A Vagus Nerve Survival Guide to Combat Fight-or-Flight Urges

All too often, the readily accessible power of the vagus nerve to lower anxiety and reduce inflammation is overlooked and underestimated. Over the years, I’ve written a wide range of Psychology Today blog posts that highlight practical ways to tap into the ability of your vagus nerve to combat the cortisol producing stress response of fight-or-flight.

In 1921, a German Nobel Prize-winning physiologist, Otto Loewi, discovered that stimulating the vagus nerve caused a reduction in heart rate by triggering the release of a substance he coined Vagusstoff (German for “vagus substance”). This “vagus substance” was later identified as acetylcholine and became the first neurotransmitter ever identified by scientists.

The vagus nerve is the prime driving force of the parasympathetic nervous system which regulates our “rest-and-digest” or “tend-and-befriend” responses. On the flip side, to maintain homeostasis, the sympathetic nervous system drives the “fight-or-flight” response. Ideally, within your autonomic nervous system, the ongoing tug of war between these two polar opposite mechanisms creates a "yin-yang" type of harmony marked by homeostatic balance.

From a simplified evolutionary perspective, one could speculate that our ancestors relied on the sympathetic nervous system to kickstart neurobiological responses needed to hunt, gather, and ward off enemies. Conversely, the parasympathetic nervous system probably fortified our innate drive to nurture close-knit human bonds, procreate, and build survival-based cooperative and supportive communities.

Unfortunately, the Toffleresque “future shock” of the 21st-century digital age (marked by too much change in too short a time) is causing our evolutionary biology to short-circuit by throwing our individual and collective nervous systems out of balance.

Recent studies show that all too often, social media and other modern-day factors exacerbate perceived social isolation and feelings of being unworthy of love and belonging. Additionally, the individualistic "every man for himself" zeitgeist undermines collective “tending-and-befriending” and can put someone's “fight-or-flight” response in constant hyperdrive with no reprieve.

Luckily, there are some easily accessible and highly effective drug-free ways for you to activate the “vagusstuff” producing power of your parasympathetic nervous system by stimulating your vagus nerve.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) using an implanted device is one clinically proven way to achieve this outcome. But for some other practical, inexpensive, and readily available ways to stimulate your vagus nerve—I've curated a broad spectrum of empirical evidence into a one-stop-shop resource guide of vagal maneuvers anyone can use. All of the nine techniques listed below are in the locus of your control. They also don't cost a penny or necessarily require any high-tech gadgetry.

The Vagus Nerve Survival Guide by Christopher Bergland

Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises
Tonic Levels of Daily Physical Activity
Face-to-Face Social Connectedness
Narrative Expressive Journaling
Gutsy Third Person Self-Talk
Sense of Awe to Promote Small Self
Upward Spiral via Loving-Kindness Meditation
Superfluidity and Secular Transcendent Ecstasy
Volunteering and Altruistic Generativity