Why ‘activating’ your vagus nerve has become the latest wellness trend

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The vagus nerve has become the internet’s favourite body part.

On social media, it is everywhere. People hum into their phones, gargle with theatrical enthusiasm, dunk their faces into bowls of ice water and poke at their ears in the hope of “activating” it. Influencers describe it as a hidden master switch for calm, digestion and emotional balance. Some claim that learning to control it can transform everything from anxiety to inflammation.

All of which makes it sound faintly mystical.