Why you need to be vagal toning

2022 is all about destressing, after a year of craziness people are looking for more ways to dial down their stress levels.  I’m currently obsessed with biohacking and any kind of wellbeing short cut that can help improve overall mental wellness, so when I heard about Sensate, a smart piece of tech designed to calm your fight-flight-freeze response and relax you, I was intrigued.  Sensate is still relatively new to the wellness market but is already making waves and garnering a legion of fans including Davina McCall. 

This pebble like gizmo is laid close to the sternum and uses sub-audible sound waves to stimulate the vagus nerve.   What is the vagus nerve I hear you say. Vagus means ‘wandering’ in Latin and this nerve does just that.  It starts in the brain stem and meanders close to your ears, before passing through the back of the throat, via the heart, lungs and diaphragm and then spreading out like octopus tentacles in the gut. This long-overlooked nerve is our stress response superhighway, and unsurprisingly, for most of us, it’s all snarled up. When the vagus nerve is activated, it puts the brakes on the stress response and just 10 minutes using this stress busting gadget tones the vagus nerve lowering cortisol and helping you relax.

For anyone looking to distract a busy mind and switch off, this is the perfect addition to your wellness routine.  I got to try out the product and while I did not use it daily, just a couple of times a week proved beneficial when it come to relaxing and decompressing.  It’s easy to use, simply select your soundscape, pop your eye mask on and place the pebble onto your chest bone.  The combination of soothing music and the gentle vibration of Sensate gradually settles and calms the body and mind.   You can choose your preferred session length, but I recommend doing at least 20 minutes.  Almost every time I use the device, I fall asleep after around 10 minutes, so I’m not surprised one of the biggest gains reported has been improved sleep.

Discussing the benefits, founder and CEO, Stefan Chmelik says “Neurons that fire together wire together and every time you use Sensate you are strengthening neural pathways. Repetition is key to accumulative behaviour and using it for 10 minutes every day for 40 days will improve resilience through vagal toning”.  Chmelik says “Sensate is a proactive tool and regular use will trigger the relaxation response and lower the fight-or-flight stress responses in the autonomic nervous system”.

Using Sensate during the pandemic helped me unwind after a challenging day of juggling home schooling and work.  Delivering the same effects of a meditation session, this is a lot less effort and is easy to slip into your daily routine, which is why I’m a fan.