Polyvagal Theory Part 1: Autonomic Hierachy
I love Polyvagal Theory (PVT) because it draws the autonomic nervous system directly into the work of therapy. It helps us to understand so that we can re-pattern our nervous system, build capacity for regulation, and create autonomic pathways of safety and connection.
Deb Dana, author of Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, put it perfectly when she said-
“Once you understand the role of the autonomic nervous system in shaping our lives, you can never again not see the world through that lens.”
These next few blogs will outline PVT even further so you can hopefully squeeze some nervous system juiciness to apply to your own life!
There are three organizing Principles of Polyvagal Theory, outlined below:
Autonomic Hierarchy
Neuroception
Co-regulation
Today we’re diving into the Autonomic Hierarchy.
The autonomic nervous system is divided into three states, each with it’s own set of protective actions.
The earliest dorsal vagal system brings strategies of immobilization, most commonly associated with the “freeze” response.
The sympathetic nervous system, next to arrive, adds fight and flight.
The most recent ventral vagal system offers the ability for safety through connection and social engagement.
In Polyvagal Theory, there’s a saying that “Story follows State.”
This means that the STORY we tell ourselves (or in other words- our thoughts and beliefs) about ourselves, others, and the world around us are all influenced by the STATE of our nervous system.
When you understand the states of your nervous system and how to move through these states with more flexibility, the story we tell ourselves naturally follows (This is why you may have struggled with simply trying to think yourself out of a survival response!).
You can envision the activity of your autonomic nervous system as a kind of ladder of physiological and corresponding emotional states.
Recognizing where on the hierarchy your nervous system has taken you is fundamental to returning more efficiently to a state of regulation.
When we’re in a ventral vagal state at the top of the hierarchy, we experience an expansive world, filled with possibility and choices. In this state, our body and brain work together and processing and change are possible. Our experience is one of being part of the world, connected to self, able to reach out to others, open to change and willing to look at possibilities. The glue that keeps us in the state is a sense of safety.
The autonomic nervous system follows a predictable pathway when it detects a threat, moving from ventral vagal safety and connection down the hierarchy into the sympathetic mobilization of fight and flight, and finally to the earliest state of dorsal vagal shutdown. These states are necessary adaptations in the short term to ensure our survival. However, problems arise when our system never recalibrates, and gets “stuck” in a survival state even after the threat has passed.
Following the predictable path of the hierarchy, when your ventral vagal capacity is depleted, you move one step down the hierarchy and enter the energy of the sympathetic nervous system and the experiences of fight and flight.
This survival response is fueled by adrenaline and cortisol. In this state you’re no longer looking for connection- you are simply focused on survival. The body prepares to move either away from a threat (flight) or towards it (fight).
When mobilization doesn’t bring a resolution, the autonomic nervous system takes yet another step down the hierarchy into a freeze response. This is the first step of dorsal vagal, and can feel like having one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake at the same time. You may feel frozen and paralyzed, unable to take action, not wanting to be seen or heard- while at the same time, internally you may experience a racing mind and lots of activation.
When your body senses that death is imminent or that there is no escape, your system enters the last rung of the ladder, collapsing into dorsal vagal lifelessness. Dorsal vagal moves the entire system into conservation mode. This is a response to what feels inescapable, and is done through numbing, disconnection, dissociation. From this state, it can be difficult to get back up to a ventral vagal state of safety, and it will take time to do so.
To move back to a state of ventral vagal regulation, whether from a sympathetic or dorsal state, we have to use our internal and external resources to help us regulate and move back up the hierarchy.
Slowly and gradually we “thaw” the freeze response to move out of shutdown. Next, we begin to experience the mobilizing energy of the sympathetic fight or flight. This can be a challenge as sometimes it means facing the activation that was there before we moved into the freeze (anger, rage, anxiety, etc). Lastly, ideally we land back in a place of feeling safe, social, and regulated.
It’s important to remember that these survival states are intelligent adaptations to threat.
These are often not conscious choices that we make, but rather decisions that our body makes for us, long before the thinking brain is involved.
This is a very brief overview of what truly is a highly sophisticated and complex system working with the goal of surival. While Polyvagal Theory explains that there is a generally a predictable hierarchy, it is also true that the body simply decides for us what survival state is best likely to ensure our survival.
That might mean that our physiology doesn’t always follow this pathway, especially if certain neural connections are strengthened over time- like automatically shutting down during confrontation, for example, rather than exhibiting an aggressive or anxious response.
The ability to return to regulation is a marker of well-being. We are born into the world with a nervous system that is not yet fully developed, and we require many, many experiences of co-regulation with a safe other in order to gain the ability for self-regulation. That said, for those who experienced early developmental and relational trauma, the work here may not be returning to regulation but rather, creating it for the first time.
No matter where you are at in your journey or what you have experienced in life, healing is always possible. Know that if you’re feeling “stuck” in a survival state, that these patterns can be interrupted and new patterns can be created. If you’re feeling the nudge, I welcome you to book a free, no-pressure consultation to see if working together to learn the language of your nervous system is a good fit!
Reference:
Dana, D. (2020). Polyvagal exercises for safety and connection : 50 client-centered practices. W.W. Norton & Company.
