The Vagus Nerve, Stress, and Blood Flow to Your Organs: Why It Matters for Your Health

We often hear that stress is bad for our health — but do we really understand why? One of the most important reasons has to do with how stress affects blood flow to your organs, and a key player in that process is a long, powerful nerve called the vagus nerve.

Let’s break it down in simple terms — and explain how this fascinating nerve is directly tied to your energy, digestion, immunity, and even emotional balance.

The Vagus Nerve: Your Body’s Communication Superhighway

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body. It starts in your brainstem and runs down into your chest and abdomen, connecting your brain to your heart, lungs, digestive system, and more.

It’s part of your autonomic nervous system, which controls things you don’t have to think about: heart rate, breathing, digestion, and blood flow. The vagus nerve acts like a switchboard, turning different organ systems on and off based on whether your body feels safe or under threat.

Stress and the “Shut Down” Response

When your brain senses danger — real or imagined — it triggers your sympathetic nervous system (your “fight or flight” mode). Your body gets ready to run or defend itself. But if the stress feels overwhelming or inescapable, the vagus nerve can instead flip into freeze mode — a state of protection where your body slows everything down:

• Heart rate drops

• Blood flow to the internal organs decreases

• Digestion slows or stops

• You may feel frozen, tired, or disconnected

This is an ancient response that helped our ancestors survive. Think of a possum playing dead — it’s the same mechanism.

Humans do it too. Some people faint when overwhelmed. Others live in a chronic low-grade version of this state — not fully shut down, but never truly relaxed either. This can lead to that “always tired, never rested” feeling.

Why This Matters: Organ Health and Blood Flow

When your body lives in this “half-stressed” state, the vagus nerve keeps blood flow away from the digestive organs, reproductive system, and even parts of the brain. Your body is prioritizing survival over long-term function.

Over time, this can result in:

• Chronic digestive issues (like IBS, bloating, or diarrhea)

• Fatigue or brain fog

• Tingling in extremities

• Hormonal imbalances

• Weakened immune response

• Even dysfunction in organs like the heart or pancreas

And here’s the interesting part: there may be nothing actually wrong with those organs. The issue is often a disrupted communication system — a nervous system stuck in an unbalanced state.

As Dr. Stephen Porges explains in his work on the polyvagal theory, it’s not always the organs that need fixing — it’s the nervous system pathways between them that need support and repair.

The Role of the Vagus Nerve in Healing

The parasympathetic nervous system is the opposite of fight-or-flight — it’s the “rest and digest” state. This is where healing happens.

When your vagus nerve is functioning well:

• Blood returns to your organs

• Digestion improves

• Inflammation decreases

• Hormones balance

• Sleep deepens

• You feel calmer, clearer, and more connected

In fact, research shows that vagus nerve stimulation (even through implanted devices) can help reduce anxiety, depression, inflammation, and some autoimmune symptoms.

How Do You Stimulate the Vagus Nerve Naturally?

Here’s the good news: we don’t need surgery or extreme methods to start improving vagal tone. One of the most powerful tools is already within you: Your breath.

Because breathing is both automatic and under your control, it gives you direct access to the autonomic nervous system.

Slow, intentional diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing) can:

• Calm the heart rate

• Reduce anxiety

• Increase blood flow to the gut and reproductive organs

• Signal safety to the brain

A Personal Tool I’ve Found Helpful

One technique I personally use is something called Block Therapy — a gentle practice that combines diaphragmatic breathing with applying pressure to the body (using a wooden block or towel). It helps release fascial restrictions and helps stimulate the vagus nerve and shift into a parasympathetic state. If you're curious, you can even try a simple version with a rolled-up towel and follow along with this free 20-minute video here.

Final Thoughts

Your body is incredibly intelligent — it’s always trying to protect you. But sometimes, especially in our modern world, we stay in protective mode for too long. The vagus nerve is the key to unlocking that state and returning to one of flow, healing, and connection.

When your vagus nerve is supported and blood flow returns to your organs, everything from your digestion to your mindset can begin to shift. You don’t need to overhaul your life — you just need a few simple, consistent practices to gently tell your body:
“You’re safe now. You can rest. You can heal.”