Have you ever heard of the vagus nerve?
It’s not just the longest cranial nerve—it’s also one of the most important. Anatomically known as cranial nerve X (CN X), the vagus nerve is a key player in your parasympathetic nervous system, the “rest, digest, and heal” branch of your autonomic nervous system.
Originating in the brainstem, the vagus nerve branches out like a neural highway, innervating your heart, lungs, diaphragm, digestive tract, vocal cords, and even parts of your immune and hormonal systems. It’s the literal bridge between your brain and your body—especially your gut, heart, and endocrine glands.
Think of it like the maestro of your internal orchestra. It doesn’t play the instruments, but it cues them—timing your heartbeat, regulating motility, calming inflammation, and telling your body when it’s safe to relax. When the vagus nerve is under-functioning (a state known as low vagal tone), that whole internal symphony gets out of sync.
If your vagus nerve is “out of tune,” you’ll feel it in more ways than one:
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Poor digestion or gut sensitivity
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Irregular heart rate or shallow breathing
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Anxiety, brain fog, or mood swings
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Hormonal imbalances or fatigue
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Trouble sleeping or feeling grounded
That’s why I always say:
“Healing hormones means healing your nervous system.”
And one of the most overlooked keys to that healing?
Vagal tone.
What Is Vagal Tone—and Why Does It Matter?
Imagine your nervous system as a grand orchestra. Your vagal tone is the conductor’s baton—helping your body gracefully shift between states of activity and calm, fight and flow, alert and rest.
In clinical terms, vagal tone refers to how efficiently your vagus nerve responds to signals—and how quickly your body can recover from stress. A well-toned vagus nerve knows when to step on the gas (sympathetic mode) and when to tap the brakes (parasympathetic mode). This back-and-forth rhythm is essential for true healing.
When your vagus nerve is functioning well, it:
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Calms your heart rate after a stressful moment
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Boosts digestive enzymes and gut motility
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Helps you fall asleep and stay asleep
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Lowers inflammation and supports immunity
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Allows you to feel emotionally safe, grounded, and socially connected
But when vagal tone is low or dysregulated, the system falters. The music becomes dissonant. You might experience:
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Racing thoughts, anxiety, or depression
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Bloating, constipation, or poor digestion
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Crashing blood sugar and energy swings
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Hormonal chaos and PMS
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Even autoimmune flares or chronic fatigue
And yet—in most conventional settings, vagal tone isn’t even measured.
At Dr. Alex Integrative Medicine, I see it as a vital sign. Because when the brain-body connection is off-beat, no supplement or hormone can lead the healing symphony alone.
Tools That Support the Vagus Nerve
At Dr. Alex Integrative Medicine, I don’t just look at symptoms—I listen to the signal behind the symptoms. That signal often traces back to the vagus nerve and its role in regulating the neuro-metabolic loop: the dance between your brain, hormones, immune system, and gut.
Fortunately, you don’t need a prescription to start supporting your vagus nerve. In fact, some of the most powerful tools are free, simple, and instinctive—things your body was designed to respond to.
Here are some of my favorite clinical and lifestyle tools for activating the vagus nerve:
🌀 Humming, Chanting, and Gargling
These stimulate the vagus nerve where it wraps around your vocal cords and throat. Even just humming your favorite tune or gargling water vigorously can give the vagus a mini workout.
❄️ Cold Exposure
Think: cold showers, facial splashes with ice water, or even cold plunges (if you’re ready for it!). This helps reset the vagus nerve and signals the body that it’s time to switch into rest-and-repair mode.
Cold creates clarity—and calm.
🌬️ Breathwork and Stillness
Slow, diaphragmatic breathing (especially exhales that are longer than inhales) increases vagal tone and oxygen delivery to the brain. It’s like pressing the brakes on your stress response—and shifting into safety.
🛐 Prayer and Mindfulness
Spiritual connection isn’t just soulful—it’s biological. Moments of stillness, gratitude, and prayer have been shown to increase heart rate variability, a key marker of vagal tone.
😴 Deep, Consistent Sleep
Your vagus nerve resets and repairs during sleep. Poor sleep or interrupted circadian rhythms can keep the vagus nerve in a chronic state of alert.
Protecting your bedtime is protecting your vagus nerve.
🧠 Cranial Nerve Stimulation with Rezzimax
And of course—the Rezzimax Tuner Pro remains one of my go-to clinical tools. It brings the healing frequency of a cat’s purr directly to the nervous system in a safe, targeted way.
How Rezzimax Supports Vagal Tone (and Why It Sounds Like a Cat Purring)
When a patient struggles with stress, inflammation, or hormone chaos, I don’t just reach for lab results—I listen to the tone of their nervous system.
One of my favorite tools to help bring that tone back into balance is the Rezzimax Tuner Pro. It’s a handheld device that uses gentle, therapeutic vibrations to stimulate key cranial nerves—including the vagus—at precise points on your face, neck, diaphragm, and even the gut-brain axis.
What makes it special?
It vibrates at frequencies clinically shown to calm the nervous system, reduce muscle tension, and activate parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) pathways.
And get this—it vibrates at the same frequency range as a cat’s purr.
Yes, really.
Studies have shown that cats purr at frequencies between 25 and 150 Hz—a range associated with tissue regeneration, bone healing, and vagal stimulation. It’s no wonder that people instinctively feel calmer when a purring cat curls up beside them.
The Rezzimax harnesses this same soothing frequency range to:
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Calm an overactive stress response
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Reduce neck and jaw tension (especially useful for TMJ or headaches)
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Improve vagal tone and digestion
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Support blood pressure regulation
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Help your brain feel safe again
I often describe it as “vagal toning meets vibrational therapy“—a way to gently re-tune the nervous system without drugs, overstimulation, or guesswork.
Ready to Re-Tune Your Nervous System?
If you’ve been feeling stuck in stress mode, cycling through fatigue, gut flares, mood swings, or hormonal chaos—there’s a good chance your vagus nerve is waving a white flag.
The good news? It can be trained.
Your nervous system wants to heal.
You just have to give it the right cues.
At Dr. Alex Integrative Medicine, we use tools like the Rezzimax Tuner Pro to help patients reset their nervous system, improve vagal tone, and finally move out of survival mode—and into healing.
Whether you’re dealing with chronic symptoms, recovering from trauma or brain injury, or simply wanting to optimize your health, vagus nerve stimulation can be the missing piece in your recovery plan.
🔗 Explore the Rezzimax Tuner Pro
You can order directly through my trusted link below:
👉 www.rezzimax.com/dr-alex
(Use code DR-ALEX for any available clinic pricing or ambassador perks.)
💬 Still Not Sure? Let’s Talk.
Sometimes it’s not just about finding the right tool—it’s about finding the right rhythm for your healing journey.
If you’re curious whether vagus nerve support might help, or want to know how to use Rezzimax in your specific case, I invite you to schedule a free Discovery Call:
We’ll explore your symptoms, your story, and your next step—together.