Boost your body's 'wi-fi' and RELAX!

Stimulate your vagus nerve and take life in your stride, writes Kellie Gillespie-Wright...

Finding tranquillity can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. But what if I told you there was a secret key to calm - and improved health - nestled within your own body? Meet the vagus nerve, a fundamental part of your nervous system and your body's very own information 'superhighway'.

Made up of thousands of tiny fibres, the vagus is the longest and most complex of the 12 cranial nerves in the body, and is often referred to as the wandering nerve, because of its all-encompassing reach that travels from your brainstem to your abdomen. It plays a major part in everything from breathing and heart rate, to digestion and immune response, and knowing how to stimulate it can alleviate a multitude of ailments, from depression to IBS.

The vagus nerve is also your body's natural stress reliever, and harnessing its power can have an immediate and dramatic impact on your mental health. In recent years, it has become an object of fascination in wellbeing circles, from Wim Hof and his ice baths, to the social media trend for ear piercings to alleviate migraines. So, what exactly is it? 'You can think of your nervous system like a wi-fi network; you can't see it, but it's always there,working behind the scenes - and without it we wouldn't be able to exist,' says Anna Ferguson, author of The Vagus Nerve Reset (Ebury, £16.99).

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is pivotal in controlling both voluntary actions (such as walking and talking) and involuntary actions (such as breathing and heartbeat). Your ANS is divided into two branches: the sympathetic branch, which mobilises you for action (the 'on' switch), and the parasympathetic branch, often referred to as the rest-and-digest state (the 'off' switch). The vagus nerve lives in the parasympathetic branch and, when it's healthy, it can move your body from a fight-or-flight state of stress to a rest-and-digest state of relaxation.