The Vagus-Sleep Connection: How Rest Recharges Your Nervous System

Your emotions feeling out of control? Your reactions a bit over the top? Before you blame yourself, check your sleep quality. That irritability, anxiety, and emotional rawness might not be character flaws—they're classic signs of a sleep-deprived vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve—that remarkable communication superhighway linking brain and body—thrives during deep, restorative sleep.

But there's good news: supporting your vagus nerve doesn't require complicated protocols. 

Ready to transform your emotional resilience and physical wellbeing? Start by treating sleep as essential medicine for your nervous system. You don't need to hustle your way to health—you need to rest. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Sleep's Impact on Nervous System
• 0:59 Vagus Nerve Refresher
• 2:17 How Sleep Deprivation Affects You
• 4:34 Sleep Support Tips
• 7:41 Closing Thoughts on Rest

Transcript

Emily Feist: 0:00

Today we're diving into how missing sleep turns your nervous system into a drama queen, your emotions into toddlers and your vagus nerve into a tired intern who's just trying to keep the lights on. Welcome back to it Starts at Vagus, the podcast where we stop chasing calm and start creating it, one small shift at a time. I'm your host, Emily, and I'm your guide to rewiring stress, restoring calm and giving your nervous system the attention it deserves. If you are tuning in while, sleep-deprived, sipping on your third cup of coffee and wondering why you feel a little unhinged this week, you're in the right place.

Emily Feist: 0:37

Today we're talking about sleep, the vagus nerve, and why your nervous system might be throwing a temper tantrum that even melatonin can't fix. So let's tuck in your sympathetic nervous system, turn down the cortisol and talk about what's really going on when you can't sleep and how that lack of sleep throws your emotional regulation and body off balance. Let's start with a quick nervous system refresher.

Emily Feist: 1:02

Your vagus nerve is a superhighway between your brain and your body. It starts at your brainstem, weaves through your neck, chest and into your belly, touching nearly every major organ along the way. It's your calm down, button your inflammation, soother your emotional co-regulator. It helps you digest your food, slow your heart rate, breathe deeply and feel connected to others. And this is why we talk about vagal tone, because it is connected to so many things Physically, emotionally. It's just got that good tie-in to all the things that help us feel our best. When we use the phrase vagal tone, that's just a fancy way of saying how well your vagus nerve is doing its job. So high vagal tone equals emotionally steady, calm, flexible. We can go in and out through our emotions. But low vagal tone tends to make us experience more irritability, feel more anxious, that shutdown feeling, and it can give our body that inflamed feeling. And the thing is, sleep is one of the vagus nerve's favorite recharging stations.

Emily Feist: 2:13

. Your let's start by talking about what actually happens in your body and mind when you don't get enough sleep. And I'm not just talking about all-nighters, I'm talking about when we have those five-hour nights that just stack up, the interrupted sleep from whether that's kids or having to go to use the bathroom. It can also be that mental load that keeps you awake, thinking about those lunchbox ideas or the late emails. But when you're not getting that deep, restorative sleep, you start becoming more prone to anxiety and start overreacting more and your vagal tone drops. So when things happen to us, even little things like spilled milk, our body reads us as oh, we're under threat, put up the shields. Become more sensitive to what's going on around us, because it needs that information to keep you safe. So now it activates a sympathetic nervous system, where our adrenaline rises, your heart rate climbs, blood pressure ticks up, the digestion slows down and inflammation increases. Meanwhile, the poor, vagus nerve that tries to say everything's okay is now too tired to finish the sentence. It is pooped out and therefore allows the sensitivities to show up.

Emily Feist: 3:31

And I remember a week not too long ago where we had storms in our area and it lasted about a week. Off and on. It was the kind of storms that shook our house and woke us up while we were sleeping. And three or four days into this week-long storm, this week-long storm, everyone in my house was just pooped out. We were all tired for not getting enough sleep too many days in a row, and for me, my desire to get morning sun was slim to none, and I love my morning sun. It's a big red flag for me when I don't want to do the things that I really do enjoy, and I also know that my patience was lower than normal. I started getting irritable at things and everyone in I started getting irritable at things, and everyone in my household started getting irritable at things. So you just know how that cycle goes.

Emily Feist: 4:17

So this is when I know that I need to be nice to myself, to let go of those little things and make sure I support my nervous system so I can also be kind to my family. And if you've had moments like that, you're not failing, you're just running on an empty regulation tank. And this is why I love the vagus nerve so much, because we can do things to support it to get back into that rest and digest mode where it feels safe. And it's such a fun nerve because it connects emotionally and physically for us. So when we support it we can sleep better and then feel better. And everyone gets better when we sleep, when we get good, consistent sleep. That activates our parasympathetic function, which is our calm mode.

Emily Feist: 5:02

The vagal activity is strongest during the slow wave, deep sleep and without it the anti-inflammatory benefits of the vagus nerve are impaired and so over time that can lead to chronic stress, the anxiety and even autoimmune issues. And when it comes to our emotions. Our emotional resilience is rooted in nervous system flexibility. So when that vagal tone is low, we can't regulate emotions as effectively and that leads to more panic and a sense of something is wrong with me, when really what's wrong is that your body is just tired and dysregulated, and that is when your nervous system is asking and begging for sleep to help it reset. Now, if you're already overwhelmed and sleep feels like one more thing to get right, don't worry, you just start small. So here are three gentle sleep supportive habits that you can try tonight so that your vagal tone is able to be flexible for the next day.

Emily Feist: 6:10

First, I like to create a wind down cue. I like to dim most of the lights in my house. You can also spray magnesium spray on your feet or putting on calming music Anything that tells your nervous system that it can associate it to it's safe and to start calming down and let the small things go. Second, when I am in bed, I start focusing on my sleep. I start breathing in through my nose and out my mouth. I really like to take time to belly breathe and it helps me to start practicing that good deep breath.

Emily Feist: 6:55

Now this last one could be a challenge for some of you, and that is to go screen free for, let's just say, 30 minutes before bed, and I mean that, tiktok, the face scrolling, the Pinterest, even the Amazon rabbit hole of blackout curtains that you're researching at 11pm. Do not lay down in your bed just to bring your phone up, Put it away or, better yet, put it in a different room so you don't feel tempted at night to scroll. So pick one of these things, do all three. If you can Just start with one small shift, that makes it easier for your vagus nerve to come back to feeling safe and secure. It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to support it.

Emily Feist: 7:41

Just a reminder you don't need to hustle your way to health, you need to rest, and it's not a luxury, but more like medicine, more like therapy. Think of it as a vagus nerve intervention. Your emotions aren't irrational and your reactions aren't dramatic. It's your body trying to keep you safe and you're not broken, you're just tired. You deserve that rest. You deserve nervous system peace and your vagus nerve is ready to get the signals to get you into that safe rest mode again.

Emily Feist: 8:15

All right, friends, thanks for hanging out with me today. If this episode gave you that. "Oh, that's why I feel off moment. Share it with a friend, leave a review or just take a deep breath and promise yourself an early bedtime. And until next time, remember wellness starts at Vegas.