Exercise your vagus nerve

Life in the 21st century can be stressful. While a certain amount of stress is healthy, it is useful to learn how to manage it. As we get older, our vagus nerve, which controls our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), stops functioning as effectively. The PNS is important as it calms us down, as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is the force behind the fight-orflight response to our adrenaline kicking in when something shocks us. Keep your vagus nerve well-tuned, like a muscle, by taking deep slow breaths, around six per minute, filling your diaphragm on the intake and pushing air out forcefully on the out breath. You can do it daily while out enjoying your garden. Just five minutes of this a day can help to decrease your heart rate and relax your muscles (see my YouTube video “My Top 6 Tips on How to Beat Inflammation”).

Stress buster: just five minutes of deep breathing a day can help you stay calm and relaxed