How Kundalini Yoga Calms Your Body Through the Vagus Nerve
Picture your vagus nerve as a winding river connecting your mind and body. When grief causes turmoil, Kundalini yoga helps smooth the flow and restore the power supply.
What is the Vagus Nerve?
The vagus nerve is like a meandering stream starting at your brainstem and branching down to your abdomen and tailbone. Along the way, it nourishes organs like:
- Your heart - The vagus nerve regulates heart rate like a dam slowing a river's surge.
- Your lungs - It controls breathing rhythms like a river's steady current.
- Your gut - It manages digestion like a river irrigating farmland.
The vagus nerve oversees your parasympathetic "rest and digest" system - your body's tranquil lagoon. It opposes the "fight or flight" rapids, keeping your body humming in harmony.
When this nerve is overstimulated and shorts out due to high levels of emotional stress, anxiety, gut issues, and inflammation can occur.
How Kundalini Yoga Improves Vagus Nerve Function
Kundalini yoga is like a power surge to your vagus nerve, restoring its functioning.
Slow Breathing
Deep belly breaths signal your brain to chill out. This activates the vagus nerve pathway.
Chanting
The vibration of chanting is like striking a singing bowl, transmitting calm throughout the nervous system.
Meditation
Quieting your mind removes overload and static so your vagus nerve can send clear signals. This eases anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Yoga Movements
The poses help release trapped grief to smooth out kinks and reboot your nervous system.
Relaxation
Lying still in Shavasana is the ultimate way of tapping into a pool of utter calm and reducing the release of stress hormones.
Benefits for Bereaved people
Boosting your vagus nerve can:
- Improve digestion, sleep and heart health
- Reduce anxiety, inflammation, and depression
- Increase your ability to find inner calm and peace
By stimulating this critical nerve, Kundalini yoga helps grievers recover from the many distressing physical and mental symptoms of loss. The practice reactivates the body's innate capacity for self-healing and helps restore balance in body, mind and spirit.