Ever been told to “just relax”? 🙄 😬
Listen, I’ll say that it isn’t fun to be a yoga teacher with a family that says, “You need to relax!”
It’s the opposite of relaxing, definitely annoying, and maybe even triggering.

**And even more than that, science just doesn’t support the idea that we can think ourselves into instant calm.**

In my recent workshop, I offered a deep dive into how we can tap into our relaxation through the longest cranial nerve in the body, called the vagus nerve.

What I wanted to pull out for us here is the wisdom of our stress response, how our stress becomes chronic, and why tapping into the vagus nerve is key to dissolving the knots of tension.

What Feeds Our Stress Response

What we need to remember is that flight-or-flight mode is not necessarily a “bad” thing. Our nervous system is designed to turn on our stress responses when it senses that we need protection from something. This is a highly intelligent design. For our ancestors, they may have needed the extra energy surge to sprint from a lion in the brush.

These days, we may be feeling perpetually unsafe in a myriad of other ways—from chaotic environmental conditions to lack of job security to feeling insulted in a social situation. It can all activate our stress response.

Think of our stress response like the gas pedal of a car. Many of us are living with our foot on the gas—constantly in fight or flight, with our nervous system over-activated. Keep in mind that chronic stress can look like busyness, overstriving, and overdoing… with the inability to slow down.

The Vagus Nerve: A Natural Brake for Runaway Stress

Now, our brilliant nervous system also features a built-in brake: The vagus nerve. The vagus is the longest cranial nerve in the body, traveling from the brainstem into the chest and abdomen, touching the heart, lungs, diaphragm, and digestive tract.

Its key role is activating the parasympathetic nervous system—our “rest, digest, and restore” mode.

In other words, the vagus nerve allows you to come off the gas pedal. Each time we attend to the vagus nerve, it doesn’t just bring temporary relief; it works like regenerative braking, renewing and balancing the nervous system over and over.

The issue is that we have a nervous system that has become so habitually stressed that our gas pedal gets locked. We end up taking care of ourselves by pulling the emergency brake, if you know what I mean, and then it takes a lot of energy to get back into gear. Especially when we’re in this punching-the-gas, pulling-the-emergency-break cycle.

Bottoms-Up: Why We Can’t Think Our Way Out of Stress

Now, here’s the key point for us as teachers or practitioners (or really anyone who has ever been told to “just relax”):

80% of vagus nerve fibers send messages from the body up to the brain, while only 20% go from the brain to the body.

Think of it like seeing a flower, such as a lotus, on top of the water. Although it receives sunlight for the process of photosynthesis, it doesn’t blossom from the flower down; it also draws nutrients and information from the water and soil.

In other words, we work first with the body—let the body sense support (and safety) and create a foundation to begin to feel more grounded and present, helping get more breath flow, which stimulates the vagus nerve… sending a message UP to the brain, signaling safety and calm to the brain.

In turn, just as the flower blossom expands, we turn on the prefrontal cortex and the part of brain that expands its awareness. The brain then responds with restorative messages back to the body—creating a healing feedback loop.

3 Ways to Activate the Vagus Nerve

Although we really can’t talk ourselves into instant calm, there are practices we can do to help us shift our nervous system from a state of fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest rather quickly. And just to repeat the point, the more we do these mini-practices, the more easily we can adopt a flexible nervous system that can help us better manage our stress.

Three ways to help facilitate communication between our body and mind through the vagus nerve:

Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing
Your vagus nerve passes through the diaphragm, so each full breath sends signals of safety. Slow, deep inhales followed by longer exhales create the conditions for calm.

Humming, Chanting, and Vocalization
The vagus nerve is closely connected to the throat. Humming or chanting creates gentle vibrations that activate relaxation. Try adding a soft hum to your exhale for an instant shift.

Supported Restorative Postures
When the body is held with support, the nervous system feels safe enough to soften. Poses like Supported Savasana or Restorative Child’s Pose create an ideal environment for vagus nerve activation.

In my new workshop series, Autumn Attunement, I dive into the innerworkings of our vagus nerve (and how it intertwines with our chakra system) in much greater details—with practices and tools to keep our nervous system balanced and flexible throughout the autumn season.

The first session is now available. Start today!