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Activate your vagus nerve using the 'vu' sound to release tension and find deep physical relaxation.

Science

Stress & Anxiety

Anxiety

English

This integrates vagal nerve exercises into a breath oriented meditation. This is a wonderful way to reset the nervous system and can offer individuals a science-backed way to reduce anxiety in the present moment. 

Vagal Nerve Meditation 

 So simply begin this meditation by drawing your attention to the feeling of the breath in your body. Feeling it go in, in doubt. See if you can really pay attention to the qualities of the breath. Whether it's fast or slow, hot, cold, and where you feel it in your body. As you start to notice this, see if you can just also notice how your body's feeling. Is it tight, is it loose, is there areas of pain, areas of openness? See if these things can come into awareness as you go deeper in your breath. And then drawing a big breath in allow yourself to make that noise all the way out, triggering the vagal nerve, the v, the VU sound. noticing the vibrations in your chest and throughout your whole body. Doing this till the breath is completely exhausted and taking a pause and waiting for the body to ask for the next breath. And when it does, allowing the lungs to fill again before doing the same v noise till it's all the way out. Should feel this sensation, particularly in your chest area, around the heart, but you can also maybe even feel it in your shoulders and around your chest area or other particular areas of the body. The noise is that v noise that you can feel vibrate. Continuing this way, allowing yourself to completely exhaust the breath And don't just go for the next inhale, but really waiting for the body to ask for what it needs. Allow yourself to fully complete the next cycle. And then changing the breath till it's back to just noticing the inhale and the exhale. You might notice as you are doing this exercise that there are particular noises around you or thoughts or feelings or sensations that come up. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with this. Just allow yourself to notice that they're there and with a sense of kindness and a sense of compassion, bring yourself back to the breath. As you're breathing, see if you can once again take stock of your body, noticing if anything has changed from that nerve exercise that you just did. Maybe your shoulders feel looser or maybe there's just a general feeling of being more relaxed. Or maybe there's not. Just notice what's there without evaluating it, without judging it. Just noticing what is. And then allow yourself to take another big inhale and continuing again in the vvvvvvvvv exercise, till the breath is all the way exhausted. Do this for four rounds of breath with each round starting with that inhale, feeling and triggering that vagal nerve with the sound and then waiting for the breath, waiting for the next breath after it's been exhausted. As you continue with this exercise you might notice certain thoughts come up, certain feelings come up or maybe even find yourself drifting off a little bit. These are all just part of the experience. They deserve no more judgment than the simple observation of the inhale and the exhale. You don't need to do anything with them. If you find yourself particularly stressed and your mind's racing, allow yourself to just notice that as you do this nerve exercise. And once you've completed that fourth round, once again returning to the breath, feeling the inhale and the exhale as they go in and out of your body. And once again take stock. How is your body? Does it feel different at all? Are there places that are more open? Places that are more relaxed? See if you can just notice what is there. And then after you've kind of scanned your body from head to toe, allow the awareness just to rest at the bottom of your feet, however they are, whether they're cross-legged or just resting on one object. Just allow them to be observed, highlighted even. Feel the four corners of each foot and how the weight is with each one of them. Maybe you can even allow yourself to feel the individual toes. Notice this and rest your awareness there. And once you feel that you have fully rested your awareness there, feeling the solidity of your toes, of your feet either on the ground or folded in a particular way, allow yourself to close this exercise, opening your eyes in the time and the space that feels right for you. Not on my timeline or anyone else's timeline, but what feels right and appropriate for you.