Befriending Our Activated Nervous System
Building on my recent post on the Window of Tolerance, I am going to take a shallow dive into Polyvagal Theory. Polyvagal Theory was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, PhD, over 25 years ago but has recently become mainstream. It is a valuable tool to understand your own nervous system and building roadmaps on how to come back to a state of regulation in your body.
Polyvagal Theory explains the relationship between the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and social behavior. Our ANS works in the background and runs breath, heart rate, and digestion — the things that happen in your body automatically and are running on autopilot without any conscious effort. The ANS shifts depending on how we feel (mainly if we feel safe or in danger).
When we feel safe, we are in a state of Ventral Vagal response. From this state, we are able to connect with others, engage in play, be creative, and tolerate emotions and information. From this place, we are able to respond instead of reacting.
When there is a perceived threat, our ANS has two ways of keeping us safe. The first is the Sympathetic “Fight or Flight” response. When we are in a sympathetic response, it is common to feel increased physical sensations and/or flooded emotions, racing and/or disorganized thoughts, hyper-vigilance, intrusive imagery…
And then there is Dorsal Vagal “Immobilization” response. When this is activated, there is a relative absence of sensation, emotions, and/or thoughts. People in this state often report feeling dissociated and/or numbed out.
So how is this applicable to you and your everyday life? One of the amazing things about the ANS is that it runs on autopilot, we don’t have to think about breathing in order for our lungs to get the oxygen they need. But when we are able to bring mindfulness in, we can actually directly impact our ANS.
Let’s say you just received an email from your boss scheduling a meeting for this afternoon. You immediately go to the thought of, “they are going to fire me!”, and your mind races through all of the reasons why you surely are going to lose your job. You notice yourself feeling warmer, your heart is speeding up… you are in or are moving towards a sympathetic response within your ANS.
This triggered response can happen extremely quickly. But if you are able to notice what is happening and that you are activated/triggered right now, you may be able to regulate your nervous system back to a more calm state. Instead of the automatic shallow and quick breaths you’re taking when imagining having to tell your friends you were fired, what happens when you intentionally lengthen your exhales? If you need guidance with this, I encourage you to check out Breathwrk.
If you are noticing that you’re in a state of Dorsal response, turning your neck and head from side to side, visually taking in your surroundings as you do so, can help to melt this immobilization response. Another useful exercise is to try lightly tapping up and down your arms and legs with a flat hand. Focusing on the sensation in your hands and your arms/legs as you do this.
With mindfulness, we can directly impact and regulate our nervous systems. For many, it takes time and repeated practice to become mindful and aware of our nervous system and ANS responses.
Some resources for learning more:
“Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory” - Deb Dana
“Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices” - Deb Dana
“The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe” - Dr. Stephen Porges
As you may or may not have noticed from the type of posts I have been sharing here, I am passionate about psychoeducation and sharing the knowledge I have accumulated from my schooling, trainings, reading, and learning over the years. I share this knowledge with my clients in therapy sessions and am excited to be sharing it more broadly through these newsletters. If you have found any of this resonant or helpful, I would love to hear from you. Additionally, if there is anything you would like to learn more about or have me share about, please email me (ellenottmantherapy@gmail.com) or comment below.