Engage Your Vagus Nerve To Experience Enhanced Relaxation And Restorative Sleep
Concerns about the long-term impact of chronic stress, depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation is a topic of concern for many of my coaching and therapy clients. A few stressful, sleepless nights can easily spiral into a regular problem as clients begin to develop a negative relationship with bedtime and sleep. In the field of medicine and psychology we call this psychophysiologic insomnia or learned insomnia. Many will seek the help of a psychiatrist to obtain prescription medications in an effort to break the cycle. Not a bad option in the short-term, but less than ideal as a long-term solution.
Most mental health professionals who work with insomnia will always recommend lifestyle modifications and attempts at simple changes in the environment first. Before we move to information about engaging your vagus nerve and the relaxation response, let's clear the path to create an optimal environment for sleep.
How can you modify your environment to promote better sleep? In addition to dimming the lights and reducing evening electronic stimulation such as ipads, smartphones, social media, some helpful evening rituals include the following:
Meditation
Focused breathing
Biofeedback
Guided imagery
Progressive muscle relaxation
Restorative yoga
Gentle stretching to release tension in the body
Warm bath
Soothing warm drink such as milk, nut milk or non-caffeinated tea
Herbs and homeopathic support
Permission to enjoy sleep
How are you breathing during the day? You may not be aware that throughout your busy day, your breathing has become shallow. Your thoughts likely contribute to this process as well. Negative thoughts, feelings, demands, the energy of others and pressure create tension in your body—at this point, you are inhaling longer than you're exhaling. The goal is to help you observe and notice this process throughout your day. Identifying this can help you move from a nervous system state where your amygdala is overactive to a state where more helpful part of the brain the pre-frontal cortex comes on board and signals to the amygdala that the alarm is not needed.
Breathing keeps us alive! You may not know about the importance of enlisting your diaphragm and lungs to relax your nervous system. As you go about your day, you need your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to help with metabolism and keep you alert. This helps you manage the demands of the day. Necessary. However, as you move towards evening, your body needs to power down. No alarms are needed. it's the time to unwind, relax and begin to conserve energy. This is how the process of cellular renewal and healing occurs—at night, while you sleep. Enter the parasympathetic nervous system or PNS, your restoration ally. Your autonomic nervous system or ANS regulates vital organ function but both aspects of the PNS and SNS have important jobs.
With every inhale, you activate the SNS. This energizing function speeds up the heart rate and prepares the body for activity and alertness. When you exhale, the PNS is turned on which then activates the vagus nerve. This slows the heart rate. What do you need to know here? When you exhale, and especially when you consciously lengthen your exhale, this calms your nervous system and creates a natural sedation. Yes, drug free, natural sedation available to you, and as you practice this technique, you will begin to activate your vagus nerve which will help calm and heal your nervous system. If you already have a regular yoga, meditation or pranayama practice, you know that deep inhalation energizes and invigorates, while the process of exhalation calms, de-stresses, and grounds the body and nervous system.
Experienced yoga practitioners already know how to work with these states and can activate deep relaxation or states of high energy. If you're trying to manage conditions such as anxiety, insomnia and depression, it's helpful to know how to breathe with intention and purpose. With respect to general health, lack of stimulation can contribute to depression, while over-stimulation can lead to anxiety and insomnia. Certain medications, recreational drug and alcohol use, sugar, uncontrolled stress and poor lifestyle habits can contribute to emotional health challenges. Whether you're struggling with anxiety or depression, it's good to know that you may be able to support positive health changes by focusing just on your breathing! How powerful is that?
I frequently suggest the following simple breathing techniques to activate your vagus nerve and PNS...
In bed with your room free from distractions, light and noise, settle in and allow your body to relax into the comfort of your bed.
Breathe slowly, deeply and evenly at a relaxed pace. Connect to your body by placing hands on your belly or heart. When ready, take even deeper breaths, inhale and exhale evenly.
When you're ready, continue inhaling for 4-7 counts and exhale for 6-10 counts. Do whatever ratio feels comfortable but extend the exhale. Feel your belly rise as you inhale slowly, enjoy the fall of your belly as you exhale. Slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing and extending the exhale activates the vagus nerve and the Relaxation Response.
As you deepen into relaxation, you may begin to observe your thoughts. Notice the sounds in your environment and various sensations in the body. As you do this, gently bring your awareness back to the rhythm of the breath.
When the sun greets you in the morning, you can consider lengthening the inhalation to energize your body, as needed throughout the day to activate the SNS, giving you the necessary energy to move through your day. When you feel stressed take a pause during your day to reactivate your PNS.
Cheat sheet...
Longer inhale for energy and alertness
Longer exhale to activate the vagus nerve and relaxation response
About Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness Manhattan
Kimberly Seelbrede, LCSW is a New York State licensed Psychotherapist, EMDR Practitioner and Couple Therapist with a private practice in New York City, Montana and virtually. As a wellness psychotherapist and holistic consultant, she has receive advanced, extensive training in Trauma Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Somatic Experiencing (SE), and Nutrition & Integrative Medicine For Mental Health. She is passionate about honoring the exquisite interplay of the mind-body connection. Kimberly Seelbrede specializes in anxiety & mood disorders, trauma and women’s mental health. She brings over 20 years of counseling, coaching, and healing experience to her holistic practice and transformational work.
In addition to online therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship struggles, Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness offers a wide variety of online services to fit the needs of busy professionals. New Yorkers often lead fast-paced and complex lives, which makes work-life balance and managing career, family and social obligations a challenge. Psychotherapy and wellness practices provides the support to help clients cultivate resources, resilience and enhanced emotional health, as well as uncover conflicts and obstacles that may interfere with having the life they desire.