Traumatic experiences can leave your nervous system dysregulated, and this can cause feeling alert, having trouble sleeping, and storing trauma in your body, leading to chronic stress, tension and exhaustion. Activating your vagus nerve is how you can restore your inner balance and release trauma for less stress and more ease on your healing journey. I invite you to join me in this blog post to explore yoga poses for vagus nerve activation to have more softness and ease in your healing journey.
What Is Your Vagus Nerve?
Your vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in your body, connecting your brain to your heart, lungs, and digestive system. It’s part of your autonomic nervous system, which regulates automatic activities in your body, like breathing and digestion. This is sourced from Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges.
Within your autonomic nervous system, you have your sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous systems. Your vagus nerve is an important key part of your parasympathetic nervous system, which is what allows you to feel whole and rested.
If you’re in a state of hyperarousal (fight or flight), or hypoarousal (freeze), activating your vagus nerve brings you into a state of balance. You’ll feel more relaxed, transcend emotions with more ease, and deepen your connection with your body.
How Yoga Supports Your Vagus Nerve
In order to stimulate vagus nerve activation, you need to communicate with your body that you’re in a safe environment. When this happens, your relaxation response activates and your heart rate will decrease, breathing will elongate, and you’ll have an overall sense of calm in your body.
Yoga is an effective practice that uses many techniques to promote relaxation, including:
- Inversions (when your hips are higher than your heart)
- Breathwork (known in yoga as pranayama)
- Chanting
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
There is also a style of teaching called trauma-informed yoga that takes extra care to create a safe environment that promotes relaxation to activate your vagus nerve. I welcome you to read more about this style of teaching in this blog post.
When you practice yoga, you’re able to tell your body you’re in a safe, calm environment and this supports easing you out of your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response). With more practice, this becomes easier because you’re improving your vagal tone. This is your body’s ability to enter your window of tolerance with more ease. With more tolerance, you won’t be as easily agitated or overwhelmed, and be able to better work through emotions.
If you’re interested in more information about your nervous system, vagus nerve, and how to use mindful yoga strategies to soothe triggers, I welcome you to explore my Mind Body Heal Ebook.
You’ll learn how to create a yoga practice designed for releasing sexual trauma, how to work with your nervous system, and over 100 trauma-informed yoga poses to find your most comfortable practice. I invite you to learn more about this offering here.
Top 7 Accessible Yoga Poses for Vagus Nerve Stimulation
I welcome you to explore these poses in your time and pace, and everything listed is optional. Each of these poses releases muscular tension and brings your focus to your sensations, which can soothe anxiety. The poses will only promote relaxation if they truly make you feel comfortable. Your experience is your best teacher, and I invite you to modify these poses however you choose.
1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Effects: Calming and grounding.
Steps:
- From tabletop, gently send your hips back toward your heels. Your knees can be as wide as feels comfortable for you.
- Reach your arms overhead or anywhere that brings you comfort.
- Melt your head and heart toward the mat and remain here as long as you like. You can also add pillows or a bolster under your chest or between your seat and heels for a more restorative version of this pose.
2. Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)
Effects: Opens chest and heart center. (I invite you to add a bolster or pillows under your seat to provide lift for more of an inversion.)
Steps:
- In your time, find a comfortable position on your back with your knees bent, feet flat to the mat.
- You can rest your hands anywhere you like, or maybe palms are flat to the mat, finger tips reaching for your heels.
- Option to include props or rest here in constructive rest pose.
- Remain here as long as you like.
3. Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)
Effects: Turns your focus inward and promotes relaxation.
Steps:
- From a seated position, I invite you to extend your legs out long in front of you. Your knees can be as bent as you like.
- When you’re ready, reach your arms up overhead, lifting out of your low back, then fold forward.
- Option here to reach for your toes, rest your palms face up and round your spine, or find any other version of the pose you enjoy.
- Remain here as long as you like. When you exit, I invite you to gently roll up to avoid lightheadedness.
4. Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)
Effects: Encourages spinal movement and deep breathing.
Steps:
- These two poses are often taught together to create a breath to movement practice. You can breathe in any way you like as you flow between these poses.
- Starting from tabletop, I welcome you to drop your belly and lift your gaze, broadening in your chest. You might press into your knuckles. Only go as far as feels comfortable for your neck. (Cow Pose)
- When you’re ready, gently exhale (or inhale, depending on your preference), as you round your spine, creating a rainbow shape. You might choose to press the mat away from you and gaze toward your knees, navel drawing toward your spine.
- Repeat steps 2-3 as much as you like, maybe moving with your breath if that feels comfortable.
5. Supine Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
Effects: Releases tension in your spine, supporting your vagus nerve. Also supports back tension release.
Steps:
- From a lying position (you can also do a twist seated), gently inch your seat a few inches to the left.
- In your time, send one or both knees to the right. You might choose to add pillows between your knees for more comfort.
- You can explore arm variations as much as you like. Maybe you follow me above and rest one arm on your knees, or maybe both arms rest in a cactus or capital T shape.
- If your shoulder floats off the ground, you might find more comfort by placing a blanket or pillow in between you and the open space.
- Remain here as long as you like, then gently come back to center and repeat steps 1-4 but for the opposite side.
6. Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
Effects: This is an inversion which supports vagus nerve activation and deep rest.
Steps:
- You may choose to do this with your legs against a wall to use as little effort as possible. You can also place a bolster, pillow, or thick blanket under your seat to create more of an inversion and deepen the effects of this pose.
- From a supine position, I invite you to gently lift your legs toward the ceiling. You might wrap your arms around your legs or have them rest against a wall or even on a chair.
- Remain here as long as you like, maybe softening in your face and shoulders as you breathe into any tension.
7. Sphinx Pose (Salamba Bhujangasana)
Effects: Chest and heart opener and supports deeper breathing.
Steps:
- You might choose to have a bolster or pillows nearby. If you choose to include them, rest them underneath your chest for a more restorative version of the pose.
- From a table top position, I welcome you to gently lower down onto your belly, sending your legs out long behind you.
- When you’re ready, lift yourself onto your forearms, placing your elbows under your shoulders, pressing your palms into the mat. From here, you can explore different forearm placements or add props if you like.
- If you’re lifted, I welcome you to create length in the back of your neck as you lift, broadening in your chest. If you experience low back discomfort, it might be supportive to send your tailbone toward your heels, pressing your hip points into the mat. If you still have pain, gently ease out of the pose or rest your head in your hands for a more restorative version.
- Remain here as long as feels comfortable for you, and you might choose to do a counter stretch once your out of the pose (like child’s pose or cat pose).
Supportive Reminders
Exploring yoga poses is only half of the practice. The other half is how you explore the poses. I invite you to review these reminders for your best results with the poses above:
- It’s more effective to do a few minutes per day instead of long, sporadic practices. The more consistently you improve your vagal tone, the better results you’ll have overtime.
- Trauma-informed classes support your vagus nerve and take extra precautions to give you the time and space to soothe your nervous system. I still recommend you explore yoga that best works for you and your preferences.
- Explore breathwork. If you’re comfortable, you might include additional breathwork practices to make your yoga poses even more effective. I invite you to explore this blog post for three breathwork practices that support trauma release.
- Include body scans or yoga nidra. While these practices seem the same, there are slight differences. They both involve bringing awareness to each area of your body before gently releasing, but yoga nidra aims to bring you into a meditative state. Whichever you prefer, both are supportive of a focused vagus nerve yoga routine. I invite you to learn more about my free trauma-informed body scan meditation here to get started.
Overview
Your vagus nerve is a powerful nerve in your body, and when you learn how to activate it, you’ll find more ease and comfort in your body and mind. This also supports you during emotional regulation so you can process emotions without them overwhelming you. If you experience PTSD symptoms after trauma. I welcome you to explore support options along with a gentle yoga practice for a well-rounded trauma recovery journey.
Take all the time you need as you begin your journey, and I invite you to explore trauma-informed yoga practices within my free, private library. I offer breathwork, somatic practices, meditations, and grounding tools that support your vagus nerve and cater to common symptoms experienced by sexual trauma survivors. I hope to connect with you inside the studio!
