#21 - Wandering Around Vagus (WAV) - October 2024

Vagal Tone: how to sense into and feel vagal activity

Welcome to Month 21 of Wandering Around Vagus, a paid monthly subscription series exploring the Vagus Nerve + Polyvagal Theory.

I’m Tina Foster of Foster & Flourish, the creator and guide of Wandering Around Vagus.

A few quick notes to help you orient within our pages:

• If you’re new, or need a review, here’s the link to the START page.

• You can find last month’s post (our 20th) on coregulation, reciprocity and limbic revision here.

• Monthly & Supplementary Posts + Recordings can be accessed by topic from the navigation bar atop the Wandering Around Vagus Homepage.

• All past posts are listed in reverse chronological order on the archive page.​

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THIS MONTH’S WORK

As we know, in the complex orchestra of the human body, the vagus nerve plays a central role in how our body functions, how we respond to stress, manage emotions, and connect with others. One important measure of vagal function is VAGAL TONE, a term that has gained increasing attention in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and even wellness practices like yoga and mindfulness.

This month we explore vagal tone as a key to connection and calm. If you’ve been in WAV awhile or have been working with the vagus nerve elsewhere, you might have become aware of vagal tone without realizing what to call it. Vagal tone occurs in many ways, from actual body sensation to emotional and mood-related feelings, from very subtle to very intense degrees. It can be the warm, pleasant emotional upswell felt in the chest as we look into the eyes of our children, pets and those we love or in our gasp upon witnessing an inspiring moment in nature or the heightened sense of transcendence that sweeps us up while listening to beautiful music.

What exactly is vagal tone, and why is it so crucial for our well-being? This month we dive into our felt sense and find out more. Our practice will be an exploration of ways to increase or heighten vagal tone and how to use it in our everyday lives.

By the end of this 15 minute audio you’ll have a better sense of:

• what vagal tone is, how to recognize it and why it’s important for wellbeing

• the importance of “high” vagal tone

• how to improve or heighten vagal tone

• how vagal tone feels in your own body

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What is Vagal Tone?