Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory

an embodied level, we are nourished in moments of connection with people who are regulated, safe, and welcoming and shocked when we don’t have enough of those experiences.

Evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky spoke to this in his book Mankind Evolving, when he wrote “the fittest may also be the gentlest, because survival often requires mutual help and cooperation.”1

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines listening as “hearing something with thoughtful attention.”

To try this practice, designed to help us move from self-criticism to self-compassion, bring up a moment when you felt distress and read these three phrases1: 1.This is a moment of suffering. 2.Suffering is a part of life. 3.May I be kind to myself. If it feels soothing, you can place a hand on your heart and repeat these phrases.

sympathetic or dorsal dysregulation and back again. Leaving regulation isn’t the problem. In fact, the goal is not to stay in a state of regulation but rather to know where we are, recognize when we’re moving out of regulation and being pulled into a survival response, and be able to return to regulation. The ability to flexibly move between states

Over the course of evolution, the three pathways of the autonomic nervous system (dorsal, sympathetic, and ventral) emerged and formed the building blocks of the system (hierarchy). Our preferred place, the place where we find experiences of health, growth, and restoration, is anchored in the ventral vagal state of safety and connection. When we ar

When we are disconnected from our bodies, we are also disconnected from the ability to tune in to the important information being sent from the body to the brain through the vagal pathway.

Finally, around 200 million years ago, the other branch of the para-sympathetic nervous system, the ventral vagal system, came into being. The energy of this uniquely mammalian system allows us to feel safe, connect, and communicate. To feel into this system, remember sitting and talking with a friend, think about walking in nature feeling connecte

With the arrival of the sympathetic nervous system, movement as a survival strategy was added and fight and flight were now possible. To get a flavor of the mobilization of this system imagine a shark attacking or a fish darting to escape.