My New Favorite Vagus Nerve Exercise for Anxiety or Trauma Recovery - The Voo Breath or Foghorn

I’d like to share with you my new favorite vagus nerve exercise for turning on the parasympathetic response.

This is an exercise Peter Levine teaches to help people who are struggling with Chronic Overwhelm, burnout, or high levels of stress. He tells the story of helping a nurse who was working in the trenches at the beginning of the pandemic, she was interacting with the very ill, their families during a time of great fear. After using this technique, the nurse came back and said “I’m teaching this to all the other nurses, our work is still hard, but it’s not so heavy anymore”

Let’s talk about the science before I teach you the exercise.
People have been using humming, chanting or singing for thousands of years to work through emotions and soothe themselves. Science now confirms that when we hum, the vibrations of our vocal cords stimulate the vagus nerve, which can help to regulate the heart rate, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. The vagus nerve is connected to many different organs in the body, including the heart, lungs, and digestive system. When it is stimulated by humming, it can help to slow down the heart rate and promote relaxation throughout the body. Studies have shown that humming can increase the production of nitric oxide in the body, which can improve blood flow and reduce inflammation.

So let’s try out the “Voo breath” or the foghorn breath.

Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

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[TM-txct]

Great for when you're alone, but not workable in the moment. As a therapist, I am helping someone who has panic attacks. A double breath works really well, and it can be done immediately and in front of a room full of people, without them knowing what you're doing, giving the opportunity to calm down enough to leave a room and go to the bathroom where you can get yourself together. You take a big breath in, hold for a second, and squeeze another bit more breath in, then let it out. Through the vegal nerve system, the heart registers that the lungs have slowed down and messages that to the brain, which automatically signals everything else to slow down, by kicking in the parasympathetic system.

[theyogadoctor]

This is called bhramari breath, bee breath in yoga. Yogis have done it forever. We recommend that you close your mouth on the exhale so you increase the vibrations in the nasal pharyngeal cavity which increases the production of nitric oxide. Do it three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening for 1-2 minutes.

[misse]

I can remember 2 times that I was experiencing unbearable pain; 11yrs old with appendicitis, and 18yrs old having child labor pains for 11.5 hours with no meds.
Both of those times, I started making a similar humming sound and for some reason, it comforted me and brought my pain level down. When I was 11 with appendicitis, it was the middle of the night and my mom told me to stop moaning because she couldn't sleep... I stopped but the pain got worse. So I started up again. It was the only thing that helped my pain and discomfort.
I also noticed that one of my kids, as a baby, she would hum a lot when she was falling asleep, and sometimes in her sleep. I always knew when she was ready for a nap bc she would hum.
Probably some sort of self-soothing that comes naturally to us, but we lose it as we age.

[shawnruben]

I just wanna hop on here and say thank you. I suffer from severe health anxiety, agoraphobia, and panic attacks. I have watched your videos so many times, and tonight, i was particularly stressed about a new job. Guess where i came? Thank you so much! 😊

[celark]

It works and reminds me of the ancient OM sound, or OMN sound that is chanted in the exact same way over and over again.

[TheFluteLoops]

I did this exercise along with the video. After 4 months of unbearable anxiety, I figured anything is worth trying. When I sat for a few minutes afterwards I felt my shoulders relax. I didn’t even know I was tensing my muscles. Thank you for the new tool.

[kgrzvhj]

I often sing and chant to regulate. I also do body shanking and dance. Music in general is a great tool for regulation. Music and the forest is what saved my life 🎶🧡💃🧡🎶

[jennetbowdridge]

My therapist taught us Voo Breath years ago & it Is AMAZING!! Our son taught it to his gr. 2 class 😊 I still use it. The only downside is I can't really start doing it in the middle of a Stressful meeting😂 I am so happy you are sharing it.Emma. Thank you for all your amazing videos !

[SurprisedBigWaterfall-oxuj]

This is amazing. Unfortunately my dog thinks I’m in distress and starts jumping all over me😂😂😂😂

[amandafoxton]

Thank you so much. I have had it with my health, just been diagnosed with Addisons disease on top of autoimmune heart failure. I am doing this exercise right now and will continue! I am 56 and ready to fight. 😊

[kristinaparker]

This actually made my head feel lighter, like it was floating and I felt relaxed almost to the point of a slump. I've been dealing with overwhelming anxious thoughts for about a month and a half and have been trying to figure out what to do about it. This definitely helped.

[karmacomacure]

My kids and I hold hands in a circle every night before bed and do om chanting a couple minutes. We all sleep much better after doing that and it's a cute little family moment.

[samuelrodrigues]

Thx a lot.. i am struggling so much to relax in this moment, feeling hypersensitive, was dead tired yesterday, had insomnia.. i am a 3am again with insomnia the next "day".. feeling very grateful for finding this at this moment 🙏🙏

[aazhie]

Sounds like how cats purring can be healing and relaxing

[fabiennerivet]

You're the best provider of mental health / anxiety tips and knowledge I know. Thanks so much for your hard work

[sherrizerbel]

This is interesting about humming! I have done that automatically when in particularly uncomfortable job stress situations where the actual work I was doing was mindless—hence, the humming of a good worship song while I worked! I never knew that it was working on my Vagus nerve to keep me emotionally regulated! Love how God made our bodies to work together for our greater good!

[joePARKS]

This so cool.... can i say and picture a cow in a field of green grass 😂 .... i kid i kid .... thank you Emma - i have learned so much from you... I'm grateful of your work

[donnelmiller-mutia]

There are singing/chanting traditions that cover this. In the East, the Tibetan Buddhism (om prayer sound from Himalayas or South Asia). In the West, the Ison (drone) of Byzantine chants (e.g. Greek Orthodox).

[marierobitaille]

I've been doing this exercise for a couple of years now, I started following an injury and it helps very much with physical pain as well as anxiety. I'm so glad you are sharing this with everyone. I think your content is amazing, thank you for everything ❤.

[Aklifedesign]

Wow. Even just in the example that you give of the sound my energy is moving. Clearing. Releasing. I simply adore the way you infuse the eastern practices with the practical western scientific perspective and you do it so seamlessly and matter-of-fact ly. There’s so much validation & confirmation. Follow my feminine intuition. I’m just so grateful for this video right now because I followed you for years, but I needed something specific to use with five-year-olds and a coaching class. I tried to explain it to the children if you had 12 minions, who wouldn’t listen to you and you’re not allowed to yell at them or get mad at them how would you get them to listen? 😂I’m gonna make this sound when I get frustrated. 😊 I can’t blow the whistle because that means go in the Run club. Lol. Today I’m going straight to voo. My iPhone does not like that word. Unrelated but kind of similar. I also like how it can replace for me the word “woo” that I have been recently replacing because it is actually an insult to natural and innate practices that many of us feeling in our DNA but are made to feel like we are so odd for wanting to connect with sound healing sound therapy when it’s exactly what is calling us home And that’s what made my heart smile today It’s Voo. So Voo. 😂🫠🌊🔥❤🪷🌺🌸💕💫