That feeling is all too familiar: your heart races, your thoughts spiral, and your body tenses up. It’s your nervous system sounding the alarm, stuck in a fight-or-flight loop. But what if you could hit a “reset” button? What if you could calm the storm in your mind and body in just five minutes?

The key lies with your vagus nerve—the command center of your parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for rest, digestion, and relaxation. By learning simple, science-backed techniques to stimulate this nerve, you can manually shift your body out of a state of panic and into a state of calm.

You don’t need a therapist on speed dial to find relief. Here are three powerful hacks to help you reset your nervous system and reclaim a sense of safety—anytime, anywhere.

The Calming Power of Humming and Chanting

The vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords and the muscles in the back of your throat. Simple vocal vibrations can instantly stimulate it, triggering a relaxation response.

How to Practice:
Sit or lie down comfortably. Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, create a low, steady hum. Feel the vibration in your chest and skull. You can hum a single note, chant “OM,” or even hum your favorite calming tune. Aim for long, slow exhales. Continue for 2–3 minutes.

Why It Works:
The vibrations from humming directly massage and stimulate the vagus nerve. This action slows your heart rate and breathing, signaling to your brain that the danger has passed and it’s safe to relax.

Bilateral Tapping: A DIY Approach to Soothe the Brain

This technique is inspired by elements of therapies like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and uses bilateral stimulation to help process unsettling energy.

How to Practice:
While thinking about a mild stressor or simply focusing on the feeling of anxiety in your body, alternate tapping your hands on your knees—left, right, left, right. You can also alternate tapping each hand on the opposite shoulder, creating a cross-body pattern. Keep the rhythm slow and steady. Continue for about one minute.

Why It Works:
Alternating left-right stimulation engages both hemispheres of your brain. This can help disrupt stuck thought patterns and reduce the emotional charge of a memory or feeling, making it feel less intense and more manageable.

Lateral Eye Movements: Reprocessing in Real-Time

Similar to bilateral tapping, this hack uses eye movement to create a calming, bilateral effect. It’s incredibly discrete and can be done almost anywhere.

How to Practice:
Keeping your head still, slowly move your eyes all the way to the right. Hold for a moment, then slowly move them all the way to the left. Hold again. Continue moving your eyes back and forth laterally for 30–60 seconds. Remember to breathe deeply throughout.

Why It Works:
Lateral eye movements are a core component of EMDR therapy. This motion helps to integrate information between the brain’s logical left side and emotional right side, which can help de-escalate the amygdala (your brain’s fear center) and promote a sense of emotional balance.

When to Seek Guided Support

These tools are powerful first-aid techniques for your nervous system. They are designed to provide immediate relief and help you regulate in the moment.

For some, these practices can be part of a long-term management plan. However, if you find that your trauma responses are deep-rooted, persistent, or significantly impact your life, working with a professional can provide a safe container for deeper healing. For a personalized plan to address chronic stress or trauma, explore the option of a one-on-one consultation to guide your journey toward lasting nervous system regulation.

Final Thoughts

Your nervous system has built-in reset buttons—you just need to know how to press them. Techniques like humming, bilateral tapping, and eye movements are simple, free, and effective ways to bring your body back into balance in just minutes. With consistent practice, these small habits can help you shift from survival mode to a state of calm resilience, whenever and wherever you need it most.