Practice for Vagal Tone

≤30 min. Yoga practice enable us to feel calm, and the vagus nerve is a big to trigger a relaxation response of the parasympathetic nervous system. Once activated, the practitioner often enjoys noticeable differences in anxiety, stress, and inflammation. This practice sequence includes lunges, twists, a Virabhadrasana 1 variation wherein we focus on the trapezius, setubhanda sarvangasana, hip and shoulder openers, and seated twists such as Marichyasana wherein use of the eye gaze is used to enable deeper cervical twists. Teachings from Deepak Chopra, Desirée Rumbaugh, Doug Keller, and Beth Spindler have drawn me to a deep interest in the vagus nerve and how we as yoga practitioners can incorporate asana to assist this cranial nerve in relaying important messages from and to the brain and respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems.