New Year, New Nervous System!
A Free 10-Day Autonomic Super-Challenge
Day 5: PolyVagal & The Social Prescription
Hey Regulators!
On the last day of a recent trauma training, the teacher said something incredibly powerful; “No one heals without a witness.” Those prophetic words will never leave me. Not because they were poetic, or because we desperately need to be reminded of them in 2023 after going through a period of time that’s reoriented how we socially engage. But because they’re true.
Looking at trauma, healing, and the Nervous System through the lens of the PolyVagal Theory will change how you think about community, social interaction, and your relationships. The bottom line is, we are either hurting each other, or healing each other. Which side of the fence do you want to land on?
Dr. Stephen Porges' PolyVagal Theory offers us a new paradigm for understanding the Nervous System, and the part we play in helping ourselves, and the people around us feel safe enough to get better. The state of safety, Ventral-Vagal, which is the state we can influence within each other, is the harmonious healing state. It's the element of the Nervous System that allows us to down-regulate out of defensive, threat responses, and up-regulate out of defensive freeze states. It's the middle space we are all desperately searching for.
What he’s theorizing, which I have personally experienced, is that social engagement is a neuromodulator (a conductor of the nervous system). It has the capacity to put us in a healing state, or a havoc state. Since I started looking at healing through this lens, it's changed how I operate within group dynamics. It's helped me be more accountable for how my responses and engagement, or lack thereof, affects other people.
The other day, I referred to the hawk as a symbol of the Nervous System. Well, this is what I was talking about. One wing of the hawk is Sympathetic. The other wing is Parasympathetic. But there's also the body of the hawk. It lives in the middle of the two wings. If we look at the Nervous System through the perspective of PolyVagal, then we have to add another element to the Parasympathetic branch which becomes the body of the hawk. It's called the Ventral-Vagal Complex. It's essentially the middle of the Nervous System. In order to fly, the hawk needs all her parts; both wings and her ineffable body. This is why this theory is called PolyVagal (meaning 3 parts).
The Parasympathetic system is modulated by a long cord called the Vagus Nerve. It goes from the brainstem to the colon, and innervates all the human parts along this route. Talk about a brain-body system! This nerve is responsible for down-regulating us out of defensive, threat responses, and up-regulating us out of defensive freeze states. It's the brake system of the nerve structure and is the great communicator of the gut-brain axis!
The Vagus Nerve has two circuits. The first is an older one called the Dorsal Vagal Complex. This is the lower back part of the cord and modulates the subdiaphragmatic organs. It is where freeze responses occur. Think reptilian style and how a lizard's body freezes or immobilizes if you get too close. This happens to humans as well and shows up in the form of fainting, dissociation, a drastic slowing of the heart, numbing, depression, blacking out, or feeling frozen. It's the body's defense response when we don't have the ability to mobilize and discharge the activated stress response energy.
The newer circuit, The Ventral Vagal Complex evolved because we are social mammals and needed to be able to read each other's facial expressions and body language so we could coexist in service of survival. The Ventral Vagal is the upper front part of the circuit that controls the goods above the diaphragm and the muscles of the face, eyes, ears, neck, mouth and more. The happy, calm look you wear on your face is Ventral. It alerts people they can proceed and be near you-- that you are available for connection. The resting bitch face that might be stuck on you as your permanent expression makes it clear you are not in a ventral state and to not approach. No one even needs to understand the science of this. It's instinct.
Bottom line is, your body language and facial expressions are showing more than you think. The look on your face has the capacity to put someone at ease, or make someone feel uneasy. By consciously controlling your expressions, you have the ability to influence your own ventral vagal state, and others as well.
When someone is in Ventral, they feel safe, connected, creative, fluid and harmonious. They let you know with their body language, which are cues of safety, that you're free to be yourself. In this state you can relax, be playful, and intimate, and not be constantly on guard (sympathetic states that tax the body when they can't be turned off). Ventral Vagal is the great neutralizer of the nervous system. The coolest thing is: WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BRING EACH OTHER THERE!
People always ask me about the number one thing they can do to heal their own nervous system. I always say the same thing: get yourself some safe people you deeply trust who can be there for you on this journey. Turn to them often. It's those people who can help you move out of those defensive states, both sympathetic, and dorsal vagal, and carry you into Ventral. Safe people and community in our lives help us create more fluidity and regulation in our systems. The more time you spend in ventral, feeling connected, calm, and at peace, the more you will default there versus defensive.
This is essential to know in 2023. The last few years have conditioned us to believe the opposite to be true– that staying away from each other is what can save us. But the body tells a different story, and we have the science to prove it. You wanna get better? Go love on your people (and your animals). Let them love on you back. Do it now, and do it unrelentingly, forever and ever. This is the great healing salve we all need.
Practice Day 5: Listen to this podcast with Dr. Stephen Porges.
Spend time with people, and pets, who make you feel safe and happy!
Vagal Toning Exercises + Info:
Love you all!
LDD