Feeling Frazzled?

You’re not alone. According to the American Psychological Association, women experience far more holiday stress than men.

Why? Because we do most of the holiday heavy lifting. The planning. The shopping. The cooking. The decorating. The gifting. The sending of the cards. And then there’s the time crunch to get it all done.

Unfortunately, the physiological effects of holiday stress often hit fit and active women harder because they already spend a higher percentage of their time training in a sympathetic (fight or flight) state. When the body is under any form of stress—physical, mental, or emotional—the sympathetic nervous system is activated and becomes dominant. In order to re-boot both mind and body, it’s important to spend at least an equal amount of time in a parasympathetic (rest and digest) mode.

The vagus nerve is the major player in controlling the parasympathetic nervous system. As the longest nerve in the body, the vagus connects your brain to many important organs including the stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, heart and lungs. It’s involved in controlling the immune, endocrine, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Activating it will increase its strength or tone. The more toned your vagus nerve, the more stress-resistant and recovery-resilient you’ll become—in every aspect of your life.

Luckily, the vagus nerve can be activated and strengthened in lots of different ways. Here are twelve techniques you can try—one for each of the twelve days of Christmas:

 1.  Practice mindful breathing. Deep and rhythmic breathing is one of the most powerful ways to stimulate the vagus nerve. While the use of breathing techniques is a relatively new concept in the West, Eastern medicine has been incorporating them for millenia. It is now widely accepted that deep breathing plays an important role in supporting the body’s ability to achieve and maintain physiological balance. 

We all have experienced the benefits of taking several deep breaths to calm down prior to the start of an event or during a period of emotional distress. Deep breathing essentially ‘kick starts’ the body’s parasympathetic response by activating the vagus nerve. It turns out that the benefits of deep breathing are even greater when practiced on a regular basis.

Mindful breathing doesn’t require any extra time or effort, but it does demand some focused attention. It’s important to breathe in fully, allowing your belly to relax and expand. When breathing out, the opposite should happen--the belly should contract inward, pushing the last remnants of air out of the lungs. The more your belly expands and contracts, the deeper your breathing will become. Taking five or six deep breaths a minute is a very achievable goal for most women. 

2.  Do some yoga. Yoga has been shown to improve both vagal tone and parasympathetic activity, especially when combined with mindful breathing. Research indicates that women who do yoga regularly experience less anxiety and have a more positive outlook on life. In addition to stimulating the vagus nerve, the practice of yoga has been shown to raise levels of Gamma Amino Butyric Acid or GABA, which has a natural, calming effect on the brain.

3.  Consider the use of a probiotic supplement. The vagus nerve is constantly sending information about the status of the body’s internal organs to the brain. We now know that the health of our intestinal microbiome can have a profound effect on how well the vagus nerve does this job. Eating a healthy and balanced whole-food diet that includes fermented foods will enhance the health of the microbiome and support the vagus nerve’s ability to communicate more clearly.

Studies also suggest that the use of certain probiotic supplements will improve the body’s microbiome and support a healthy parasympathetic response. In fact, recent research has shown them to be an effective treatment for both anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress syndrome or PTSD. Avoiding the unnecessary use of antibiotics and limiting both sugar and alcohol intake will be helpful, too.

4.  Take a balanced approach to exercise. We all know that physical activity is good for the mind and body. But when it comes to stimulating the vagus nerve, it’s important to make sure that the amount and intensity of exercise doesn’t exceed a ‘tonic’ level.

While competitive athletes are occasionally required to push the boundaries of their physical limitations, pursuing activities that can be done at a comfortable level of exertion will do more to improve the health of the vagus nerve. Finding a balance between goal-oriented workouts and joyful movement can make the mind and body stronger and more stress resistant.

5.  Get a massage.  Neck, foot, and full-body pressure massage can stimulate the vagus nerve, supporting growth, repair, and recovery. In fact, massage is often used to help underweight infants gain weight because it stimulates the vagus nerve.

6.  Chill out. Studies show that when the body adjusts to cold, its parasympathetic system switches on. So short-term cold exposure will stimulate vagal activity. The simplest way to start?  Splash a little cold water on your face. Submerging your face in cold water for a short period of time would be a next step. Those who are motivated can graduate to taking a brief, cold shower.

7.  Sing a song or listen to music. Humming, chanting, and singing all activate the vagus nerve. Listening to music can get the job done, too. We enjoy music because it stirs our emotions and leaves us with a heightened sense of well-being. These positive feelings are inextricably linked to vagal activation.

8.  Laugh a lot. As the saying goes, “Laughter is the best medicine.” In fact, numerous studies have proven that it’s possible to laugh your way to better health since it  stimulates and strengthens the vagus nerve. It supports good cognitive function, protects against heart disease, encourages the release of feel-good endorphins, and the production of nitric oxide (which improves oxygen delivery).

9.  Pray or meditate. Prayer and meditation have both been shown to increase vagal tone. Prayer slows and deepens breathing, which stimulates the vagus nerve and strengthens cardiovascular health. One study showed that reciting the rosary (a Catholic prayer practice) increased vagal activity and improved diastolic blood pressure.

Studies have shown that meditation can also improve the function of the vagus nerve, although it seems to be more effective when the process includes compassionate thoughts. Repeating phrases like “may you feel safe” or “may you be happy” amplify the positive emotional effects of meditating which appear to be correlated with a greater sense of connectedness to others. Combining meditation with social connection improves vagal tone, increasing our sense of joy, serenity, and compassion.

10.  Practice Giving. Most women find giving to others an inherently enjoyable practice. It turns out that there’s a physiological reason why. Giving our time, attention, or resources to another stimulates the vagus nerve. Researchers believe that a branch of our nervous system evolved to reinforce our giving behavior with positive physical and psychological benefits as it probably played a role in guaranteeing the survival of our species. 

11.  Sleep or rest on your right side. Studies have found that sleeping or lying on the right side encourages the highest level of vagal activation; lying on the back, the lowest.

12.  Give it a gargle. Gargling activates the vagus nerve and stimulates the gastrointestinal tract (improving digestion). Before you swallow water, give it an occasional gargle first.