedies, there’s always laughter yoga.

Alternating hot and cold is great for vagal tone. Splashing hot then cold water on the face and neck, a hot and cold contrast shower or sauna and a cold plunge will do the trick.

Practices like meditation, acupuncture, chi gong and yoga are very good for toning the vagus. This is probably why they are recommended for IBS.

Improving posture, getting a massage or taking probiotics also tone up the vagus.

Feelings of connection and support (for example, group healing programs where you connect with other community members) is extremely supportive for vagal tone.

Lastly, breathing exercises are an excellent way to tone vagal function and calm the nervous system.

How to measure vagal tone

Measuring your vagal tone can help you tone it. And there’s a free and easy way to measure and track it. Taking measurements before and after implementing some of the suggestions above, is a great way to see what works for your body.

Vagal tone is tied to heart rate variability (HRV). This metric tells us how stressed the nervous system is. You can measure your HRV for free with a phone app called Welltory.

Putting your finger over the camera lets the app track pulse and changes in skin color to give accurate HRV scores.

What’s useful about this app is that it can show you how stressed your body is even when you don’t feel stressed. It was a wake up call for me when I did my first HRV measurement on a train during vacation. I learned that travel really stresses my body, even if my mind likes it.

My readings

Here is the reading I get when I travel.

This is what it does after I meditate or hang out with a friend.

Awareness is the first step for healing your mind body connection. Knowing when your body is stressed and what triggers it can change everything. Not being aware of your constant fight or flight state means it’s likely to continue.

Tracking your stress response through HRV can make regulating your nervous system much less mysterious when you can look “under the hood”.

It’s fascinating to me how little awareness we can have about our own stress. That day I took my first measurement on a train, I was surprised at what I saw. But I had already been traveling for a while and the busy train station and heatwave were additional stressors. This is why travel doesn’t work for me if I want to heal my body. I need to be home with a calming routine.

While I can’t change my reaction to stressors, I have the knowledge of what is actually going on with it so I can give it extra rest and support. When my body is stressed I try to give myself extra rest instead of pushing.

My vagal tone improves greatly with chi gong, meditation and alternating sauna and cold showers. It is worst when I wake up in the morning and reacts well to nature.

I have discovered from working with many clients, that the state of the nervous system determines how severely gut symptoms manifest.

This could be the reason why the parasite I recently picked up in Mexico only gave me mild symptoms, while it would completely debilitate someone else.

The state of the nervous system determines how quickly you heal, how likely you are to relapse and how bad you feel when you are sick.

This is why I’ve added mind body work to my functional medicine coaching offerings. I believe this is the type of support that makes the most difference in speedy and successful healing.