Vagus Nerve Reset

The 5-minute vagus nerve reset, step by step

Five steps, about 5 minutes in all, plus an optional cool-water step. Do them in this order: the breathing slows you down first, so the rest is easier to feel.

1. 1. Slow the breath

   • Sit or stand so your chest is not folded.
   • Cyclic sighing: breathe in through your nose, then take a second short sip of air on top, then breathe out slowly through your mouth until your lungs feel empty.
   • Or the slow exhale: in through the nose for 4, out for 6.
   • Keep it gentle. If you feel lightheaded, breathe normally for a few breaths.

   Slow breathing is the best-studied part of this routine. A meta-analysis of 223 studies (Laborde and colleagues, 2022) found that it raises the heart-rate variability linked to vagal activity, during practice and right after. In a one-month randomized study (Balban and colleagues, 2023), five minutes a day of cyclic sighing improved mood more than mindfulness meditation did.

2. 2. Hum

   • Breathe in through your nose.
   • Close your lips and hum on the out-breath, low and easy, for as long as is comfortable.
   • Feel the buzz in your lips, face and chest. Let each hum be a little longer than the last.

   Humming turns the out-breath into something long and steady without counting. There is little direct research on humming and the vagus nerve; what it reliably does is slow and lengthen the exhale, which is the part of breathing that slows the heart.

3. 3. Look around

   • Let your eyes move slowly around the room, without hunting for anything.
   • Turn your head slowly to one side as far as is easy, then to the other.
   • Find three things you had not noticed before.
   • Let your eyes rest on something you like looking at, and breathe.

   Looking around slowly tells you, through your own eyes, that the room is safe right now. This comes from body-based approaches to stress and has little research of its own, but it is gentle and pairs well with slow breathing.

4. 4. Cool water on the face (optional)

   • Before you start, fill a bowl or the sink with cool water, or have a cold pack or a cold, wet cloth ready.
   • Hold it over your forehead, eyes and cheeks for 15 to 30 seconds, or splash your face a few times.
   • Keep breathing slowly. Cool is enough; it does not need to be icy.

   Cold on the face sets off the diving response, which slows the heart within seconds. In a small lab study (Richer and colleagues, 2022, 28 people), a cold face stimulus after a stress task led to better heart-rate recovery and a lower cortisol response.

5. 5. Neck and shoulders

   • Breathe in and lift your shoulders toward your ears. Breathe out and let them drop.
   • Tip your right ear toward your right shoulder, gently, and hold for a breath. Then the left.
   • Roll your shoulders back slowly, twice.
   • Unclench your jaw and let your tongue rest on the floor of your mouth.

   Stress often sits in the neck, shoulders and jaw. Letting those muscles go is the same idea as progressive muscle relaxation, which does lower felt stress in controlled studies. Move gently, and skip anything that hurts.

6. 6. Settle

   • Let your breathing go back to its own pace.
   • Notice your shoulders, your jaw and your hands.
   • Ask yourself what is different from when you started, without judging the answer.

   A short pause at the end lets you notice the change, which makes it easier to find again next time. The before and after rating is the same idea, written down.

The 2-minute quick reset

For a hard moment at work, in the car before you go in, or between two calls. It takes about 2 minutes:

1. Slow the breath (60 seconds): cyclic sighing or a slow exhale.
2. Hum (30 seconds): a long, buzzing out-breath.
3. Look around (30 seconds): slow orienting to the room.

How to do cyclic sighing (the physiological sigh)

1. Breathe in through your nose until your lungs feel about full.
2. Take a second, short breath in on top of the first, to fill them the rest of the way.
3. Breathe out slowly through your mouth until your lungs feel empty. The out-breath is the long part.
4. Repeat, gently, for one to five minutes.

Cyclic sighing is what the 2023 Stanford study tested for five minutes a day. If the double inhale feels fussy, choose the slow exhale instead: in for 4, out for 6. It works on the same idea, a longer out-breath than in-breath, with nothing to hold.

Other vagus nerve exercises, and what the evidence says

• Slow breathing (about six breaths a minute)

  The strongest evidence of anything on this list: across 223 studies, slow breathing raised vagally linked heart-rate variability (Laborde and colleagues, 2022).

• Cyclic sighing (the physiological sigh, repeated)

  One well-run randomized study: five minutes a day for a month lifted mood more than mindfulness meditation (Balban and colleagues, 2023).

• Cold water on the face

  Reliably slows the heart for a short time; one small study found faster recovery after stress (Richer and colleagues, 2022). Not for everyone: see the safety notes.

• Humming, singing and chanting

  They all lengthen the out-breath. Humming also raises nitric oxide in the nose (Weitzberg and Lundberg, 2002), but direct studies of humming and calm are few.

• Gargling, ear massage and "vagus nerve hacks"

  Popular online. We did not find controlled studies showing they calm you, so they are not in this routine.

• Progressive muscle relaxation

  Tensing and releasing muscle groups one by one increased relaxation compared with a control group in a head-to-head study (Toussaint and colleagues, 2021).

For a longer, body-wide version of the last idea, try the guided progressive muscle relaxation session.

Safety notes

• Breathe gently. If you feel dizzy or tingly, stop and breathe normally; the breaths were too big or too fast for you right now.
• Skip the cool water step if you have a heart condition, a slow heart rate, blood pressure problems or a history of fainting, or if cold brings on pain or headaches for you. Cold on the face slows the heart and briefly raises blood pressure.
• Move your neck slowly and only as far as is comfortable. Skip the neck step after a neck injury.
• This routine is for everyday stress. It is not a replacement for medical care, and it is not meant for a medical emergency.

Sources

• Balban MY et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine 4(1):100895.
• Laborde S et al. (2022). Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 138:104711.
• Richer R et al. (2022). Vagus activation by Cold Face Test reduces acute psychosocial stress responses. Scientific Reports 12:19270.
• Weitzberg E, Lundberg JON (2002). Humming greatly increases nasal nitric oxide. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 166(2):144–145.
• Toussaint L et al. (2021). Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.