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:

1. Autonomic Hierarchy

2. Neuroception

3. Co-regulation

Today we’re diving into the Autonomic Hierarchy.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into three parts, 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.

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.

When the autonomic nervous system has moved into a dysregulated dorsal vagal or sympathetic state, your body and brain have been hijacked and they are held in a survival response.

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.

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 gets ready to move into action.

When mobilization doesn’t bring a resolution to the distress, the autonomic nervous system takes a final step down the hierarchy collapsing into dorsal vagal lifelessness. Dorsal vagal takes the entire system offline and into conservation mode. This is a response to what feels inescapable, and is done through numbing, disconnection, dissociation. 

From this state, it’s 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. (For more specific information on exactly how to use resources in this way, check out our latest group therapy offering Roadmap to Regulation!)

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. Lastly, we land back in a place of feeling safe, social, and regulated.

The ability to return to regulation is truly a marker of well-being, and something that is innately possible for you.

Some questions to consider-

• Is there an experience of ventral vagal energy that comes to mind for you? By yourself or with others?

• What are some of the ordinary difficulties that predictably overwhelm your system?

• What does mobilization look like for you?

• Is the experience of dorsal vagal shutdown familiar for you?

Reference:

Dana, D. (2020). Polyvagal exercises for safety and connection : 50 client-centered practices. W.W. Norton & Company.