The Vagus Nerve: Your Body’s Most Powerful Pathway to Calm

There is a nerve in your body that acts as a direct line between your brain and nearly every major organ you have. It travels from the base of your brainstem down through your neck, chest, and abdomen, touching your heart, your lungs, your stomach, your intestines. It is present in moments of deep calm and is suppressed in moments of chronic stress. It shapes the quality of your sleep, the ease of your digestion, the steadiness of your mood, and the resilience of your immune system. It is the vagus nerve, and most people have never heard of it.