Tone this part of your body to improve your quality of life
Chisel your abs if Mike the Situation is your hero. Otherwise, to improve your quality of life, I suggest exercising something else: your vagus nerve.
Here’s how a toned vagus nerve looks: You’re cool as a cucumber, even in the midst of chaos. Sure, things tick you off. Getting cut off during rush hour in the Galleria will shoot up anyone’s temper, blood pressure and sometimes middle finger. But you recover quickly. A minute later, you’re back to blasting Halsey, or NPR, like nothing ever happened.
The vagus nerve is the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system. I could tell you more about that, but I’m a yoga teacher, not a science teacher. So here’s all you need to know: When this blessed nerve is activated, your mind and body both chill out.
“Rest and digest” is the internal mode which the nerve is said to launch. Think the opposite of fight or flight. Blood pressure goes down, heart rate drops, inflammation lowers and immune functioning improves. More resources go towards proper digestion, the body conserves energy better, and you feel better too. The parasympathetic nervous system and vagus nerve offer more mental clarity, and less anger, anxiety and depression.
We can trigger this nerve to work for us on command. Here’s how to work out and strengthen vagal tone.
Deep breathing
Do a few rounds of slow, deep breathing. Make each inhale long and full. Pause briefly at the top. Then slowly breathe out, completely emptying the air from your lungs.
You might picture how babies breath — the way their tummies rise and fall. Try to replicate that.
Don’t underestimate the mechanical process of breathing deeply. Even if your mind is swirling, deepening your breath can help you calm down.
Exercise
Aerobic breathing stimulates the vagus nerve. Be active in whatever ways you can.
Meditation
Some research has indicated loving kindness meditations — where you send goodwill to others by mentally repeating a series of mantras — for vagal tone. I’m sure any meditative practice will do the trick.
Of course, we already know this stuff is good for us. I suggest integrating it when you can, as regularly as you can, not because you “should,” but because doing so can physiologically shift your default state, and thus your quality of life overall, for the better.
Vagal tone looks like resilience and equanimity.
That’s even sexier than abs.