An introduction to your nervous system
MINDFUL MOMENTS # 155
In recent weeks to months, I have been learning about something called Polyvagal Theory (PVT). Some of you may know about it; others of you may not. Particularly in the yoga world, I think, this is something well-understood and in many ways provides the science behind many ancient yogic philosophies and practices - like pranayama (breathwork) and meditation.
I hope over the coming weeks to months to help you to understand more about PVT and how you can use this understanding of your own nervous system to help find more regulation day-to-day. But we’ll start small, with just an introduction to the possible states our nervous system might be in at any one time. This science is some of the oldest science that exists in your body, so really, this is not “new”. Importantly, we don’t need to understand or make sense of something to be able to feel it to be true.
In essence, Polyvagal Theory is the science of safety. It’s an understanding of how our nervous system works to keep us safe. We have three possible states, which you can think of as steps on a ladder that you either climb up or down. The first is ventral, which is the state we all love to be in, because it’s where we feel safe, secure and content. You in ventral is who you are on a good day: happy, laughing, hopeful, excited, able to engage socially easily, well-rested.
If our nervous system picks up on any potential threats in our surroundings (e.g. people we don’t know, cars whilst crossing the road, sudden loud noises) we drop down the ladder a little into our sympathetic state. This is the state you will likely know as “fight or flight”. This is the state people refer to when they talk about our evolutionary survival instincts that kick in when we come face-to-face with a sabre-tooth tiger. In this state, we might start to feel scared or anxious; we consider the world to be a more dangerous place; we start looking for ways to escape. We get flooded with a nervous energy; a frantic energy, and our heart rate lifts and our breathing becomes shallow.
If we continue to receive threats of danger in our environment - and we don’t yet know how to pull ourselves up the ladder again - we drop down the ladder into dorsal. We can think of our dorsal state as the embodiment of Eeoyre, if you’re a Winnie the Pooh fan, or the victim of a dementor, if you’re familiar with Harry Potter. That is to say, in this survival state all the energy drains from our system in an act of self-preservation: it’s the spider that plays dead because you put a glass over it. This is the home of feelings like worthlessness, fatigue, shame, guilt, hopelessness, loneliness and depression.
Now, there is of course a little more to be said on PVT, but I’ll leave it there for today as just as introduction to the possible states your nervous system might be in at any one time. Remember, it is normal and necessary to visit these states in a small way, often - this is how we keep ourselves safe. With a little understanding of how your nervous system responds (for example, where do you go when life feels overwhelming? Sympathetic? Dorsal? A little of both?) we can start to turn towards it, rather than away from it; we can befriend it, rather than make an enemy of it; and we can work with it, rather than against it. It may be interesting to consider the map your nervous system looks like today: what state did you wake up in? What things caused you to drop a little into sympathetic? What brought you back from there, into the safety of ventral? When might you have experienced a flavour of dorsal and who or what was able to pull you out of the “dementor’s kiss” and bring you back up the ladder to safety?
Mindful moment: When we find ourselves being pulled a little down the ladder by the events around us, we can help ourselves by searching out cues of safety - in direct antithesis to the cues of danger we might have been perceiving. We might begin to notice who brings us back into safety; where we feel safest and what are the things that help our nervous system to relax and find itself in ventral again. This is a little akin to having a “happy list” - a list of things we know makes us feel calm or safe: a phonecall with a friend or loved one; lighting a candle or dimming bright lights; taking a few deep breaths; the ritual of making a cup of tea. Maybe there is a particular scent or song that helps to bring us back. This may sound a little simplistic, as if a cup of tea might solve everything, but understand that our nervous system is always searching for these cues of safety. Small mindful moments of ventral are important to notice and may be all that is needed to bring us back up the ladder into safety.
YOGA | Mindful Movement
Next class: May 18th
Join us every Saturday from 11am-12.15 at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove for an all-levels vinyasa yoga flow class, meditation and mindfulness (mats provided or bring your own).
£6 per class or £24 for 5.
Upcoming classes for your diary until August 2024:
June 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th;
July 6th, 13th, 27th.
P.S. I am looking for a new venue to teach in after the summer break… if you have any ideas, please get in touch!
REFLECT
Who makes you feel safe?
Have we met?
Welcome to the Community.
I'm Laura, a yoga teacher and NHS doctor. With this weekly newsletter I aim to help you incorporate mindful moments into your week. I want you to feel inspired, empowered and creative. I promise to always be authentic; to only include content that speaks to me and which, therefore, I hope will do the same for you.
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