The Connection Between Heartbreak and the Vagus Nerve

Heartbreak isn’t just emotional. It’s physical. The ache in your chest, the tight throat, the heaviness in the stomach, the loss of appetite, the sudden exhaustion - all of this has a physiological explanation that lives inside the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is the pathway between your emotional world and your physical body.

It links the heart, lungs, stomach, diaphragm, throat, and face.

It’s the main communicator between your inner state and your outer experience.

When heartbreak happens, the vagus nerve is one of the first systems to respond.

Strong emotional pain can activate a vagal constriction. The breath tightens. The chest contracts. Your stomach drops. Your voice becomes softer or shaky. You feel pressure around the ribs or a hollow sensation in the centre of your chest.

This is the body trying to stabilise itself during emotional impact.

Heartbreak often creates:

• shallow breath

• difficulty swallowing

• pressure in the chest

• loss of appetite

• digestive changes

• trembling in the diaphragm

• feeling faint or spaced

• sudden tiredness

• a tightening in the throat

These sensations can feel frightening if you don’t understand them. But the vagus nerve is simply signalling that something significant has touched you deeply. Emotional shock, attachment rupture, and sudden loss all travel through this pathway.

When the vagus nerve is unsettled, it narrows the breath and slows the body. When it softens again, breath deepens, digestion returns, and your sense of presence becomes stronger.

You can support vagal settling by:

• breathing slowly into the lower ribs

• placing a hand on your chest or throat

• humming or vocalising gently

• taking slow walks

• allowing tears to rise

• resting without guilt

• grounding through touch or stillness

Heartbreak isn’t just felt in the heart.

It’s felt through the entire pathway that holds your emotional wiring.

When the vagus nerve begins to settle again, you feel less overwhelmed. Your breath feels easier. The world stops spinning. The pressure in your chest softens. Emotion becomes something you can feel instead of something you brace against.

If you know someone who may benefit from breathwork for grief, or if you’d like support soothing the vagus nerve after heartbreak, you’re welcome to explore my grief-tending breathwork sessions. They offer a gentle, supportive space for the body to settle and release.

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