Polyvagal Theory

Please remember that I am not a neuroscientist, but I can present facts and also my own experience.

You’re probably thinking what on earth is this and perhaps you’ll pass on reading this. It’s actually a highly important theory that helps us understand trauma, PTSD, how extreme stress leads to dissociation or shutting down and learning how to read body language.

It explains three different parts to our nervous system and their responses to the body becoming overwhelmed by stimuli (stress). When we start to understand those three parts of the nervous system, it starts to become obvious how and why we react to high doses of stress. If you’re interested in how our bodies handle emotional stress and how different therapies can reverse the effects of trauma, then be prepared to learn something highly interesting, I promise!

Just by understanding this process, we can change our relationship to trauma and stress.

Emotions are our response to internal or external stimuli. Most of the time we are not aware if this is happening, especially if we are not in good communication with our emotions. Our bodies have a very primal desire to stay alive and that desire trumps (I should probably stop using that word now, stigma attached) our ability to think about staying alive. The thought process is not fast enough. 

Enter Polyvagal Theory…

Our nervous system is always running in the background, organising and directing our bodily functions. It looks after these functions so we can have important (“writing this post”) or very mundane (“did unicorns ever exist”) thoughts, and works in tandem with our grey matter. Therefore the nervous system can take over our emotional experience and there’s not much we can do about it.

Sir David Attenborough, love that man, what a hero. You’ve all watched him narrating a lioness hunt an antelope, if you haven’t, shame on you.  Best stop here and go watch it.

The antelope are minding their own business chewing on some grass, but one hears a noise and looks up and is now very sensitive and tuned in to what’s going on. The others in the herd notice this and they all look up too. Next few seconds there’s a group of lionesses chasing one of them. The antelope is running for its life (sympathetic nervous system response) until eventually it is caught and goes limp and plays dead (parasympathetic nervous system response). A very primal mechanism kicks in and in order to have a chance of escaping the very real jaws currently clenched around its neck, it plays dead and preserves energy in case there is an opening for a hasty escape. 

Now, I don’t want to give away the ending to this story, but imagine if the antelope had a chance to escape. Perhaps the lioness needed a breather and thought her prey was dead and dropped it to the ground. The antelope springs back into like and goes for a trot (turns the sympathetic nervous system response back on) and escapes to live another day. 

Three things happened here… Relaxation, fight or flight and shutdown - All covered by Polyvagal Theory.

Relaxation (Parasympathetic Nervous System)

If you are emotionally healthy and not under any stress then your body will revert and stay in the social engagement state, in other words a state where you are not freaking out! 

In this state we are capable of having interactions with other people, there is no fear and we feel ‘our’ normal selves (whatever that really means). 

We can feel:

• Happy and open

• Calm, peaceful and grounded

• Our immune system and general wellbeing is good

• We sleep and eat well

• We can emotionally relate to and understand others

This is called the Ventral Vagal Response as that’s the part of the brain that’s being activated in this state or relaxation.

Fight, Flight and Freeze (Sympathetic Nervous System)

This is our immediate reaction to being overwhelmed (stressed), the response kicks in after just 100th of a second and it affects nearly every organ in the body. 

The response is designed to keep us alive. It’s that simple!

But how does it happen, look and feel?

• We become aware of a threat and scan our surroundings for real danger.

• Cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine (stress hormones and neurotransmitters get released) to help us get away or fight the threat.

• Our heart rate increases, we sweat and generate more energy.

• Anxiety, fear or anger.

• Our facial expression will change to match the feeling of fear and anger.

• As blood moves to the muscles, our digestion slows down.

• We may feel tense, tight. Aching or trembling.

• Knotted stomach.

• Our senses focus and become more sensitive.

• Our gestures may indicate actions which are protective of our main organs.

During fight or flight, our bodies at some level think we can survive any threat that we deem to be dangerous.

And then there is SHUT DOWN (FREEZE)

The freeze state of the Parasympathetic nervous system is interesting. Its function is to keep us still enough to appear dead to our attacker(s) and help us survive a fight or flight threat again.

An interesting fact, David Livingstone was once attacked by a lion and reported that as the attack occurred, it caused a feeling of dreaminess, where there was no sense of pain or any sensation of terror, but he remained conscious of the experience itself.

The freeze state kicks in when the sympathetic nervous system is being overwhelmed and we still can’t escape a threat. The Dorsal Vagal Parasympathetic nervous system steps in and takes over control. It’s a form of self preservation, a last resort to keep us alive.

What does this look and feel like?

• On an emotional level, there is a feeling of numbness, hopelessness, shame, dissociation, trapped, disconnected with everything around us and not feeling grounded.

• We may look spaced out.

• Heart rate drops, along with blood pressure, sex drive, immune system.

• A change in facial expression, which can be confusing when children always look for facial cues.

• Low or no feeling of pain.

• Slower breathing rate.

• Constriction around our throat.

• Brain metabolism - a loss of awareness, concentration and memory recall.

• Body posture slumped/collapsed.

Trauma affects our nervous system in exactly the same way it does for an antelope

We alternate between rest (Parasympathetic - connection mode), fight or flight (Sympathetic mode) or shutdown (Parasympathetic  - freeze mode).

Our nervous system response is down to our perception of the particular event, meaning two people could have a different response to someone jumping out to scare us (in a friendly way), or a dog barking at us in the street all of a sudden. Both of these situations may cause someone to faint. The body registered the event as trauma and went into shutdown mode.

Maybe the traumatic event was genuinely a life threat and our nervous system responds in an appropriate manner to the stimuli. 

Interestingly our pattern recognition system remembers how we actually responded to the threat, so if it happens again we can react efficiently and effectively and go into disconnection or dissociation again. This state of disconnection can actually last for days or months at a time.

I teach navy seals and military veterans, who often experience this during loud, sudden noises such as fireworks, storms or simply someone beeping their car. Someone who was attacked in the street may switch quickly into a vigilant or dissociated state if they feel someone is following them. Someone who was previously abused might get triggered when they hear someone yelling.

These responses all accumulate over time because our past traumas are not being processed efficiently. The original trauma has not been resolved and allowed to flow through the body, instead we hold onto it and build up ongoing fears around the trauma experienced.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is our bodies overreaction to a small trigger. In time, those suffering with PTSD can feel as though they are not able to respond effectively to a threat, or if they do they are too slow, some even feel a complete inability to act. A veteran, rape or abuse victim can experience feelings of shame because they were not able to react or defend themselves at all, instead going into shutdown/freeze state (which is completely out of their control).

How do we come out of shutdown?

The opposite to the Dorsal Vagal System is the Social Engagement System, so to fix being in shutdown we need to bring ourselves into a healthy social engagement.

Once we understand why and how our body reacts to stimulation the way it does, we can understand how to better support ourselves to switch states. With support, we can start to move away from unnecessary blame and move towards forgiving how our body has been reacting. Just by understanding what’s happening to us can already make an impactful difference.

We can then start to do something calming, especially when you notice you are going into shutdown. We start to train ourselves out of those shutdown moments, reinforcing the notion it’s not necessary for us to be activating the response and we become less likely to activate in the future.

1. Meditation - For me, Vedic meditation is instrumental in enabling the parasympathetic nervous system and in time it enables us to operate from a state of balance (homeostasis), once we start processing stored trauma and stress through the practice. With Vedic meditation we start to cultivate a resilience to any new stressors around us, they stop affecting us in the same way they used to.

2. Yoga - not as we know it in the West, but introducing some Asana into your daily routine would be beneficial.

3. Cold exposure - Research shows that acute cold exposure will activate cholinergic neurones that are part of the vagus nerve pathways, whilst stimulating the vagus nerve itself. Probably the easiest way to integrate cold exposure into your life is having cold showers. This doesn’t need to be 10-15 min cold shower either, just 30 seconds at the end of your usual showering routine will be just fine. If you can build up to having these everyday, you’ll help to decrease your sympathetic pathways.

This is particularly good after exercise, where you are purposefully activating the sympathetic nervous system. The perfect way to accelerate post-exercise environmental parasympathetic reactivation via the Vagus nerve. 

4. Deep, slow breathing - Diaphragmatic breathing, that is. You’ll want to make sure that as you’re inhaling, you’re getting full expansion of your abdomen 360 degrees. The key is a slow breath with a long exhale. You could start with a tempo of 4 seconds in and 4 seconds out. Over time, you want to begin to lengthen your exhalation as well as your inhalation.

As you progress with your breath practice, the slower the exhale the more you will stimulate the vagus nerve and also create that relaxation response that we’re seeking. Especially in times of stress and anxiety, this should be a go-to.

5. Chanting, singing, humming, and gargling - These are great ways to stimulate the vagus nerve because the muscles of the vocal cords are connected to the vagus nerve. This is also a great way to improve vagal tone and increase heart rate variability, which is a sign of a healthy nervous system.

6. Probiotics - There are two specific strains, lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, which are directly related to the gut-brain connection as it relates to mood, anxiety, and depression. This is directly linked to the vagus nerve as well. It has been shown that by taking probiotics, you can improve the vagal tone and stimulation.

7. Omega-3’s - This comes from your fatty fish, flaxseeds, walnuts, etc. These are great foods that can help with improving vagal tone, overall mental health, and cognitive decline if there is any. Make sure to eat your fatty fish regularly to ensure you’ve got the appropriate amount of omega-3’s.

8. Massage - Make sure you get regular massage, or perform self-massage, to enhance the vagal activity and improve vagal tone. Things like foot reflexology is a great way to stimulate the vagus nerve. At the minimum, make sure to get your regular massage.

9. Exercise - Movement is such a powerful way to improve your vagal tone, to be more connected, and to enhance your sense of happiness. Making exercise and activities that you enjoy a big part of your life will help to improve your vagal tone and overall happiness.

10. Socialising and laughing - It’s such a great way to improve mood and enhance overall well-being. That of course is happening by enhancing the vagal activity and once again improving overall vagal tone. Make sure that despite the current circumstances in the world, you’re able to connect with people, socialise via zoom, a walk and make sure you laugh, and enjoy life as much as possible.