The undercurrent of Anxiety in the world today is palpable. Nothing so burrows us into our own body and mind as anxiety. Yuck. So how do we easily cure anxiety?

There’s an old saying ‘listen to your gut’ today you’re going to find out why that’s a very, very old saying. They are old sayings for a reason – that’s what I always say.

Now more than ever, here is the path to cure anxiety in the entire world.

Let’s Start With Some Definitions

ANXIETY: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome

• [with infinitive] desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease.

• [Psychiatry] a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks.

Yep, that describes the world we are living in today. This is astonishingly sad. We live in a world of opulent, over the top abundance everywhere and yet we are, most of us, in a constant state of anxiety and stress.

Here a question for ya, well it’s actually the answer…

Did you know that every organ in your body is connected to the vagus nerve, so there’s little wonder that stimulating your vagus nerve helps relieve anxiety alot and more.

The vagus nerve is important to your sense of intuition, or your gut sense. This knowledge can help you to pay attention to tiny but important details that help you to make excellent decisions.

The vagus nerve reaches all the way from your brain to your intestines. Vagus means ‘wandering’ and this vagus nerve also connects the brain to many other vital organs. The nerve sends information from the brain and receives information from the organs. 

Wait what, the organs send information to the brain?! Oh yes it’s true actually the heart sends more info to the brain than vice versa – think about that for a sec… or maybe feel that for a sec.

As a result, the data gets sent back to the brain in a feedback loop. And we all love a good feedback loop don’t we?

Think about your fight or flight response for a moment. Or the carrots and sticks metaphor.

Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for getting you ready to face this fight or flight. Once the danger has subsided, your parasympathetic nervous system resumes normal, relaxed bodily functioning.

Well, You’ve Got a Nerve…Cure Anxiety!

The vagus nerve is responsible for digestion, rest, and recovery from environmental stress. Anything from a hectic day at work to coming back from a run is when your parasympathetic nervous system takes over by activating organs to begin the ‘rest and digest’ mode.

This incredible vagus nerve helps with regulation of nervous system states and is critical for the treatment of mental health conditions.

Everything from mild anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are likely liked to the functioning of the vagus nerve. So kids what you want to so is get the vagus rocking.

6 Ways to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve to Cure Anxiety in the World and In Your Life Too!

By stimulating the vagus nerve, we are sending a message to our body that we are ready to relax and we want our organs to go into a relaxed state as well. Learning to stimulate your vagus nerve is another tool in your fight against stress and anxiety.

1. Laughter with friends

Researchers in the journal of Psychological Science found that more social connections led to more opportunities for positive emotions, which also increased stimulation of the vagus nerve. The researchers say ‘This experimental evidence identifies one mechanism – perceptions of social connections – through which positive emotions build physical health.’ Laughter makes you feel good and stimulates your vagus nerve, which helps produce overall good health and well-being. Go see a funny movie or go to comedy night LOL! 

2. Meditation to Alleviate Anxiety

Researchers found that a meditation helped reduce heart rate variability. Specifically achieving a positive emotion and a positive social connection to others changed the activity of the vagus nerve.

3. Massage

You can manually stimulate your vagus nerve by massaging several areas. A foot massage can stimulate vagus nerve activity, as can massaging your neck. A neck massage along the carotid sinus (the right side of your throat near where you check your pulse) can also stimulate the vagus nerve.

4. Cold

Drinking cold water or splashing cold water on your face may be enough to stimulate your vagus nerve. You can also take cold showers, take a swim in an unheated pool or try cryotherapy.

5. Fasting to Reduce Anxiety

The vagus nerve is responsible for digestion when your brain says that you are in a safe environment. Otherwise, your body might deprioritize digestion when dealing with stress. By fasting, an empty stomach sends signals back to the brain that digestion is unnecessary. Thus, your body will use your energy resources for relaxation instead.

5. Chanting

Om. That single chant in the key of somewhere between B, C, and C# on the musical scale creates internal vibration in our throats. It sends smaller vibrations to the lungs and other organs.

6. Breathing techniques

Deep breathing is always relaxing to your body, but you can use other breathing techniques to stimulate your vagus nerve. If you are interested in ways to relieve anxiety, you may have already about our course The Master Key Experience (MKE). The course gives you tools like all these mentioned above to get your vagus working for you!

Alternate nostril breathing or yogic breathing is a great way to stimulate the vagus nerve.

Another breathing technique that you may never have tried is inhaling deeply and then closing your airway while pushing your breath against the inside of your chest and bearing down with your abdominal muscles (like you are trying to pass gas). This method of applying internal pressure from the lungs out to the surrounding organs stimulates the vagus nerve as it connects your heart, spleen, lungs, stomach, and small intestines.

There you have it. Share this with everyone you know on the planet so we can cure anxiety and get this thing under control.

Grab yourself the 7-day Mental Diet over there and get yourself started on our new anxiety free planet.

Mahalo from Kauai

Davene Januszewski