The Vagus Nerve: Why It Matters for Stress, Inflammation, and Healing

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The vagus nerve doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, but it plays a critical role in how your body responds to stress, inflammation, and overall health.

It helps regulate:

• Heart rate

• Breathing

• Digestion

• Immune and inflammatory responses

When it’s functioning well, it supports a calm, steady internal state. But when it becomes overwhelmed or dysregulated, the body can remain stuck in survival mode — making it harder to rest, recover, and heal.

In a recent blog post, Dr. Deborah Kennedy, ND, PhD, a terrain-trained provider, explores how the vagus nerve influences the body’s response to stress, inflammation, and recovery — and why supporting it can play an important role in overall health.

Beyond Fight or Flight

Many people are familiar with the idea of “fight or flight,” but the nervous system is more complex than that. The body can also shift into freeze or fawn states — patterns that reflect deeper stress responses.

• Fight: heightened tension, increased heart rate, irritability

• Flight: anxiety, restlessness, inability to relax

• Freeze: low energy, numbness, feeling stuck

• Fawn: people-pleasing or over-accommodating to feel safe

These responses are part of the body’s natural defense system — but when the nervous system has difficulty returning to balance, they can begin to affect everyday health and well-being.

A well-functioning vagus nerve helps the body shift out of these states and back into a place of safety, connection, and regulation — conditions that are essential for healing.

How to Support Vagus Nerve Function

Because of its role in regulating the nervous system, supporting vagal tone can have wide-reaching effects across the body.

Simple, consistent practices can help, including:

• Deep, slow breathing (with longer exhales than inhales)

• Meditation or mindfulness practices

• Cold exposure, such as finishing a shower with cold water

• Nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods

• Supporting gut health through diet and lifestyle

• Activities like singing, gargling, massage, or acupuncture

These approaches work by signaling safety to the body — helping shift the nervous system out of stress responses and into a state more conducive to healing.

Read the Full Blog Post: The Vagus Nerve: What You Need To Know

A Broader Approach to Health and Healing

This perspective is reflected throughout Dr. Kennedy’s work — both in her clinical practice and the educational content she shares.

As a naturopathic doctor and researcher with more than 19 years of clinical experience, Dr. Kennedy brings together a unique blend of science and whole-person care. With a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and advanced training in integrative and terrain-based approaches, her work focuses on helping individuals better understand their bodies and the factors that influence health and healing.

She works with individuals navigating cancer and women seeking support for hormonal, metabolic, and complex health concerns.

Through her practice, she offers:

• Personalized health assessments and advanced lab testing

• Support for hormonal and metabolic health

• Terrain-based strategies to support resilience during and after cancer care

• Integrative, whole-person approaches tailored to each individual

This approach is also reflected in her work in breast health. Rather than focusing only on detection, she emphasizes understanding and addressing the underlying factors that influence risk — helping women move beyond a “wait and see” approach and toward more informed, proactive care.

Through her program, Another Way to Breast Health™, she helps women identify their unique risk factors, support key areas like metabolism, hormones, and detoxification, and build personalized, step-by-step plans that promote long-term health and resilience.

Learn More About Dr. Deborah Kennedy, ND, PhD

Community Resource Note

Dr. Deborah Kennedy is a terrain-trained provider and part of a broader network of practitioners educated in the metabolic approach to health.

The Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health (MTIH) shares educational resources and community providers for informational purposes only. MTIH does not provide medical care or treatment recommendations. Individuals should work with their healthcare provider when making decisions related to their care.