Nervous System healing: Polyvagal Therapy

saraverddi
Jun 16
2 min read

In the past few years, something called 'Polyvagal theory' has become increasingly popular with a growing interest. What is it and what's the relevance to healing?

The Polyvagal Theory was developed by neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges. It helps people understand and work with their nervous system’s responses to stress, trauma, and connection — especially the way we shift between states of safety, shutdown, or hyperarousal.

Polyvagal Theory explains how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) — the part that controls your heart rate, breathing, digestion, etc. — is wired for survival through three core states:

1. Ventral Vagal (Safe & Social)

Calm, connected, grounded
Open to relationships and joy
Regulated heart rate and breath
Your "healing" state

2. Sympathetic (Fight or Flight)

Mobilized to defend or escape
Anxiety, anger, panic
Fast heart rate, shallow breath
Often linked to trauma or chronic stress

3. Dorsal Vagal (Freeze or Shutdown)

Numb, collapsed, hopeless
Disconnected, fatigued
Low energy, slow systems
Common in trauma survivors

What does Polyvagal-informed therapy mean?

Polyvagal informed therapy is any therapeutic approach that:

Recognizes nervous system states as the foundation of emotional and relational experience
Helps you notice and shift your physiological state
Prioritizes safety, regulation, and connection — not just cognitive insight

It’s often integrated into:

Somatic therapies (e.g., Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy)
Trauma work (e.g., EMDR, Internal Family Systems)
Mind-body practices (e.g., yoga, breathwork, vagus nerve stimulation)

Polyvagal-informed therapy can give you a map and framework of your reactions to yourself, to others and to the world. For example, instead of feeling that you are broken or crazy, you understand that your body is reacting to a threat. This can heal shame and turn it into self-compassion.

Polyvagal-informed therapy can also help you track and regulate your nervous system.

This insight can reduce shame and increase self-compassion. You learn to recognize when you're shifting into fight/flight or shutdown, and practice tools to move back into a regulated state. These can include breathwork to calm sympathetic arousal, movement or touch to emerge from dorsal shutdown, voice tone, music, or eye contact to activate safety cues

Polyvagal-informed therapy can also help restore a sense of safety within yourself. Trauma can numb out the body or keep it in a chronic state of alertness. Polyvagal threapy can help rewire safety and trust. Eventually you can start feeling secure in your body again, reconnect with others, experience joy and play.

Polyvagal-informed therapy is also an approach that can help you undertand and improve relationships. When you're stuck in defense states, connection is very difficult. With polyvagal informed approaches you can start recognising your nervous system states in yourself and in others, co-regulate with loved ones and create more secure attachment bonds and relationships.