Explore Your Neural Architecture - Dorsal Vagal System

Join me as we explore our dorsal vagal system. We will track our individualized body cues and sensations of this protective and connective part of our nervous system. When we can be curious and aware of our neural states, we open the door to our wise self stepping in, helping us assess our safety and offering choices to increase our self regulation and safety with others.

Transcript

Exploring your neural architecture,

The dorsal vagal system.

Thanks for being here to practice with me.

Today we will explore our dorsal vagal system,

A branch of the 10th cranial nerve,

The vagus nerve,

The main nerve of our parasympathetic rest and digest system.

The dorsal vagal system is the most primitive part of our neural system and has a strong influence on the digestive tract,

As well as the heart and lungs.

When we are feeling safe enough,

The dorsal vagal helps us digest food,

Have deep intimacy,

Offers restorative rest,

And helps us feel content and peaceful.

Good functioning of this system is so vital to our health and well-being.

When we detect threat or danger and our ability to negotiate or fight or flee is compromised,

Our system will automatically drop into the dorsal vagal freeze response.

This survival state allows us to hide,

To become very,

Very still,

To go unnoticed,

And if needed,

To disconnect and dissociate from what is happening to us.

It's a deeply protective mechanism that allows us to escape when our body can't leave the situation.

It also provides some numbing and relief from pain.

An example of a freeze response is having anesthesia during a medical procedure.

It's a type of freeze state that allows our body to be still and not feel pain during the process.

However,

When the dorsal vagal freeze response gets stuck and stays turned on through chronic lack of safety or by default,

The ongoing dysregulation can appear as depression,

Feeling hopeless or helpless,

Chronic fatigue,

Sleep dysregulation,

Pain,

Or a sense of disconnection and numbness.

We lose capacity to engage fully in life.

The first step to help ourselves come back into regulation is to explore our individualized cues of this dorsal system,

How we experience it under threat as well as in safety.

When we can bring mindful,

Kind attention to our inner neural states,

We have more choice and capacity to shift.

Let's begin.

Make sure you are in a space that feels safe enough for this practice.

You can sit,

Stand,

Or lie down,

Whatever is most comfortable for your body right now.

With your eyes open,

Orient yourself by looking around your present environment,

And notice an object that interests you or feels beautiful or calming.

This can be a picture,

A plant,

A piece of furniture,

Or whatever catches your attention.

Notice any sounds flowing in your space.

Next,

Notice sensations of touch,

Your body being supported by the surface beneath it,

The weight of your hands in your lap,

And so on.

This practice of orienting helps you return to the present moment.

At any time in this meditation today,

If you feel any overwhelm or need to come back to the here and now,

Please reorient yourself in your environment.

If the breath is a comfortable place to put your attention for a few moments,

Take a few deep breaths.

Now,

To learn the cues of your own body in this dorsal vagal state,

I'd like you to recall a mild to moderate experience where you felt a bit unsafe and found yourself in a freeze response.

Perhaps you were in a restaurant and someone at the next table got very angry.

Maybe you had to give a talk and your mind went blank.

As you remember this experience,

Notice what sensations are starting to occur in your body.

Has your breath slowed down or stopped?

Do you feel smaller or pulled inside or farther away?

Is there a tightening or constriction that you're aware of?

And where in your body do you feel this?

In your belly,

Chest,

Or somewhere else in your body?

Continue to bring kind,

Curious attention to these sensations.

If they become overwhelming,

Please return to orienting in your space.

If you can stay with the sensations even a bit longer,

Notice what happens next with the sensations.

Do they stay the same or do they shift a bit?

If they do shift and change,

Stay curious about what you're noticing.

Keep inviting curiosity as best you can.

Now we're going to come back to the present moment in your space.

Open your eyes if they were closed to look at that chosen object from the start of our practice.

Or you can notice other objects or sounds,

Touch,

Weight,

Fragrance,

Or taste.

What do you notice as you come out of this memory and back to the present?

You may feel a bit slow or sluggish or weighted.

Just like it takes time for our body to come down from the high activation of our sympathetic nervous system,

It also takes time to come back to balance from our dorsal freeze states.

You may wish to stretch gently or take a bigger breath.

In fact,

You can make your inhalations a little bit longer than your exhalations to facilitate a shift out of this freeze state.

Now I'd like you to recall a time when you felt safe enough and had a relaxing dorsal vagal experience.

Perhaps you can imagine or recall a time lying on a beach in the sun,

Listening to the steady rhythm of the waves.

Perhaps you had some deep rest after a satisfying meal.

Or maybe you experienced a body scan or a lovely yoga nidra practice.

As you remember this real or imagined experience,

What sensations do you notice in your body?

Has your breath relaxed or slowed down?

Do you feel quiet,

Content,

Or still?

Perhaps you feel the heaviness of your body,

And yet it can be a very different feeling than the heaviness of the dorsal vagal when you are under threat.

Bring mindful discernment to the subtle differences in your body between these dorsal sensations in safety or threat.

Take a moment to enjoy these sensations of rest,

Relaxation,

And connection with yourself.

This is a deeply healing state for the entire body.

If you're someone who doesn't come into relaxation often or easily,

Return your attention to the present environment sooner than I suggest,

As deep relaxation can feel unfamiliar for some of us and needs to be gently paced and gradually increased over time,

Not experienced all at once.

Now return your attention again to your present environment,

Noticing any sensory cues that are present.

As we bring this practice to a close,

Thank yourself for your willingness to explore your inner neural architecture,

And thank your body for this elegant,

Self-protective response.

As you become familiar with your internal cues,

You will begin to recognize these states as they begin to happen.

Shifting our habitual survival patterns is not easy.

Have patience with yourself with this practice.

Survival responses are hard-wired to persist,

As the main job of our body is to keep us safe and alive.

If you find yourself in a freeze response,

Note that,

And then orient again to your environment to see if there really is a threat or if you are on autopilot.

If you are experiencing lack of safety,

Please take care of yourself.

But if there's no obvious threat,

Find something in your environment to focus on that invites even a tiny sense of safety into your nervous system.

This awareness,

Practiced over time,

Gives you choice to invite kindness,

Self-care,

Or a resource that can help you shift out of your freeze state.

Thank you so very much for your practice today.

I wish you well.

Reviews

Amazing. I have a much better understanding of the my nervous system as you give such clear and detailed information. Thank you

Very helpful and calming. I continue to learn so much from Bhanu.
Thank you!

Very scientific-based and so relaxing and resourceful. I am extremely grateful

This is a fantastic practice! Truly explorative, gentle and inviting to explore one of the most challenging poly vagal states helping us see how truly intelligent this nervous system response is. Thank you 🙏

Patient and gentle guidance, with informations, suggestions and prompts just at the right time. Thank you so much ❤️

thank you for this very insightful exercise and explanation, and for the care you brought into it to experience it from a sense of safety

Practised this today after a day of mostly high anxiety and bodily discomfort/pain. I wonder if due to past trauma, my default setting is sympathetic which then moves into dorsal vagal, as I often feel “frozen” in my anxious state which usually hits in the mornings. I’m hoping I can learn how to move from this state to get my body moving as I feel this state (when I feel unsafe) makes my anxiety worse. I do enjoy this state when I don’t feel threatened though. Thank you so much Bhanu for this gentle way to practice exploration of this neural state.

Thank you so much! I sometimes find it difficult to determine if I'm in dorsal collapse or simply relaxing. This practice is very helpful in trying to differentiate between the two.
Thank you!

Very soothing in the way that you explained the dorsal vagal system. I like how got us to go through contrasting scenarios and see how it felt in the body. I often respond in a dorsal state to stress and wonder if that’s “dorsal shutdown” ? Thanks!

Thank you for such useful , supportive guidance. 🌺

We need more of this to counter the law of manifestation that triggers so much guilt and shame. May I ask if I can help you re-submit your course? We need help like this with chronic illness - a clear break from if I just meditate enough I can get myself well.

So grateful you are offering these practices. This one is really helpful as I continue my (increasingly successful!) journey unlearning migraine. Thank you thank you 💕

Thank you so much for These helpful Tools

Thank you. Your meditations are always practical and very helpful.