Everything you need to know about the Vagus Nerve

What Is the Vagus Nerve?

The key regulator of calm, healing, and whole-body health

The vagus nerve is one of the most important and influential nerves in the human body. It plays a central role in regulating stress, digestion, immunity, mood, heart health, and recovery. Despite its importance, many people have never heard of it.

Understanding the vagus nerve gives powerful insight into how the body heals itself and how long-term health, emotional balance, and resilience are created.

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body. It begins in the brainstem and travels down through the neck into the chest and abdomen, connecting the brain to many major organs.

It is the primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the nervous system responsible for rest, repair, digestion, healing, and recovery.

In simple terms, the vagus nerve tells your body when it is safe to relax and heal.

Why the Vagus Nerve Is So Important

Many people live in a constant state of stress, with the nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight mode. This chronic activation can contribute to inflammation, anxiety, digestive problems, fatigue, sleep issues, and long-term disease.

The vagus nerve acts as a brake on stress. When it functions well, it allows the body to return to balance after challenges. This ability is known as vagal tone.

High vagal tone is associated with calmness, emotional stability, strong immunity, good digestion, and resilience.
Low vagal tone is linked to anxiety, chronic inflammation, burnout, and poor recovery.

What the Vagus Nerve Controls

The vagus nerve communicates with many key systems in the body.

Heart
It helps regulate heart rate, lowers resting heart rate, improves heart rate variability, and supports cardiovascular health.

Lungs
It influences breathing rhythm, encourages slow and deep breathing, and improves oxygen efficiency.

Digestion and the gut-brain connection
It stimulates digestive enzymes and stomach acid, improves nutrient absorption, supports healthy gut movement, reduces bloating and inflammation, and communicates with gut bacteria. A large percentage of vagus nerve signals travel from the gut to the brain, which is why gut health strongly affects mood.

Brain and emotions
The vagus nerve plays a major role in emotional regulation. It helps reduce anxiety, panic, and emotional reactivity, supports mood stability, improves focus, and contributes to recovery from stress and trauma.

Immune system
It helps regulate inflammation and prevents the immune system from becoming overactive. Healthy vagal function is associated with lower levels of chronic inflammation and better immune balance.

Sleep and recovery
It supports deep, restorative sleep and helps the body recover more quickly from stress, illness, and physical exertion.

The Vagus Nerve and Mental Health

Research has shown strong links between vagus nerve function and mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, panic disorders, and post-traumatic stress.

Because of this, vagus nerve stimulation is used medically in certain cases of treatment-resistant depression and epilepsy.

In everyday life, improving vagus nerve function naturally can lead to greater emotional stability, improved stress tolerance, and a stronger sense of calm and safety.

Signs the Vagus Nerve May Be Underactive

Possible signs of low vagal tone include chronic anxiety or stress, shallow or rapid breathing, digestive problems, frequent illness, inflammation, poor sleep, emotional reactivity, and feeling tired yet overstimulated.

The positive news is that vagal tone is not fixed. It can be trained and strengthened.

How to Support and Strengthen the Vagus Nerve

Slow, deep breathing
Breathing slowly through the nose, especially with longer exhales, is one of the fastest and most effective ways to activate the vagus nerve.

Cold exposure
Brief cold exposure, such as cold showers or splashing cold water on the face, can stimulate vagal pathways and improve stress resilience.

Voice and sound
The vagus nerve connects to the vocal cords and inner ear. Humming, singing, chanting, and speaking slowly and calmly can stimulate it directly.

Meditation and relaxation practices
Meditation, guided relaxation, hypnosis, and visualisation help shift the nervous system out of stress mode and into healing mode.

Gut health
Supporting digestion and gut bacteria is essential for vagus nerve health. Whole foods, reduced inflammation, mindful eating, and avoiding chronic overeating all help maintain healthy communication between the gut and brain.

Touch and human connection
Safe physical touch, massage, reflexology, acupuncture, and positive social connection strongly activate the vagus nerve. Feeling safe with others is one of the most powerful signals the nervous system can receive.

The Vagus Nerve and Long-Term Health

While no single system controls the body alone, the vagus nerve acts as a central coordinator of balance. When it functions well, the body is better able to regulate stress, heal tissue, digest food, fight illness appropriately, and maintain emotional stability.

Optimising vagus nerve function supports lower stress hormones, reduced inflammation, better digestion, stronger immunity, improved sleep, faster recovery, and a greater overall sense of wellbeing.

In many ways, caring for the vagus nerve is caring for the body’s natural ability to heal itself.