Ep. 164 - FTB Summer Series | The Vagus Nerve: Your Bluetooth to the Brain

 Life moves fast — but in the in-between moments, there’s quiet power. This episode explores the vagus nerve — a quiet but powerful player in how we handle stress, emotion, and recovery — and how simple, everyday actions can help regulate it. These small steps don’t take much time or effort, but they help your nervous system reset, your thoughts slow down, and your body exhale. No tech, no trends, just things your body already knows how to do… if you give it the chance. 

Transcript

Welcome back to our Summer Series — where we are exploring simple, science-backed shifts that can help you feel a little better in between the busy.

Today’s focus is all about a part of our body that’s constantly working behind the scenes to regulate our stress, our digestion, and even our emotions. Yet, most of us have probably never even heard of it. 

It’s called the vagus nerve — spelled v-a-g-u-s, not like the overstimulated Las Vegas. That’s one place that doesn’t do fewer things! However, learning to work with your vagus nerve is kind of like hitting the jackpot… for your nervous system.

The Bottom Line on Top of this episode is that your vagus nerve is your body’s own stress switch — and learning how to use it helps you reset more quickly, turn up your own resilience, and feel more in control.

Let’s start with why this even matters.

We live in a world where our stress response gets triggered a lot — traffic, to-do lists, group texts, deadlines, DMs, all that overthinking we like to do.

Your body has two main modes to handle all this stress:
 The sympathetic nervous system–this is what we know as our fight-or-flight, which gears us up to take action or to think about what action is needed, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system, that is our rest-and-digest, it’s where it helps us slow things back down.

And this is also where the vagus nerve comes in. It’s the MVP of your parasympathetic system — your built-in chill circuit.

The vagus nerve sounds singular but it’s actually a pair, with one nerve on the left and one on the right side of the body — making it the longest cranial nerve you’ve got. “Vagus” means wandering in Latin, and this nerve definitely lives up to that name. It travels from your brainstem down through your throat, heart, lungs, and into your belly.

It’s a full-body tour guide, and it's there to help regulate your breathing, your heart rate, your digestion, inflammation, and even your mood. And here’s what’s fascinating: the vagus nerve doesn’t just send messages from the brain to the body — it also sends signals from the body back to the brain.

So when you slow your breathing, or even splash cold water on your face, your body then sends the signal back to your brain saying, “We’re safe. It’s okay to relax a little bit.”

In fact that action is called the vagal tone — and think of it like the strength and flexibility of your nervous system’s recovery system.
The higher your vagal tone, the faster you can move from stress to calm. And the more we use it, it means your body gets better at bouncing back — with better emotional resilience, better digestion, and even better sleep. And like any tone or muscle, this is something that we can train with small, regular habits.

It’s also why your stomach might clench up when you’re anxious… and why something as simple as deep breaths can instantly start to calm all of our racing thoughts. It’s that two way messenger system, kind of like walkie talkies.

My Vagus Moment

Through my nerdy studies, I’ve been aware of the vagus nerve for many years, but I’ve only recently started putting it into regular practice. I’ve really found it to be a healthy way to disrupt and reset my nervous system when I start to get in that stress loop.

One area where this has been especially useful? When I find myself in a lot of traffic. That’s not when I’m at my most patient. So now when I see brake lights starting to stack up, I immediately put my hand on my belly and start doing some breaths. I also do it when I catch myself talking too fast — which is usually a cue that my brain is five tabs ahead of my mouth.

Just three slow inhales and long exhales. That’s it for me. Super simple, but it’s a powerful way to work with your nervous system instead of against it.

Let’s look at some of these well known, tried and tested, science-based steps that can help activate the vagus nerve in real life.

1. Splash Cold Water

Cold exposure — especially to the face and neck — is a super fast way to flip into parasympathetic mode. Splash your face. Run cool water over your wrists, even get a cool cloth and put it on you. It serves as a pattern interrupt — a quick jolt that will help reset your brain and your body, and it definitely gets your attention.

2. Your Voice

Our voice is actually more than sound — it’s like a built-in Bluetooth connection to your nervous system. Anything that vibrates your vocal cords stimulates the vagus nerve. So think of — humming that song that gets stuck in your head, singing in the car, even gargling after you brush your teeth. Even your shower karaoke - it’s all scientifically justified, so go on. 

3. Belly Breathing

Yep, I know, back to breathing. Put one hand on your stomach and breathe so that your stomach rises and falls — not your chest. Try just inhaling for 4 counts and exhaling for 6. It’s because that long exhale is the one that starts to send the “hey we got this” message to your brain. The bonus is that you do it anywhere.

4. Listen

Sound can be a powerful regulator. Binaural beats, low-frequency tones, sound baths with singing bowls — all of these stimulate the vagal tone. Not sure where to start? YouTube or streaming services are full of free resources. Search for things like: “binaural beats for focus” (I use that one all the time) or “vagus nerve music.” Even a calming instrumental playlist can help you downshift and let your body exhale.

5. Stretch

Roll your neck. Loosen your jaw. Drop your tongue from the roof of your mouth. Stretch your spine with a gentle twist. Because the vagus nerve runs along your neck and your chest, doing physical movement in these areas — especially when you pair it with some breathing — gives it a healthy kickstart to start to regulate.

To recap these simple, always available activities: Splash something cold. Use your voice. Breathe. Listen. Stretch.

These aren’t fancy fixes. They’re just human body basics — we’re finally learning to listen to them more carefully.

So the next time stress starts to creep up (and it will), don’t just try to grit your way through it.

You don’t need more programs, products, or promises. Your nervous system already knows what to do.

Sometimes, the smartest thing is to get out of our own head and back into our body. Then it will do the rest… to help you rest.

Until next time, be good to your brain, your belly, and that wild, wandering nerve that goes in between. It’s a great way to take good care.