ORDERING SYSTEMS: MAKING SENSE OF VAGAL RESPONSES

Last week we began our journey into the vagus nerve and the polyvagal theory … if you have not yet read that installment, you can catch up HERE.

As we proceed I want to point out a specifically distinct and obvious word in all of this: The Polyvagal Theory is just that … a Theory. It is one man’s ideas on how our nervous system guides us through experiences of un/safety, and colors our upper level decision-making processes often without us even noticing. Although MANY people have gravitated toward and support this theory, it has its detractors within the neuroscience field. Maybe one day this theory will be proven valid, or false. (That’s just progress in science)

I think what this theory provides us is a framework to view how humans participate in and perceive the most most human-y of experiences … socializing and engaging with other humans (strangers included) … in a creative way that is founded in neurobiology without being confined to the ever changing details of neuroscience. 

Having said all that … take this all in with a grain of salt … and as you’ll hopefully discover in today’s installment: just be kind and present, and trust you’re doing a good job at your job (and at being human).

Previously we outlined the three response systems Social Engagement (SES) / Mobilization (MS) / and Immobilization (IS), and noted that they exist in an ancestral hierarchical order (in that order). Social Engagement being the highest in the tier, and Immobilization being the most primitive and distant. Those responses are circuited within the dorsal and ventral vagal nerve complexes. 

Here’s how I make sense of how the response circuitries live together:

Our bodies are constantly receiving and interpreting information. The dorsal vagal complex is always ON - sensing danger and aiding in digestion / breathing / heart rate control. Our physiology is designed to keep itself alive / functioning, and that also means we are innately, and unconsciously, tuned to sense danger. In someone with high vagal tone (meaning their autonomic nervous system is working well and appropriately) their ventral vagal complex overrides the dorsal complex allowing us to be and perceive calmness through safety. 

Porges describes the responses as a series of brakes that exist hierarchically.

Here’s what that looks like to me:

The Dorsal Vagal Complex is halted by the braking system of the Ventral Vagal Complex. Meaning - If we are perceiving safety it inhibits us from sensing we are in immediate danger. (Although the potential to experience un-safety is ALWAYS present and tuned in at an unconscious level)

Therefor …

The Immobilization System (IS)  is always ON

BUT it is inhibited by our mammalian Mobilization System (MS) of fight / flight

WHICH is inhibited by the distinctly human pathway of the Social Engagement System (SES)

I know … and I’m sorry that it gets muddy.

Let me try to break it down even a step further toward to usability:

In the unconscious perception of safety (neuroception) our first instinct and tool is to tune into our SES. We look to one another for signals of safety and security - those signals include things like kind and indicative facial expressions and eyes / vocal tunes that have inflection and medium pitch / friendly hand gesticulation and body movement / inviting posture and appropriate spatial distance between people. We recognize un/safety through other people … who are in turn recognizing un/safety through us and others. This is called co-regulation, or our ability to regulate one another’s nervous system through social engagement.

To function at its most harmonious and chief capacity our nervous system craves, and is reliant upon, real time reciprocal human connection (face-to-face moments). We are neurologically designed to be in relationship with other people … family / friends / peers / strangers alike. This not only shows up within this theory, but in sociology. We are one of few animals that shows benevolence toward strangers. Most animals view them as threats and actively drive them away. We choose to live amongst them, and mostly show concern for and empathy toward them. We even become upset when we see strangers treated poorly (from our point of view). We are the ONLY animal that actively teaches skillsets to another. Many animals can watch and learn, but humans are the only animal (as we understand) that teaches its skills to other animals with context and explanation. (Teaching is a form of co-regulation)

We need others to be secure / benevolent / and equipped to survive in an effort to keep “the group” SAFE. Why? Because we rely on signals of individual and group safety to inform our own personal perceptions of un/safety … and vice versa.

A distinct quality of being human is relying on other humans for support.

We developed the SES so that we could more optimally survive within a group because ancestrally we recognized that we are stronger (safer) as a unit.  Now those neural pathways help us to navigate social settings and nuanced relationships at home and work, through life. 

Hierarchically the next pathway down is our Mobilization System, also governed by the ventral vagal complex. This is the fight / flight response with which we are all pretty much familiar. Colloquially we’d say that when we sense danger we instinctually either face and fight it, or run away from it in order to survive. This may take the shape of actual physical effort (fighting and running) … or we may become verbally aggressive or change the subject … push into danger, or move away from it. Regardless it depicts choice, although it’s often an unconscious choice. 

Without adequate access to the Social Engagement System our self-preservation instincts kick in, and the Mobilization System takes over. Unlike reptiles that tend to freeze when faced with danger, mammals tend to challenge or run from the perception of un-safety in order to create safety. 

The most primitive response pathway is through the dorsal vagal complex, and the Immobilization System. The IS is a remnant of our reptilian ancestry and responds to imminent danger, and engages to keep you alive. When both the SES and MS have disengaged the IS takes over and we freeze. (No choices to be made.) We witness this in nature all the time … lizards freezing when faced with danger / opossums playing dead / deer stunned still while being attacked by predators. We may have also experienced this naturally our Self … going into shock after a car accident or trauma / losing all our words in a heated argument / feeling detached from life and others as we move throughout our day / being “stunned.” For reptiles it was a way to trick predators into thinking they weren’t a good food choice. For mammals it’s a way of enduring immense trauma.

When we feel like we can neither fight nor flee our body responds by freezing and preparing for pain. It makes sense when we think of it ancestrally - if you perceive you are about to be traumatized / killed the best course of action would be to physiologically numb pain and psychically detach from the situation. What looks like giving up is really the best response within the moment … it’s not so much self-preservation of physical life as much as it self-preservation of perception of experience and neuroception. 

We are physiologically designed to stay alive to the point that our body is perceiving and communicating sophisticated unconscious signals of safety intra-personally (within you) and inter-personally (between us) in an effort to keep us moving away from danger. 

In someone with high vagal tone (a nervous system working well) …

When they perceive a threat their first instinct is to unconsciously look for / at someone else to clue them in as to whether the threat is valid and a risk to them, or if the perceived threat is null. 

Anecdotally: You hear a loud noise from down the hall and immediately turn to your friend with a “did you hear that” expression. They look at you, recognize the distress in your eyes and face, and calmly say, “That’s probably just the construction going on down the street.” You feel safe and settled.

If no one is around to co-regulate their MS takes over and they are unconsciously called into action in the face of a perceived threat. They are physiologically urged to push toward the threat or move away from it.

Anecdotally: You are alone and hear a loud noise from down the hall. If you were not aware of the construction down the street you’d be inclined to either investigate it or move yourself further away from it. 

If they are alone and the loud noise is close enough / loud enough / or they have had previous trauma during which they experienced a similar loud noise … they may be inclined to freeze

Anecdotally: You are alone …. hear a loud noise … and find yourself shocked and afraid to move because it feels like it might be more dangerous “out there” than it is “right here.”

These systems can also help pull us up the hierarchical chain of autonomic responses:

I hear a noise, and I’m stuck in a freeze response due to perceived danger. 

If I’m alone I can begin to self-regulate by noticing the signals of un-safety I’m receiving from my body (rapid heart beat rhythm / how I’m breathing / vigilance levels / physical awareness). If equipped with the toolset and the practice of knowing how to use the tools I can begin to activate my Mobilization System through cognitive / brain functions. (The crux being knowing what the signals and tools are, and having had practice with them.) I can then coax myself to mobilize and respond to the perceived threat in a way that cultivates security and makes me feel more safe (investigate or hide).

If I’m with someone else they can begin a process of co-regulation in which they notice my signals of un-safety (or I inform them) and they respond by making soft eye contact / using re-assuring movements and posture / smiling while using a pleasant voice to help assure me that what I’m perceiving as a threat is more imagined than real. Their felt sense of safety helps me to find mine.

Next week we’ll explore how this theory and ideas of human connectedness and safety show up and influence our teaching / studio experiences / relationships in general. 

Until then I hope I’ve made it a little more clear as to how kindness and a genuine presence IS the key to safety and a healthy nervous system and society … and how that health can be gifted and transferred to others simply through a smile. 

HOMEWORK: For the week make it a practice to connect with others through soft pleasant eye contact and a smile … whether you’re at work or in the grocery store. Now, in these chaotic mediated political and COVID-19 times, it’s never been more important to be in relationship and co-regulating with Others.

Society and your personal health depends on it.

~ james CRADER