Your vagus nerve, in plain English

You’ll see the vagus nerve all over social media, usually next to a promise. Here’s what it actually is.

What it is

The vagus nerve runs from your brainstem down through your neck to your heart, lungs and gut. “Vagus” is Latin for “wandering”, which fits: it reaches more of the body than any other nerve from the brain.

What it does

It’s a big part of your body’s “brake”. It helps slow your heart, and it carries a huge amount of information the other way, from your organs back to your brain. Most of its fibres carry messages up, not down.

Where breathing comes in

Breathing is one of the few ways to talk to this system on purpose. Slow breathing with a long out-breath increases the vagus nerve’s calming effect on the heart.

So when someone says “tone your vagus nerve”, the useful version is simple: breathe slowly, often. Be wary of anything more dramatic, or anything that costs a lot.