Polyvagal theory is really interesting to learn when you are trying to understand your own mental wellbeing.
Do you feel out of control in life? Stuck? Does your mind and body react to situations? Or maybe you want to become more resilient, learn how to move forward in life, or support your struggles with anxiety and depression?
The polyvagal theory was created by Steven Porges and is a great way to understand yourself better. The theory considers your body’s automatic responses to life. Awareness and understanding can be a powerful step to help you make more positive changes in life and move forward.
This post aims to help you:
- Understand the basics of polyvagal theory and how it relates to you, how you face challenges, your emotional regulation and more.
- Become aware of your responses and shifts.
- Understand how you can meet yourself where you are
- Start to learn more about how to find what you need in different situations.
- Use a free tool to support you
What is the polyvagal theory?
The polyvagal theory revolves around the vagus nerve. This is one of the longest nerves in the body, going from the brainstem around the body. It is an important component of the parasympathetic nervous system. A large portion of its nerve fibres are sensory, so it is constantly getting feedback from the environment. This part of the nervous system is important in regulating your body’s response to perceived threats, social behaviours and emotional responses.
Parasympathetic nervous system
The parasympathetic nervous system, aka the rest and digest system, is an essential state that all humans need. It helps to create and maintain homeostasis and recovery from the stressed states we move into.
Sympathetic nervous system
The sympathetic nervous system is an activated state your body moves into when it comes up against a perceived threat. This is also known as the fight or flight response. This is an important function of your body, as it responds to threats and prepares your body for the appropriate actions. This is an evolutionary survival response that comes from when we were in a more primitive environment. Even though we live in a more modern world, our body still has the same survival response. There is a lag, as our bodies prepare to run from a predator – when in actual fact, you may be responding to an angry email from your boss. We have not evolved for the modern environment, perhaps because of how quickly our society has changed.
This is an important and normal function…
…as our body prepares us to respond and survive. However, the challenges come with getting stuck in these states which can lead to chronic health issues.
During this activated state, the body will go through several physiological changes.
We move into this state when we are activated (perceived as a threat) so we can respond accordingly. This should only be a temporary state. When the threat passes, we then should be moving back to the parasympathetic nervous system, into our calm and normal state. It is important to note that we are not trying to avoid activation, but have a healthy movement in and out of it. But this doesn’t always happen – or we are triggered too often.
The polyvagal theory considers that the body moves into three main states of arousal, just like moving up and down a ladder. We start at our balanced, rested state. We move into fight or flight, but if we don’t come out of that, then we move into a state of shutdown. These three states are called the ventral vagal state, the sympathetic state and the dorsal vagal state. These are often represented as a traffic light system.
Ventral vagal state
This is the safe and social state that should be the main, everyday state. This state is when you are calm, grounded, curious, creative, open, empathetic, compassionate, social and safe. This is the parasympathetic response. We are more connected to ourselves and the world. Physiologically – everything is working as it should e.g. our immune system, digestion, pain threshold, etc.
Sympathetic state
This is the next state up the ladder whereby we move into our fight-or-flight mode. This is where we may feel things like irritability, frustration, anxiety, worry, and panic. Physiologically our body changes too – heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline increase and our immune system, pain threshold and digestion decrease. All to adequately prepare us to respond.
Dorsal vagal
This is the next step on the ladder according to the Polyvagal theory. This is where we enter the shutdown mode. We can feel disassociated, numb, immobilised, stuck, hopeless, overwhelmed, depressed. Our bodies respond by conserving energy, so things like insulin, fuel storage and pain threshold increase.
It is normal and important that we move through these states
We may be feeling good and grounded, then get triggered into the activated state. The issue starts to increase when we are not able to flexibly move through the states. It begins to impact us physiologically, mentally and emotionally. With our body trying to conserve energy or flushing chemicals through our body, it can have an impact on our health and wellbeing. Research shows links between these states and causing health conditions, and/or making some worse.
What to do with this information about the polyvagal theory?
Knowing and understanding how the body works is one thing – but you need to be able to understand how your own body works and responds. This can be a really powerful way of meeting yourself where you are and helping yourself become more flexible and resilient to life’s challenges.
A great thing to do is start to map your nervous system.
You can do this by considering when you move into these states and what they look like for you.
- What situations trigger a response in you?
- What thoughts, feelings, body sensations and responses do you experience?
Then you can start to look at what helps you move out of those states. And if you don’t know, you can start to try new things. When you are aware of what state your body is in and what it needs, you can meet yourself where you are and bring yourself back down the ladder.
This understanding is vital. This is because more often than not, we are either not aware and make it worse, or we try the wrong things and feel even more hopeless.
For example, if you are activated and your body is coursing with energy, then trying to sit still and meditate may not work at that moment for you. You may need to try and discharge that energy with a walk first. Alternatively, if you are in shutdown mode, you may be trying to go for a run when actually, you need to do something gentle for your body first to bring yourself out of it.
It is all about meeting yourself where you are. Understanding how YOU respond and what YOU need in the moment.
Regulating your nervous system – what to do when you are in an activated state
The polyvagal theory discusses using up and down regulation techniques to help you move through these states.
This can help you make even more sense of your body and your reactions. Just like the example above, it may explain why meditation and breathing techniques aren’t working for you.
Things can shift for you when you learn how to meet yourself where you are and move through states. Here are some examples:
Fight-or-flight mode
Discharging energy in a safe and organised way.
Freeze/Fawn/Shutdown
Bringing a gentle return of energy.
Safe and social
Savouring, creating, connecting.
Understanding the polyvagal theory and the ladder of states you move through, can help you to understand your responses. This enables you to be more compassionate about the natural, human responses you experience, as well as understand how they are unique to you. Then, you can follow this up with more awareness and mapping your nervous system. You can then start to consider what up and down regulating techniques you need to meet yourself where you are.
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