A gentle way to prepare your body, mind, and spirit for Christ’s coming
Advent is a season of waiting—a slow, sacred exhale after a year that may have stretched your nervous system to its edges. For many survivors of trauma, this time of year carries mixed emotions: longing, hope, weariness, triggers from old memories, or the heaviness of unmet expectations.
One of the kindest things you can offer yourself during Advent is a moment to reset your vagus nerve, the core of your parasympathetic nervous system—your body’s natural “rest, settle, and feel safe again” system.
And the good news?
It doesn’t take long.
It doesn’t require privacy or quiet.
It simply invites you to slow down and return to your body, where God already meets you.
Why the Vagus Nerve Matters in Trauma Recovery
Trauma often keeps the nervous system on alert—heart racing, breath shallow, thoughts spinning. In Phase One of POOT, women begin acknowledging not just the story of trauma, but the effects that linger in their bodies: tightness, disconnection, overwhelm, or numbness.
Vagus nerve resets help:
decrease anxiety
calm intrusive thoughts
slow the heart rate
soften the body’s “fight, flight, freeze, or fawn”
open space to hear God’s voice again
Think of it as giving your soul room to breathe.
And Advent—this quiet season of expectation—is the perfect time to practice.
A Simple Advent Vagus Reset: The Eye-Gaze Method
This one takes under one minute, and it’s one of the fastest ways to downshift your nervous system.
How to Do It
Sit or stand comfortably.
Without moving your head, look all the way to your right.
Stay there until you naturally yawn or swallow.
Slowly bring your eyes back to center.
Then look all the way to your left.
Stay until you yawn or swallow.
Return to center and take one slow breath.
These involuntary yawns or swallows indicate that your parasympathetic system has activated—your body is settling.
Why It Helps
This gentle eye movement stimulates the vagus nerve’s pathway through the face and head, signaling to your brain:
“We are safe. We can soften now.”
An Advent Reflection to Pair With Your Reset
You can turn this quick practice into prayer:
“Lord, settle my body so my heart can hear You.
Calm the places that have forgotten how to rest.
Prepare room in me for Your peace.”
Other Advent-Friendly Vagus Resets
These echo the grounding practices in Phase 1, allowing your body to reconnect with God’s presence.
1. Breath Lengthening
Breathe in for 4 counts, out for 6.
(Your exhale activates the vagus nerve.)
2. 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding with God
See 5 things… feel 4… hear 3… smell 2… taste 1.
Whisper: “I am safe. God is near.”
3. Humming or soft singing
Humming vibrates the vagus nerve.
Try a simple refrain:
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
4. Warmth on the chest
Press your palm over your heart.
Say: “Here I am, Lord.”
What Happens When We Reset Regularly?
As women in Phasing Out of Trauma learn throughout the early phases, healing the nervous system is not separate from healing the soul—it is deeply intertwined. Resetting the vagus nerve repeatedly helps you:
experience God’s peace more easily
stay present during emotional moments
remain grounded during holiday triggers
strengthen your capacity to receive joy
rebuild safety inside your own body
This is Advent work:
Making room. Clearing space. Welcoming peace.
A Final Blessing for Your Advent
May your nervous system soften.
May your breath deepen.
May your body remember what safety feels like.
May Christ find you in every exhale.
And may this season be one of gentle, God-filled restoration.
Let us know if you try them how they're working for you.
