Activating the Relaxation Response
If you’ve experienced anxiety, worry, stress, overwhelm, and are a human, then you’re probably familiar with the body’s fight or flight response, an automatic response that’s initiated by the sympathetic nervous system. During the fight or flight response, our body releases stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones give us a surge of energy that allows us to fight harder or flee faster from danger – it’s a survival mechanism. Sometimes that danger is concrete and obvious, like a mama bear crossing our path on a hiking trail. Other times, the danger is less tangible and may come in the form of worries, like how we stack up compared to our colleagues at work.
But did you know our body has an opposing response? The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for calming our body and we can actually tap into this relaxation response by stimulating something called the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve, aka “The Wanderer,” is a cranial nerve that branches out to most of our body, allowing communication between our body and brain, and is responsible for regulating many different functions, like breathing, heart rate, digestion, inflammation, etc. Here are a few simple ways to stimulate that vagus nerve and tap into your body’s relaxation response:
Use your vocal cords by talking, singing or humming (apparently humming is most effective)
Pursed lip breathing, physiological sigh, or any breathing technique that focuses on an extended exhale (the relaxation response lies in the exhale, not the inhale)
Splashing some cool water on your face, neck, or wrists.
Tightening and relaxing your shoulders
Gargling
Swaying side to side like bamboo
Chewing gum
Laughing
Massaging the outer ears
Shaking it out
These are just some strategies that can support us in toning our vagus nerve - think of toning your vagus nerve the way you would your biceps, the “stronger” the vagus nerve, the “stronger” and more accessible the relaxation response becomes. With time and repetition, it becomes easier and easier to interrupt that fight or flight response and activate our relaxation response.
