Polyvagal Practices

1. Your Autonomic Nervous System: The Science of Safety

Understanding our biology and knowing how to come into autonomic regulation is vital if we are going to safely navigate the challenges of this time of change.

Biology shapes experience. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is more than just automatic functions like breathing and digestion; it's the core driver of our daily experience, influencing how we live, love, and work. It constantly assesses safety and risk, guiding our responses below conscious awareness. This biological foundation is crucial for navigating life's challenges, especially in uncertain times.

Three organizing principles. Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges, provides a framework for understanding the ANS through hierarchy, neuroception, and co-regulation. These principles explain how our system responds to the world around and within us. Befriending your nervous system through practices helps you recognize patterns and find your personal rhythm of regulation for safety, connection, and joy.

Pathways of response. The ANS has three main pathways: ventral vagal (safety, connection), sympathetic (mobilization, fight/flight), and dorsal vagal (shutdown, collapse). We move between these states in a predictable hierarchy. Each state brings distinct thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and body sensations. Recognizing these states is the first step toward conscious regulation.

2. The Autonomic Ladder: Mapping Your States

Let’s translate our basic knowledge of the autonomic nervous system into everyday understanding by imagining the autonomic nervous system as a ladder.

Visualizing states. The autonomic ladder is a metaphor to understand the hierarchy of states. At the top is the ventral vagal state (safety, connection, social engagement). Moving down, the sympathetic state (mobilization, anxiety, anger) activates in response to danger cues. At the bottom, the dorsal vagal state (shutdown, collapse, dissociation) is the oldest survival response to extreme threat.

Mapping your experience. Creating personal maps helps you identify your unique patterns in each state. By reflecting on body sensations, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors in ventral, sympathetic, and dorsal states, you gain awareness. This process reduces shame and self-criticism, fostering curiosity and compassion for your system's protective responses.

Wayfinding home. Autonomic maps serve as guides for "wayfinding," helping you know where you are on the ladder and find your way back to the ventral state, your embodied home. Regularly checking in with your map allows you to become a skilled state detector, understanding what your nervous system is communicating and choosing practices to support regulation.

3. Neuroception: Your Nervous System's Listening System

Neuroception is the way our nervous system listens.

Subconscious surveillance. Neuroception is the automatic, subconscious process by which the nervous system scans for cues of safety, danger, and life-threat without involving the thinking brain. It's a continuous internal surveillance system that drives our state shifts along the autonomic hierarchy. This happens through three pathways:

• Inside our bodies (interoception)
• Outside in the environment
• Between us and others (social engagement)

Bringing perception to neuroception. While neuroception is automatic, we can bring conscious awareness (perception) to this process. By intentionally noticing cues of safety and danger in these three pathways, we begin to understand the autonomic origins of our reactions and stories. This practice helps us recognize patterns and make informed choices rather than being solely driven by unconscious responses.

Adding discernment. Discernment allows us to add context to neuroception, assessing if a perceived danger cue is from the present moment or an old pattern. When an intense response feels out of proportion, asking "Am I in danger, or am I safe in this moment?" helps differentiate past triggers from present reality. This enables intentional choices and prevents being pulled down old survival pathways unnecessarily.

4. Co-regulation & Connection: A Biological Imperative

Co-regulation is necessary first to survive and then to thrive.

Wired for connection. Humans are born with a biological need for connection. Co-regulation, the reciprocal regulation of autonomic states between individuals, is fundamental for feeling safe and building trusting relationships. This need persists throughout life, even as we develop the capacity for self-regulation.

Loneliness is dangerous. When the need for connection is unmet, chronic loneliness activates survival states, sending a persistent message of danger to the nervous system. This has significant negative impacts on physical and emotional health, including increased risk of depression, anxiety, and heart disease. Feeling connected is not a luxury but essential for well-being.

Balancing survival and connection. The nervous system constantly balances the drive to survive with the longing to connect. Sometimes these drives align, leading to safe connection. Other times, a neuroception of danger overrides the longing, activating protection and hindering connection. Understanding this dynamic helps navigate relationships and intentionally seek co-regulating experiences.

5. The Four Pathways of Connection: Self, Others, World, Spirit

When we are anchored in autonomic regulation, four pathways of connection are open and available to us: connection to self, others, the world, and spirit.

Holistic well-being. Anchored in the ventral state, we can connect deeply in four dimensions: to our inner selves, to other people, to the natural world, and to something greater (Spirit). These pathways are disrupted when we are pulled into survival states. Cultivating connection in these areas supports overall well-being and resilience.

Personalizing connection. The ways we connect are unique.

• Self: Getting to know our internal "parts" that reside in different states (e.g., curious ventral parts, anxious sympathetic parts).
• Others: Creating a personal connection plan, identifying nourishing relationships and desired interactions.
• World: Connecting with nature (green/blue spaces, fractals, sounds, smells) for regulation.
• Spirit: Finding personal ways to connect with something larger, whether through energy, nature, or other forms.

Intentional engagement. While some pathways may feel more accessible than others, intentionally exploring and nurturing connections in all four areas strengthens our ventral capacity. Reciprocity, the mutual ebb and flow in relationships, is a key aspect of connecting with others and is a function of the ventral vagus, supporting autonomic regulation.

6. Becoming an Active Operator: Shaping Your System

Our work is to be able to safely navigate the small, ordinary state shifts that a part of everyday life and build the flexibility and resilience needed to weather the changes that are more extreme.

Partnering with your biology. We can move beyond simply reacting to our autonomic states and become active partners with our nervous systems. By understanding the interplay of physiology and psychology, we can intentionally recruit the system's power to navigate challenges, build resilience, and create new patterns of safety and connection.

Stretch, don't stress. Change happens best when we gently "stretch" our system while remaining anchored in ventral energy, rather than pushing into "stress" which activates survival states. The "stretch to stress" model helps identify the right degree of challenge to invite new patterns without being overwhelmed. Small, intentional actions are key to reshaping the system.

Shaping environments. Our physical spaces significantly impact our autonomic state. Designing environments that are "ventral inspired" – filled with cues of safety, comfort, and abundance – helps anchor us in regulation. This involves noticing what activates different states and making small changes to reduce danger cues and increase safety cues in our daily surroundings.

7. Creating Your Resource Menu: Personalized Practices

Rather than following someone else’s prescription, we can develop our own menu of choices following the principle that there is no right way or wrong way to come to regulation.

Tailored tools. What regulates one person may not regulate another. Building a personalized resource menu based on your unique autonomic needs is essential. This menu includes a variety of practices that help you find your way to and anchor in the ventral state.

Diverse resources. Resources can be passive or active, solitary or social, and engage different senses or pathways. Examples include:

• Touchstones: Objects or sensations with personal meaning that evoke ventral energy.
• Soundscapes/Music: Identifying regulating sounds and creating playlists for different states.
• Breath: Consciously shaping breath patterns to influence state.
• Touch: Exploring self-touch that promotes safety and regulation.
• Energy & Actions: Mapping actions that match your energy level and move you toward ventral.

Flexible choices. Organizing your resource menu by state, energy level, location, or time required allows you to easily access the right tool in the moment. Regularly reviewing and updating your menu ensures it remains relevant and effective for supporting your autonomic well-being.

8. The Power of Glimmers & Savoring: Small Moments, Big Change

The hope-filled message from Polyvagal Theory is that regularly repeated experiences shape our nervous systems in new ways.

Incremental change. Autonomic reorganization is a lifelong process driven by ongoing experiences. Small, repeated ventral moments, called "glimmers," accumulate over time, building a new foundation of well-being. Even fleeting moments of safety and connection, often overlooked, gently reshape the nervous system and make it easier to resist old survival patterns.

Noticing glimmers. Glimmers are micro-moments of ventral experience that appear routinely but require intentional noticing. They can be simple things like seeing a friendly face, hearing a soothing sound, or noticing beauty in nature. Learning to identify the physical and mental cues of a glimmer helps you find them throughout your day.

Deepening through savoring. Savoring is the practice of intentionally holding and deepening a ventral moment for 20-30 seconds. This conscious attention amplifies the regulating effect and strengthens the ventral pathway. Even when negative thoughts intrude, starting with short durations and building up helps increase the capacity to stay anchored in the positive experience.

9. Embracing Stillness, Play, & Awe: Deepening Ventral Energy

Play is possible when we are anchored in safety.

Ventral-enabled experiences. Certain experiences are deeply nourishing and most accessible from a ventral state. These include:

• Stillness: Finding comfort and renewal in quiet moments, possible when the ancient dorsal immobilization and new ventral connection pathways work together.
• Play: Engaging in playful activities, which helps see new perspectives and cope with challenges, even in difficult times.
• Awe: Experiencing wonder, curiosity, and reverence, which connects us to something larger and transforms our perspective.

Cultivating capacity. While these experiences may arise spontaneously, we can also intentionally cultivate them. Identifying the conditions (who, what, where, when) that support your ability to find stillness, playfulness, and awe helps you invite more of these moments into your life.

Shaping your system. Regularly engaging in stillness, play, and awe deepens your connection to ventral energy and builds resilience. These practices are not luxuries but essential components of a regulated and fulfilling life, offering pathways to rest, creativity, and a sense of belonging in the world.

10. Reflecting & Re-storying: Navigating Your Autonomic Journey

Through the art of reflection, we can shape our systems in the direction of safety and connection.

Awareness through reflection. Taking time to pause and reflect on your autonomic experiences brings awareness to the state shifts and pathways traveled throughout the day. Practices like tracking states on a map, creating a "Soup of the Day" recipe, or drawing a pie chart of states help visualize your autonomic landscape and understand the blend of energies shaping your experience.

Listening to autonomic stories. Our autonomic state influences the stories our brain creates about ourselves and the world. In survival states, stories are often rooted in scarcity and danger. From a ventral state, stories are rooted in abundance and safety. Listening to the different stories each state tells provides valuable insight into your patterns.

Becoming an active author. Re-storying is the process of moving out of old, limiting survival stories and intentionally creating new narratives rooted in ventral safety and connection. By reflecting on your autonomic journey – where you've been, where you are, and where you're heading – you become an active author, shaping your autonomic adventure and integrating new patterns into a coherent life story.

Last updated: May 17, 2025