Let's get curious about Ventral Vagal State

When we are in Ventral Vagal activation we are open in mind and body; we are our most Authentic Self.

Have you ever watched a child explore something or someone new? They appear to be immersed, uninhibited, in flow within themselves and how they are relating to their immediate environment. They are in an open state of being, meaning their whole self; mind and body is available to learn, discover and absorb, they are in their 'Yes' state and within Polyvagal Theory this is called Ventral Vagal State (Porges, 2017).

A mini introduction to nervous system regulation.

As humans we have an automatic nervous system (ANS) which has two branches; Sympathetic branch and Parasympathetic branch. The main role of our ANS is Perception and Protection. Our ANS operates to keep us in safe, harmonious relationship with the world around us. It intelligently responds and reacts in dynamic ways to keep us in a state of balance which we call state regulation. Meaning if we are too hot it will signal the body to cool itself, if we are hungry, thirsty. tired etc., it will activate the appropriate signals. It also kicks in if we are under threat, real or perceived, and will produce the neurobiological responses it deems necessary to respond to the threat and keep us safe. Important to note- these are automatic, we are not consciously choosing them. You may be familiar with Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn responses, which are all activated through our ANS. Our ANS then grounds us back down again after states of dysregulation and this happens through the Vagus nerve. When our Nervous system (NS) is regulated, it has flexibility to hold short periods of dysregulation, for instance, something makes you angry and you temporarily go into fight or flight, (activation of the sympathetic branch of the ANS,) and then you are able to ground back down again once the activating stimulus has passed/you've got over it, and you don't hold that stressor within your NS, the experience is integrated and your body returns to what is called ventral vagal state.

What is the Ventral Vagal state?

We all have something called the Vagus nerve which is part of the ANS (Porges, 2017) and sometimes called the wandering nerve, as it wanders from the brain stem (base of the skull,) downwards connecting through our lungs, heart, diaphragm, stomach and intestines to our pelvic bowl, and then up again connecting to the nerves at the back of our neck, our throat, eyes and ears. The Vagus nerve is split into two branches; the front- Ventral vagal and the back- Dorsal vagal. We will look at the Dorsal Vagal and how it is responsible for Freeze and Fawn responses, in another Blog post. For now, let's focus on the Ventral Vagal.

The Ventral vagal role is to pick up cues about safety in our environment (Porges, 2017). When we are in a state of Ventral vagal activation we feel connected to ourselves and our environment. It is often described as feeling our most authentic self. We have 'come back home' to ourselves from any dysregulation in our system and it feels good for us. This doesn't mean we are 'calm' in a conventional meaning of the word, it means we are connected, emotionally available, energised, engaged with our inner world as much as we are curious and present with our outer world. We are in touch with ourselves and our environment, we feel safe, open hearted and perhaps most significantly we are able to consciously respond and relate in the way we want to.

What does this offer us?

When we can consciously choose how we relate and respond to ourselves and our environment, we are in the driver seat of our life, we are empowered and we show up in life with less blame, projection fear and avoidance, and more compassion, curiosity and creativity and love. Learning how to regulate our NS and gaining a felt sense of what it is like to be in Ventral vagal state, (also called our Window of Tolerance, (a concept originally developed by Dr Dan Siegal,) is key in expanding our personal capacity to be with difficult emotions and experiences when they do come along for us. So maybe you're wondering; what are some ways we can get into ventral vagal state? Different approaches will work for different people and it's always going to have to be on your terms in order for it to feel safe and authentic for you. Here are few starters for you to get curious about should you choose;

Play- do you ever play? Often as adults we dismiss the need for play in our busy lives and our schedules get filled up with obligations, work, and either passive or goal orientated past times. But what about if you thought back to when you were a child, what did you like to play? Could you still do it? Or is there an adult version of it? Playing for the pure joy of playing will take you into ventral vagal state. Breathwork is another pathway to ventral vagal activation. There are many types of breathwork on offer and it's about finding what works for you. If you're interested in breathwork, you're in the right place and I'm the right person to talk to about starting your breathwork journey.