Mindfulness Exercise: Vagus Nerve Reset

Transcript

(meditative music) - [Vanessa] A vagus nerve reset helps us reset our nervous system. So when trauma happens, our
nervous system responds. And when an event happens, it's about how our nervous system
integrates that experience. So I want you to take a
moment and just pause. The vagus nerve is the main function of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the rest, digestive functions in our body, ability to feel joy and connection. And the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the fight,
flight, freeze responses. So we wanna do is we want to tap into the parasympathetic nervous system. So we wanna come into a
place of calmness, ease, where we're able to
find joy and connection. So, I want you to just get
into a comfortable space. So similar to acupuncture,
there are points in our ears that connect
to the vagus nerve. So what I want you to do, is
we're gonna check our ears and we're just gonna
just move them around. Notice that they're able to be flexible or notice if there's any tension, and then check the other ear. So you wanna check both
ears and just connect with your ears and notice
if there's any parts. Great. So we're gonna focus
right now on our left ear. So right on our left ear in the inner ear, there is like a little canal. So right above our ear
canal, there is a channel. There's like a little opening space and I want you to slide your finger in and just massage that point, and can do little circles, gently, not too much pressure and just massage and go in light circles. And continue to do so. We wanna do this for about 30 seconds. Or longer than that. And then you can go the other way. Beautiful. And continue to massage
lightly and gently. And then we can move on to the other ear. So again, right above your ear canal, there is a channel right in your ear, then just lightly and gently
slide your finger through it and massage that point, and go
in gentle and light circles. Beautiful. Perfect. And you can go the other way. Perfect. And now just move both ears and notice, check in on your ears, notice if any tension has released, notice how you're feeling and
just check in on both ears. Okay beautiful. So another vagus nerve
technique that we will do is I invite you to lay down
on a mat if you have one, get into a comfortable
space and just lay down. And then we're going to place our hands and insulate them like a pillow, right under our head, just so
our hands become our pillow. And our feet on the ground. So our knees are up and our
back is flat on the ground. Okay perfect. So what we're going to do
is we're gonna keep our head facing up and we're
gonna only move our eyes. Okay. So only move your eyes. So move your eyes to the right side again, only your eyes and just
hold there for a moment. You may need to take a yawn or a deep breath, and that's great. That's all a part of the
vagus nerve system resetting. Beautiful. And then move your eyes back
to center to the ceiling. Beautiful. And now move your eyes to the left and just stay there for a moment, only your eyes and hold
there for a moment. And again, any yawns, any deeper breaths, anything of that sense, even
maybe a little sniffling, those are all a part of
the vagus nerve reset. And then you can... bring your eyes back to
the center, to the ceiling and take a couple deep breaths
in and out your nostrils. And take a moment to pause. Okay. And this next vagus nerve reset, you can do sitting with your
spine straight or standing. So what I'm gonna ask is for
you to take your right hand and place it to the top of your head, and you kind of have your
left arm slightly out at about a 60 degree angle. And we wanna move our right
ear to our right shoulder. And we're gonna take our eyes
and move them to the left. Only our eyes. We're gonna keep that there for a moment, so our right ear is
with out right shoulder, with our right arm on top of our head and just move your eyes to that side, to the left side and keep them there. Keep your eyes right on the left side. And again, any yawns, any
deeper breaths that need to be taken, that's great,
that's all a part of it. Perfect. And then we can slowly
take our right hand, put it back on our side,
move our eyes to center, come back straight to a straight spine. Entering the straight spine. We're gonna do it on the other side now. So we're gonna take our left hand, place it on the top of our head, our left ear to our left side. And While our left ear
is by our left shoulder, we are going to move our
eyes now to the right. Only our eyes are moving
to the right side, until you get a yawn or a deeper breath, and again, that's all a part of it. And that's your body just sharing
some information with you. And you can stay in this
position a little bit longer until the need for a
deeper breath or a yawn. Perfect. Beautiful. Now We can take our left hand, just put it on our side, move our eyes to center. And come back to a straight spine. Take an inhale... and exhale. And just pause, just pause for a moment. Beautiful. And thank you. - [Announcer] Thank you for listening to PRA Wellbeing's vagus
nerve reset exercise. This is one of a three-part
wellness exercise series developed and led by Vanessa
Marrufo of Solrise Wellness. The exercises included in the series are intended to boost
well-being and mindfulness. If you haven't already, please listen to the other exercises in our series, body scan, and emotional
freedom technique. This series was produced in association with Policy Research Associates and for more information
about PRA Wellbeing, you can visit the website
at www.prainc.com.