What Happens IN VAGUS…
Toward the end of a yoga class or during a guided meditation, it’s likely you’ve heard some version of: “Let’s take a few slow, deep breaths, allowing the body to relax as you gently exhale.” These are simple instructions intended to slow down your heart rate. But what you may not realize is that these slow, deep breaths—and exhalations, in particular—are stimulating your vagus nerve, which signals to the body that it is in a state of calm. It can now rest and digest, tend and befriend.
In Latin, the word “vagus” means wandering, a fitting description for this meandering nerve that stretches from the brain stem down to the colon, connecting to the middle ear, vocal cords, heart, lungs, and intestines along the way. The longest and
