Polyvagal Theory – Seriously, Don’t Let the Title Fool You, Read This

 Article At a Glance:

• The work of Dr. Stephen Porges explains the role and functions of the Autonomic Nervous System in detecting cues of threat and safety.
• The Autonomic Nervous System is adaptive, responding to changing internal and external experiences, supporting both “connection” and “protection” to ensure our survival.
• Traditional forms of psychotherapy may fail because they do not account for Autonomic Nervous System functioning.
• We can hack our Autonomic Nervous System, to optimize wellness and performance, and here is how to do it.

I received my doctorate in educational psychology with a specialization in neuropsychological assessment and intervention.  I spent 7 years in graduate school accumulating around 170 graduate school units studying psychology, behaviorism, and neuropsychological assessment (i.e., assessing brain-behavior relationships).  It was not, however, for another decade after my formal education ended that I came across the piece of information that helped to explain what I was observing in so many of my clients.  And not just my clients.  It helped to explain many of my own experiences, what I was observing in my children, and challenges that my wife and I, like all other married couples, experience in our relationship as we move through instances of rupture and repair.  When I learned this piece of information, it fundamentally changed how I understood and served my clients and it radically reshaped how I understood myself and how I moved through the world, whether it was my own personal development, how I engaged with my children, and how I showed up in my interactions with my wife (well, at least how I try – there is still plenty of room for improvement). 

So at this point, I imagine you are wondering what this piece of information is.  What I learned about was Polyvagal Theory and how the Autonomic Nervous System or ANS functions to regulate how we move through the world.  The ANS dictates our level of engagement with the world around us and the activation of higher level cognitive abilities like attention and memory, as well as our physiological stress response and the myriad of emotional and behavioral responses that stem from it (e.g., irritability, anxiety, depression, and withdrawal).  Knowing this was great on its own, but what I really wanted to know was how to hack it and I discovered numerous ways to do so including mindfulness meditation, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) biofeedback, neurofeedback, Emotional Freedom Technique, and others that I will discuss below.  I incorporate one or more of these practices daily in my own life and use them with clients to help them experience greater well-being and higher levels of performance.

Who is Dr. Stephen Porges and What is Polyvagal Theory?

The work of Stephen Porges, Ph.D., a scientist at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, is instrumental in understanding our physiological stress response, the cascade of behaviors we engage in when our stress response system is triggered, and how to optimize wellness and performance by learning to regulate our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).  Dr. Porges proposed the Polyvagal Theory to explain the role of the ANS in dictating our physiological reactions (and subsequent sensations, feelings, and thoughts) to environmental stimuli as well as our ability to detect, accurately or inaccurately, signs of safety or threat. 

Polyvagal Theory proposes three physiological states that are connected to activation of different branches of our ANS and serve to either “connect” (i.e., aware of our internal experience and engaged with the world) or “protect” (i.e., activate adaptive responses intended to keep us “safe” from “threat”).  These include social engagement, defense (i.e., fight or flight reactions), and shutdown. 

The three states are phylogenetically hierarchical, meaning their development can be traced throughout our evolution and even in the development of a fetus (i.e., structurally) and throughout the developmental period (i.e., functionally).  The social engagement system (ventral branch of the vagus nerve) relates to states of rest and relaxation.  Our ventral vagus, which is uniquely mammalian, is activated when we perceive cues of safety in our environment.  It allows us to gain deeper awareness of our internal experience as well as connect with others by sending signs of safety (e.g., body language, facial expressions, tone of voice) as well as picking up on cues of safety from others.   Physiologically, it slows down our heart rate, deepens our breath, and supports digestion.  It also, however, allows higher level cognitive processes to come “online” and again allows us to engage with others to form relationships within communities that support our survival.

While the social engagement system is all about “connection,” our fight or flight (i.e., sympathetic) and shut down systems are all about “protection.”  Again, this is a helpful way to think about our ANS, it serves for us to “connect” (ventral vagal) and “protect” (sympathetic or dorsal vagal).  When our ANS detects physiological stress that is either too intense, or even at a lower level lasts too long, it takes us out of a state of connection and into one of protection by activating a “fight or flight” response.  The body prepares for mobilization (e.g., increased heart rate, shallow breathing, slow digestion, blood flowing to extremities) in order to keep us “safe” at the expense of social engagement as well as higher level cognitive processes.  Frankly, abilities like executive functioning (i.e., planning, organization, self-monitoring, flexibility, problem solving) are too slow and not a priority when our ANS detects a threat and determines “protection” is its highest priority.

The third rung on the hierarchical latter, when social engagement and “fight or flight” cannot meet your needs for connection and protection, the nervous system enters a state of shut down (i.e., dorsal vagal activation).  In a state of shut down the nervous system detects threat but “immobilizes” (i.e., stops fighting or fleeing) as a last-ditch effort survival mechanism.  Our bodies move into a state of energy conservation and we experience a sense of numbing, disconnection, isolation, and dissociation. 

It is important to note, however, that each of these ANS functions is adaptive and have served our species well throughout our history.  It is not that one is good or another is bad.  The goal, as I discuss below, is to have balance and flexibility between these functions so that we have a degree of control over them and they serve us well.  Because without balance and flexibility, a dysregulated ANS can be the source of tremendous suffering (e.g., chaos, rigidity, and/or isolation associated with an overactive stress response system). 

Organizing Principles

Polyvagal Theory provides three organizing principals for understanding ANS functioning, including its development, providing a blueprint for how to hack the system. These organizing principles include a hierarchical organization, the concept of neuroception, and the role of co-regulation. 

As noted above, there is a phylogenetic hierarchy within the ANS.  What this means is the origins of the three branches of the ANS (i.e., ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal) can be traced over our evolution as a species.  This began with the dorsal vagal branch, which responds to threat with “shut down.” This system, for example, is still the sole mode of defense for far less developed nervous systems found in reptiles. Next, came the sympathetic “fight or flight” system and the evolutionarily newest system, at the top of the hierarchy, is the ventral vagal, “social connection”, system that is unique to mammals.  This development can be traced over human evolution as well as human development as these systems (i.e. structures) emerge in sequence in utero and functionally emerge during the developmental period. 

Further, this hierarchy is activated in sequence as the ANS seeks to first “connect” and then “protect.”  When we perceived the world as “safe” we naturally move in to a state of “social connection” in order to meet our needs.  This is a state in which we are able to detect shifts in our internal experience, flexibly think of ways to effectively meet the demands of our environment, and connect and engage with others.  As noted above, however, once the body detects a stressor that is either too intense or lasts too long, it will then move into an adaptive “fight or flight” defense.  And it is when the “fight or flight” response cannot keep you safe, the ANS drops into a state of dorsal vagal shut down. 

Dr. Porges also proposed the term neuroception to describe your continual, subconscious, detection of threat and safety in their environment (i.e., a core function of the ANS).  When your brain and body have strong neuroceptive capacities, you can fully engage with life.  You can connect and build meaningful relationships with others and allocate higher level cognitive abilities to learning and performing complex tasks.  In other words, a strong neuroceptive capacity along with the ability to flexibly shift between different autonomic states, puts you in a state of high performance.  However, if you experience what Dr. Porges describes as “faulty neuroception”, you experience high levels of distress and dis-ease.  You struggle with relationships and poor emotional and or behavioral regulation interferes with day-to-day functioning because your stress response system is too easily triggered, activates too intensely, and/or persists for too long. 

The third organizing principle of Polyvagal Theory is co-regulation.  Social connection is a biological necessity for humans.  Our ability to form tribes (i.e., communities) is one of the many features that distinguishes us from other species and it has helped us to not only survive but thrive.  We see this immediately after birth when an infant engages in behaviors that connect with their parent (e.g., eye contact, sucking, soothed by physical touch).  In fact, it is such an essential part of life for the infant that physical contact serves to regulate their heart rate, breath, and body temperature.  And this continues throughout life to such an extent that perceived isolation is processed by the body as physical pain and contributes to physical health problems (e.g., cardiovascular disease, depression, cognitive decline, sleep disturbance, and even death).  Important to note here is that isolation is different from being alone, which is a topic in and of itself.  Isolation refers to perceived disconnection from others and is often coupled with impaired self-regulation capacity (e.g., emotional regulation).  It is a state of suffering.  In contrast, being alone with a sense of solitude is not associated with the mental and physical health problems seen with isolation. 

One Reason Traditional Psychotherapy May Fail

In my opinion, many forms of psychotherapy fail to bring about meaningful change because they do not adequately account for one’s psycho-physiology.  Traditional models that focus on behavioral based strategies (i.e., cueing and reinforcing behaviors) and cognitive reframing often fall short if you are not already in a ventral vagal state (i.e., these approaches do not work if you are experiencing a stress response or shut down).  Instead, we need to first understand the role of our ANS, learn to accurately identify physiological cues of threat and safety, and learn to work with our ANS in ways that optimize functioning (e.g., accurately assessing threat, regulating our emotions and behaviors to best meet our needs, and build strong connected relationships with others). 

Hacking Your Autonomic Nervous System

If a balanced and flexible ANS is key to wellness and optimal performance, how can we ‘hack’ it?  At the beginning of this article I noted some ways to do so including mindfulness meditation, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) biofeedback, neurofeedback, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).  And in previous posts I have discussed mindfulness meditation and HRV biofeedback as well as the role of sleep, exercise, light, and diet, all of which influence our ANS functioning.

Perhaps no one knows more about the application of Polyvagal Theory to therapeutic settings than Deb Dana.  She developed a very helpful framework for the process of cultivating ANS regulation using the acronym BASIC.  Depending on the needs of the individual, this process is likely best done with a Polyvagal informed therapist or coach.  Further, this is a process that requires daily practice and once achieved, maintenance and strengthening our capacities is something we continue to work on over the course of our lives.  This only makes sense when you consider that one’s current ANS functioning has been shaped since they were in utero.  So if there are symptoms of ANS dysfunction, there is likely a lot of re-learning to do.  I am not suggesting that  you would need your therapist or coach for the rest of your life, but that once you learn the BASIC recipe it is something you will continue practicing day to day.  With all that said, the following are the general steps involved. 

• Befriend - Learning to compassionately tune in to and shift ANS state.
• Attend - Attend to and name ANS state, track movement between states, and notice large as well as more nuanced shifts.
• Shape - Bringing mindful awareness to ANS and utilizing strategies for ventral vagal activation (i.e., self-regulation and social engagement).
• Integration - Ability to flexibly return to ventral regulation following periods of sympathetic activation and dorsal vagal shut down.
• Connect - Creating safe connections with others.

One ‘hack’ I have not spent much time discussing yet (i.e., in previous posts), however, is perhaps the most powerful ‘hack’ I have found for quieting the stress response system in order to bring about greater ease, wellbeing, and mental performance.  This incredibly powerful ‘hack’ is EFT, which is commonly referred to as ‘tapping.’  EFT Tapping is a process for releasing trapped energy in our body that is causing us distress or dis-ease.  There are acupressure points along our body that have been shown through thousands of years of healing traditions, and now modern neuroscience, to release the suffering created by this trapped energy in order to bring about greater feelings of ease and well-being.  I plan to share more about this amazing ‘hack’ in future blog posts along with links to short instructional videos.  You can also reach out to me directly at info@drjamesbylund.com or through my Instagram @thebylundclinic.