Polyvagal toning is a set of protocols to calm down the vagus nerve and so helps to manage stress.
The vagus nerve controls the autonomic nervous system which manages all thE involuntary processes in the body. Things like breathing, digesting, organ function heart rate etc. functions. It also manages stress responses, the fight flight and freeze responses to help handle stressful and challenging situations and bring you back to safety .
The vagus nerve is known as the ‘wandering nerve’ as it wanders all throughout the body. It has many nerve endings in different parts of the body especially around the face, ears, neck and chest area. It connects also to the heart and lungs and connects to many of the organs. It sends messages from the body to the brain and from the brain to the body. 80% of these signals come up from the body to the brain.
The Polyvagal toning exercises use self touch, breath work and yoga postures and were created by Ariel Shwartz who is a psychotherapist and yoga teacher who has studied the vagus nerve at depth.
Polyvagal toning helps to strengthens the vagus nerve and to reduce stress and improve emotional regulation.
Polyvagal toning can help with:
- Reconnecting with feelings of calm and groundedness
- Manage stress
- Bring calm when needed
- Energise the body when needed
- Reducing feelings of overwhelm or panic
The polyvagal toning exercises are used to connect with different nerve endings of the vagus nerve. By touching the body in certain places it helps to calm down the nervous system. Many of these nerve endings are around the head and face and so many of the exercises involve touching this part of the body.
Place two fingers in from of the ears and two behind:
Squeeze the tragus of the ear
Pinch around the edges of the ear and inside the conchus
Stroke the hands across the cheeks
Place one hand on the forehead ( the most evolved part of the brain) and the other hand where the head meets the neck ( the oldest and most primitive part of the brain)
