Vagus Nerve Breathing

Three Science-Backed Breathing Exercises to Increase Vagal Tone

In our work at keur, we begin almost every practice the same way: by gently activating the vagus nerve through breathing.

It is one of the most efficient tools we know to regulate the nervous system.

With just a few minutes of conscious breathing, the body can shift from tension to safety. From stress to balance. From reactivity to awareness.

You can increase your vagal tone through breathing alone. And when vagal tone increases, the body immediately begins to feel safer.

This is the starting point of nervous system regulation.

The Vagus Nerve: The Body’s Information Highway

The vagus nerve is the largest and most important nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. It is also the longest cranial nerve in the body, traveling from the brainstem through the neck and chest, down to the abdomen, where it connects to nearly every major organ along the way.

It acts as the main communication highway between the body and the brain. Through our collaboration with the University Hospital Basel, we learned that around 80% of its fibers carry information from the body to the brain (Ma et al., 2024). The remaining 20% send signals from the brain back to the body, including powerful regulatory and anti-inflammatory signals that are relevant for conditions such as allergies, asthma, or rheumatism. Research has even shown that autonomic nervous system imbalance precedes and predicts the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (Koopman et al., 2016), suggesting just how central vagal function is to long-term health.

Through this constant flow of information, the brain is able to create a picture of what is happening inside the body. This includes signals about:

• breathing patterns and blood gases

• heartbeat and blood pressure

• digestive activity and stomach stretch (for example the feeling of satiety)

• chemical changes in the blood such as oxygen or pH

• inflammation and immune activity

The brain's ability to sense and regulate these internal signals is called interoception.

Interoception is not just perception. It also triggers regulatory responses that keep the body in balance — a process known as homeostasis.

Your body is constantly adjusting to stress, movement, food, emotions, and environmental changes. The vagus nerve plays a central role in coordinating this process. When this system functions well, we adapt easily. When it is depleted by chronic stress, poor sleep, or constant overstimulation, we lose flexibility — and small challenges begin to feel overwhelming.

Why Increasing Vagal Tone Matters

Vagal tone is most commonly measured through heart rate variability (HRV) — the natural variation in time between heartbeats. Higher HRV indicates better vagal tone and stress resilience, while low vagal tone has been linked to anxiety, depression, digestive issues, and inflammation (Laborde et al., 2017).

When vagal tone increases, the body receives a powerful signal: you are safe.

This shift has profound effects.

You begin to feel calmer in your body.

Your awareness increases — both internally and in the world around you.

And you gain the clarity needed to navigate daily challenges such as stress, anxiety, or even moments of panic.

In many ways, activating the vagus nerve brings you home to yourself.

It creates the conditions for balance.

And from that place, the body can better sense what is happening internally and adjust accordingly.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that high vagal tone is part of a feedback loop between positive emotions, physical health, and positive social connections (Kok et al., 2013). In other words: the calmer your nervous system, the more you can connect — and the more you connect, the more your nervous system regulates. It is a virtuous circle.

Think of it as a check-in with yourself throughout the day.

A moment to return.

Three Simple Breathing Exercises to Increase Vagal Tone

These simple practices can be done almost anywhere. Even a few minutes can make a noticeable difference. The science behind them is consistent: slow, diaphragmatic breathing at about 4–6 breaths per minute improves vagal tone and heart rate variability (Russo et al., 2017), and longer exhalations directly activate the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system.

1. Mini Breath Holds

This is one of the simplest and most effective ways to gently stimulate the vagus nerve. The short breath retention raises CO₂ slightly, which trains the body's tolerance to stress signals and gently engages the baroreflex — one of the main physiological pathways through which breathing influences vagal activity.

How to practice

• Breathe naturally through the nose for about 10 seconds

• Exhale fully through the nose

• Hold the breath out for around 7-10 seconds (pinch the nose if helpful)

• Resume normal breathing and repeat

Position: Lying down, seated, or standing

Time: 5 rounds (or more)

2. Humming

The gentle vibration created by humming stimulates branches of the vagus nerve around the throat and vocal cords. This is no metaphor: the recurrent laryngeal nerve, a direct branch of the vagus, innervates the larynx, and vocal vibration sends signals back to the brainstem.

There is also a remarkable secondary effect. A landmark study from the Karolinska Institute found that humming produces about a 15-fold increase in nasal nitric oxide compared to quiet exhalation (Weitzberg & Lundberg, 2002). Nitric oxide is a signaling molecule with antimicrobial properties that helps relax blood vessels in the lungs and improves oxygen uptake. Humming is also linked to increased body awareness and "decentering" — the ability to separate oneself from thoughts, emotions and sensations (Matko & Sedlmeier, 2023).

How to practice

• Close your mouth and gently separate your teeth

• Place the tongue against the roof of the mouth behind the upper teeth

• Optional: cover the ear canals with your index fingers and close your eyes

• Inhale slowly through the nose

• Exhale through the nose while making a humming sound, similar to “om” or the buzzing of a bee

Position: Lying down, seated, or standing

Time: 5 minutes

3. Coherent Breathing

Coherent breathing creates a steady rhythm between inhale and exhale, helping regulate the nervous system. The 6-second pace lands close to what researchers call the resonance frequency of the cardiovascular system — the rhythm at which heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration synchronize most efficiently. At this pace, HRV typically reaches its peak. Breathing exercises with low respiration rate and a small inhalation/exhalation ratio are capable of stimulating the vagal nerve (Gerritsen & Band, 2018), which is why this technique is so widely used in clinical and performance settings.

How to practice

• Inhale through the nose for 6 seconds

• Exhale through the nose for 6 seconds

• Continue in a smooth, steady rhythm

Position: Lying down, seated, or standing

Time: 5 minutes

Why Vagus Nerve Breathing Is More Relevant Than Ever

In a world of constant stimulation and stress, tools that help regulate the nervous system are more important than ever. The science is increasingly clear: controlled breathing, HRV biofeedback, and vagal stimulation can enhance executive functioning under pressure and mitigate fatigue and burnout (Lopez Blanco & Tyler, 2025) — making these practices relevant not only for relaxation, but for performance, recovery, and resilience.

Vagus nerve breathing can:

• immediately calm the body and mind

• help regulate emotions

• support performance and recovery

• improve sleep

• prepare the mind before important moments or performances

• support immune function and overall wellbeing

• reduce inflammation through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway

And perhaps the most powerful part: it is always available to you.

You could do mini breath holds hundreds of times a day: before a meeting, before answering a message, before reacting to stress, before a difficult conversation, before sleep.

Imagine how you would think, feel, and act if you regularly returned to that state of calm and balance.

A Simple Invitation

Try to come home to yourself often.

Use these breathing practices as small check-ins throughout your day.

Each time you do, you increase your vagal tone.

You improve your ability to regulate your nervous system.

And you create the conditions for clarity, resilience, and balance.

Sometimes the most powerful tools are also the simplest.

And breathing is always with you.