Get on Your Own Nerves
Certain ways of breathing calm the nervous system, partly by stimulating the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body.
The vagus nerve runs throughout the body and is responsible for the function and regulation of man bodily systems such as the heart and digestive tracts. The vagus nerve is used to regulate a variety of body functions including the heartbeat and the muscle movement necessary to keep you breathing.
Stimulating this one nerve relieves fatigue, anxiety, and brain fog.
How To:
Nostril Breathing
- Sit comfortably with your right thumb on your right nostril and your right ring finger on your left nostril.
- Press in the right nostril, and inhale through the left.
- Close both nostrils, hold for one count, and then release the right nostril and exhale.
- Pause for a count, then inhale through the right, press both, and exhale through the left.
- Repeat for five minutes.
Inspired by Annelies Richmond. Source: Cosmopolitan.