Important Points:
- Vagus nerve
- Stimulation
- Nervous system
- Anxiety
What are the benefits of Vagus Nerve Stimulation?
Vagus nerve stimulation calms the body. It lowers heart rate and blood pressure, relaxes muscles, improves mood and tones down inflammation. It has also been used to treat anxiety disorders and depression.
Feeling tense? Do you often feel stressed out by today’s hectic, fast-paced life? If you are like most people, your answer is most likely yes. Oddly enough, you do not need to look very far for a solution. Your own body has a built-in way of handling stress, and there is a secret to using it.
Our nervous system is split into two working parts: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is the excitatory (revving-up) part. Its main job is to trigger the body’s fight-or-flight response. An overactive sympathetic nervous system could leave you restless and always stressed. To balance things out, the parasympathetic nervous system runs the body’s restoring functions, like resting and digesting. This is the system we need to tap into to relax.
The key lies in hijacking the powerful function of the vagus nerve. The word vagus shares its origin with the word vague. Both come from the Latin root that means wandering. Why? The vagus nerve was named that way because it controls a wide range of organs in the body. Think of it as the boss of the eyes, mouth, heart, lungs, stomach, and gut when it comes to letting loose and relaxing. A second reason the vagus nerve is powerful is its direct link to our control center, the brain. It uses 80 percent of its nerve conduction to carry information from the body to the brain.
There are a number of ways to stimulate the vagus nerve. Deep breathing and yoga are known for their calming effect. That is because stretching out the lungs and chest muscles stimulates the vagus nerve.
Meditation is another method worth exploring. A study published in the International Journal of Yoga found that chanting the sound “Om” stimulates the vagus nerve. A new way to stimulate the vagus nerve is to grow a healthy gut microbiota (the bacteria living in your gut). The study from Arizona State University suggests that taking a probiotic containing Lactobacillus casei boosts vagal stimulation. This improved mood in those who took part in the study.
When the vagus nerve is stimulated on purpose, it has a deep therapeutic effect on our health. Vagal stimulation can decrease heart rate, lower blood pressure, relax muscles, improve mood and even tone down inflammation. A study published in the journal Science found that vagal stimulation suppresses the inflammatory response that starts in the spleen.
Anxiety raises blood pressure and pulse rate. Vagal stimulation lowers both. That is why it has been used to treat anxiety disorders with significant success. A study by the Department of Psychiatry of the Medical University of South Carolina looked at people with anxiety. It found that vagal stimulation produced not only acute (short-term) but also long-term improvement.
The effects of vagal stimulation go beyond calming an overactive nervous system. It has also worked in treating depression. Depression shows up as a lack of motivation and excitement. The China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences saw significant improvement in people with depressive symptoms just by stimulating the vagus nerve.
So next time you feel burned out and could use some rest and relaxation, do not forget to give vagus nerve stimulation a try.
Frequently asked questions
How can you stimulate your vagus nerve naturally?
Deep breathing and yoga work because stretching the lungs and chest muscles stimulates the vagus nerve. Meditation helps too: a study in the International Journal of Yoga found that chanting “Om” stimulates it. Your gut plays a part as well. A probiotic containing Lactobacillus casei enhanced vagal stimulation and improved mood in the people who took part in one study.
What does the vagus nerve do?
The vagus nerve is the key to the parasympathetic nervous system. That is the rest-and-digest side that balances the fight-or-flight response. Its name comes from the Latin for “wandering” because it reaches the eyes, mouth, heart, lungs, stomach and gut. About 80 percent of its nerve traffic carries information from the body up to the brain.
Can vagus nerve stimulation help anxiety and depression?
Yes. Anxiety raises blood pressure and pulse, and vagal stimulation lowers both. That is why it has been used to treat anxiety disorders with significant success. A Medical University of South Carolina study found improvement right away and over the long term. Researchers at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences also saw significant improvement in people with depressive symptoms.
Does vagus nerve stimulation reduce inflammation?
Yes. A study published in the journal Science found that vagal stimulation suppresses the inflammatory response that starts in the spleen. It also lowers heart rate and blood pressure, relaxes muscles and lifts mood. Toning down inflammation is one of the main therapeutic effects of stimulating the vagus nerve on purpose.
Related reading
Sources
Viva vagus: Wandering nerve could lead to range of therapies
Neurohemodynamic correlates of ‘OM’ chanting: A pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Int J Yoga. 2011 Jan-Jun; 4(1): 3–6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099099/
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). (2014, August 15). Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 10, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140815192240.htm
Science. Acetylcholine-Synthesizing T Cells Relay Neural Signals in a Vagus Nerve Circuit
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/334/6052/98
A pilot study of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for treatment-resistant anxiety disorders.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20633378#
Elsevier. (2016, February 4). New non-invasive form of vagus nerve stimulation works to treat depression. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 10, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160204111728.htm
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
Interventional pain physician, addiction medicine specialist and obesity medicine diplomate.
Licensed in Missouri and Illinois.
Last reviewed June 18, 2026
