What is the
Polyvagal Theory?
The Polyvagal Theory, in essence, is the science of how mammals connect, but also how they respond to danger. You've heard of fight & flight. Wellll, there's more to it than that. The PVTis the first to explain that there are actually three distinct primary states the body may be in...
Download the free "Polyvagal One-Pagers" resource here.
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Shutdown
(aka "dorsal vagal") 2nd parasympathetic
Life threat response - allows for the end of life with little to no pain. Numbing and dissociation allow for possibility of escape.
Active when the internal or external worlds are perceived as life threatening.
Body numbs, dissociation, drop in blood pressure and heart rate.
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Mixed states
Those 3 are just the primary states. It's also possible to have "mixed states," meaning the primaries are activated at the same time. Just like mixing primary colors creates another color. But you can't create a primary color by mixing other colors. They simply exist on their own.
Built on
the Polyvagal Theory
Just like my free resources, my courses are also built from the ground up on the Polyvagal Theory. I adhere to the fundamental teachings from the primary sources.
Building Safety Anchors
BSA is for the person who is frustrated by an inability to access their feelings of safety. It teaches and guides you in building your capacity to stay in your body, in the present moment.
Polyvagal
101
If the Polyvagal Intro isn't enough for you and you want clear information in less time, then Polyvagal 101 is for you. It's a structured and concise dive into the Polyvagal fundamentals.
...we are not voluntarily controlling whether we shift in or out of these states.
Dr. Stephen Porges
the Autonomic nervous system
The PVT has everything to do with the Autonomic Nervous System. The ANS is responsible for regulating all the internal stuff you don't need to think about, like: breathing, digestion and heart rate. When we go into the different primary or mixed states, there are autonomic shifts that take place.
For example, our breathing changes significantly if we are in our safe/social system (calm, deep & into the belly) versus our flight/fight system (faster, shallow & into the chest area). And changes significantly again when we go into a shutdown state (very shallow and small).
Central to the PVT and how the ANS works is neuroception and the Deb Dana concept of the Polyvagal Ladder.
A sequence of events,
not a menu of options
In my presentations, I explain that the autonomic states are a sequence of events, not a menu of options. This means that we climb up or down the Polyvagal Ladder in order. These are biological instincts, not conscious choices.
If we neurocept that we are not safe, we drop down the ladder into sympathetic arousal. Flight first, then fight. If we cannot run away and we cannot fight, we drop down the ladder further into the shutdown state.
The reverse of this is true as well. To come out of shutdown, our sympathetic state needs to kick in first. A powerful fight state followed by flight and then into safety once again.
Your autonomic state comes to life and then the information is fed up to your brain and it's your brain's job to make sense of what's happening in the body, so it makes up a story.
Story follows state
When we shift up or down the polyvagal ladder, our brains create a narrative to explain why. Examples include:
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"I deserve it" or "I shouldn't have been there" or "I shouldn't have said that."
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"I'm angry because [student x] was staring at me!"
On top of that, the thoughts we have will be a reflection of the autonomic state that we are in. If we're in a safe and social state, our thoughts will be more compassionate and calm. Our thoughts in a flight/fight state are going to be anxious or angry, directed at the outside world. And in a shutdown state, our thoughts will be more apathetic and probably directed inward.
the Vagal brake
This is the influence of the safe & social system on the heart. With a stronger vagal brake, there is a higher tolerance to distress.
Traumatized individuals have a compromised social engagement system. So minor problems become highly triggering events. Their heart rate increases, sending them into flight/fight sympathetic arousal.
Think of "the window of tolerance," basically.
The vagal brake is the focus of my course - Building Safety Anchors.
