Klaudia Mitura: [00:00:00] Hello, happiness seekers. My name is Klaudia, and you are listening to the Happiness Challenge. Welcome to part two of how to achieve vibrant wellbeing with gut brain health.

In the previous episode, Dana Chapman, nutritional therapist explained how our gut brain health works, how it contributes to our happiness, and it is just incredible to know that our happiness starts in our gut.

And of course, she also shared lots of practical advice of how we can improve the gut brain connection. And as always, it's time for me to put her advice into action. So, join me.

What caught my attention in Dana's advice and shared insights was the importance of stimulating the vagus nerve, which connects the gut and brain and sends [00:01:00] signals in both direction for that vibrant wellbeing.

And research shows that stress blocks signals sent through the vagus nerve leading to gastric issues and decreased level of happiness. So, this is why stimulating the vagus nerve, especially before eating can promote not only better digestion, but also much more vibrant wellbeing and increased happiness.

Now you may say, well, that sounds really simple. And yet we know from experience. That in very hectic times, in our hectic schedules, we eat in a hurry, we eat on the go, or we eat in front of TV without even paying attention how quickly we eat and what are we eating and how much we are eating. And unfortunately, all of these three habits that we all fall into are not beneficial to [00:02:00] our gut and therefore our happiness.

So, I really encourage you to join me on this happiness challenge in testing simple ways of stimulating the vagus nerve before meals for better digestion and wellbeing. I specifically will be testing three methods. So, first method, breathing exercises. So debriefing techniques, known as belly breathing, activate the vagus nerve and promote a sense of relaxation.

So, what I'm going to do is before sitting down for my meal, I'm going to take a few moments to focus on my breath. I'll be inhaling deeply through my nose, allowing my abdomen to expand fully, and I'll be exhaling slowly through my mouth, releasing any tension and stress. And I'll repeat it literally for a couple of minutes to kickstart my [00:03:00] digestion on the right foot.

A second method I'll be trying, which was suggested by Dana in the previous episode, is about singing and chanting. Now, I'm really bad at singing, so I'm not going to go for that. But I'm going to try a little bit of humming or chanting. Why is this important? Because engaging in activities that involve controlled vocalization, such as singing, chanting, humming, can stimulate the vagus nerve and promote that relaxation.

So, I'm going to, again, incorporate a few minutes of humming just before I sit down to my meal. I do my breathing exercises. I do a little bit of humming to really think whether that helps me to stimulate that vagus nerve for that vibrant wellbeing.

And the third one is about mindful eating. Mindful eating involves paying close attention to the [00:04:00] sensory experience of eating, the taste, the texture, the aroma of the food, the look of the food, the colour of the food.

Again, sometimes I'm definitely guilty of eating on autopilot. I eat quickly. I really don't concentrate on every bite I'm taking. So, what I'm trying to do during the meal, I'll be trying to fully engage in the act of eating, of really savouring each bite so that I can activate the vagus nerve and promote that optimal digestion.

And again, chewing slowly and mindfully. And again, I'm going to give it a really good try at chewing slowly and mindfully to signal to my body that, well, it's time to digest, it's time to relax and everything is fine. And now we're concentrating on that specific meal in front of us.

Now, even though those [00:05:00] methods may seem not very practical, you may say, well, I barely have time to eat sometimes, let alone to do breathing exercises before eating. Silly, you might be saying, well, you ask me to chant or hum or sing before dinner, or obvious as duh, I should chew my food. Well, I still hope that you'll join me in this happiness challenge to really pay a little extra attention to your pre meal habits so you can truly reap the benefits of digestive and mental health.

Because often what's the simplest thing in life is the most impactful one. And because it's so simple, we may miss it. We may miss it every single day. So, I do hope that you still join me on this happiness challenge.

Now, for some of you, you may already have a really good routine and similar habits in place before you start your meal and food. So, if you up for trying some more [00:06:00] unconventional methods, you could also have a go at two methods.

First one: gargling with water can stimulate vagus nerve.

As the throat muscles involved are connected to this crucial nerve, so you can simply take a mouthful of water and gargle for 30 seconds to one minute before spitting it out, and you can repeat it maybe two more times before your meal, so that you activate the vagus nerve and really enhance that digestive function.

Or a second method that you could try is a cold exposure, so splashing water on your face. Taking a brief cold shower. Those methods activate the vagus nerve, and this heightened activity can again lead to improved digestion and overall gut health. If you have time before your meal, before your dinner, you can consider incorporating a quick cold shower to really [00:07:00] jumpstart your body digestive processes.

Thank you so much for listening. I wish you a fun time when experimenting with different methods of stimulating your vagus nerve to improve your gut brain health. And again, I'm sure that your gut will thank you. So, remember to keep in touch. Let me know how you're getting on. Join the Happiness Challenge Newsletter on LinkedIn. I'll share what I have learned at the end of the month.

So, see you then. And as always, I dare you to be happy. Bye!