Fixing the autonomic nervous system can effectively cure or lessen these symptoms.17 In the past decade, surgeons have implanted electrical nodes in patients that work as an artificial vagal nerve to restart blood flow and communication between organs. The procedure is called vagus nerve stimulation, and it’s highly effective for patients suffering from anxiety, depression, and autoimmune diseases. But there is another, less invasive way Porges found to stimulate the vagus nerve: breathing.18
