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Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, It's Carl Taylor here and welcome to this

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Speaker 1: week's Mojo Monday. So today I want to talk about

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Speaker 1: our nervous system, and I'm going to talk about it

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Speaker 1: through the work of Stephen Porges and deb Dana. So.

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Speaker 1: Porges developed what's called Polyvagel theory back in nineteen sixty nine,

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Speaker 1: and deb Dana has done a beautiful job of making

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Speaker 1: it really practical and something that we can all use

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Speaker 1: in our daily lives. And I happened to see her

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Speaker 1: speak at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and

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Speaker 1: I got so much value from it, and I wanted

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Speaker 1: to share some of the things that I learned from

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Speaker 1: it with you. So most of us have heard of

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Speaker 1: the autonomic nervous system, and traditionally we talk about it

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Speaker 1: as having two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the

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Speaker 1: parasympathetic nervous system. And through the lens of polyv theory

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Speaker 1: it gets a little bit more nuanced. Polyvagel theory shows

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Speaker 1: us that the parasympathetic actually has two distinct pathways, and

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Speaker 1: these are the ventral Vagel system, which supports calm connection

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Speaker 1: and social engagement. So when the ventral vaguel systems switched on.

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Speaker 1: We're feeling good, we're feeling relaxed and joyful, and all

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Speaker 1: those beautiful happy hormones have kicked in. And then there's

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Speaker 1: the dorsal vagel system. And what that does is drives

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Speaker 1: shut down. It drives collapse and sort of immobilization. So

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Speaker 1: imagine if somebody is really really depressed and they're feeling

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Speaker 1: very disconnected from people and from the world, that's the

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Speaker 1: dorsal vagel system. And depth Dana gives us a beautiful

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Speaker 1: metaphor for this. So it's like a ladder. So I

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Speaker 1: orner nervous system is like a ladder. At the top

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Speaker 1: of the ladder is the ventral vagel, and so this

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Speaker 1: is where you feel calm and curious and connected and

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Speaker 1: really grounded. You can think clearly, you can have a laugh,

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Speaker 1: you're connecting with others, and you feel really present. So

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Speaker 1: we all know what it feels like to be at

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Speaker 1: the top of the vent of the ladder, in that

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Speaker 1: ventral vagel area. And then in the middle of the

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Speaker 1: ladder it's a sympathetic nervous system. And so of course

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Speaker 1: we know this as the fight or flight and Porges

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Speaker 1: talks about this being mobilizing, so our heart rate increases,

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Speaker 1: breath gets shallower, muscles are primed, We're full of energy,

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Speaker 1: and you feel like you need to move or do something.

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Speaker 1: So that's the sympathetic nervous system. And then at the bottom,

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Speaker 1: as I said, it's the dorsal vagel so that shut

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Speaker 1: down collapse, that sort of numbness, disconnected state, which is

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Speaker 1: what you can go to when you write down the body.

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Speaker 1: And this is when you just want to retreat and

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Speaker 1: hide in a cave or disappear. And of course.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes we do feel like doing that.

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Speaker 1: We might not necessarily necessarily be depressed, but sometimes we've

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Speaker 1: got you know what, I just need time out.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to talk to anybody. I just need

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Speaker 2: to be on my own.

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Speaker 1: So that's around that dorsal area, and we move up

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Speaker 1: and down this ladder every single day. And the thing is,

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Speaker 1: none of these states are bad. They're are body survival responses,

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Speaker 1: are millions of years old, and they've kept us alive

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Speaker 1: as a species. So it's your body's way of keeping

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Speaker 1: you safe. Now, I just want to pause here and

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Speaker 1: be really clear about what I mean when I use

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Speaker 1: the word safe, because most of the time we are safe.

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Speaker 1: We're not in danger of being attacked by sabertooth teiger,

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Speaker 1: which is a reflective of.

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Speaker 2: Our nervous system.

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Speaker 1: Because our nervous system is so ancient, ancient, it doesn't think,

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Speaker 1: think logically, irrationally. There's no consciousness in our nervous system.

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Speaker 1: It just reacts as if we are going to be

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Speaker 1: attacked by a sober tooth tiger. You know, it's scanning

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Speaker 1: constantly for cues of safety or threat, and sometimes it misfires.

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Speaker 1: So when I talk about safety in this context, I

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Speaker 1: don't mean being safe in your environment. I mean your

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Speaker 1: body's perception of safety. And the reason why I think

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Speaker 1: it matters to be clear on this is, and this

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Speaker 1: is just my opinion, I feel like we're throwing this

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Speaker 1: word safe and being and being in safety too casually,

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Speaker 1: because what it can do is we keep talking about this,

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Speaker 1: it can trick our minds into believing that actually we're

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Speaker 1: not safe. We start wiring our brains to think that

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Speaker 1: the world is a dangerous place when in reality, we

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Speaker 1: are safe most of us. Of course, there are situations

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Speaker 1: where people are not safe, but I'm just talking in general.

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Speaker 1: And what's happening is that our nervous system is sending

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Speaker 1: survival signals based on the wiring of millions of years.

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Speaker 1: So when I use the word safe today, it is

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Speaker 1: shorthand for your nervous system's response, not literally a reflection

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Speaker 1: of your external world. So let me give you a

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Speaker 1: few examples about how this shows up. So in the morning,

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Speaker 1: I sometimes will have a cup of coffee. I will

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Speaker 1: be in that ventral, that top of the ladder and

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Speaker 1: be feeling really calm and good, and then I have

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Speaker 1: a coffee and I actually feel myself climbing down the

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Speaker 1: ladder a little from ventral into sympathetic. You know, suddenly

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Speaker 1: my heart's racing and I'm a little bit more on edge.

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Speaker 1: So that's just a really simple example of ingesting something

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Speaker 1: and moving into a sympathetic nervous system state. Another example is, say,

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Speaker 1: walking into a workshop on your own. So I did

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Speaker 1: this the other week when I went into the deb

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Speaker 1: Dana workshop, and it was quite funny because she talked

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Speaker 1: about this example and it was almost like she was

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Speaker 1: just talking about my experience because I was on my own.

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Speaker 1: I walked into the room, there were people everywhere, there

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Speaker 1: were empty seats, and all of a sudden, I'm going

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Speaker 1: into a bit of a sympathetic nervous system state. You know,

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Speaker 1: where do I see it, who do I sit with?

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Speaker 1: How close to stage? She's just all that kind of

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Speaker 1: normal stuff that happened. So you can see I was

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Speaker 1: in ventral and then that situation, I'm just moving down

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Speaker 1: the ladder a bit because what's happening is my nervous

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Speaker 1: system is just checking and scanning for whether I am

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Speaker 1: safe here. And you think about this with kids who

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Speaker 1: have school refusal. You know they don't want to go

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Speaker 1: to school, or maybe they are arriving life and they

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Speaker 1: have to walk into a classroom that's already settled and started.

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Speaker 1: That can feel really overwhelming and push them down into

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Speaker 1: that sympathetic nervous system state and also go head down

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Speaker 1: into dorsal, sometimes dipping down there if it's all too

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Speaker 1: much for them. So you can if you've got kids

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Speaker 1: who are having school refusal, you can almost notice where

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Speaker 1: they are on that ladder. They start off the morning

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Speaker 1: in ventral, and then as soon as it starts getting

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Speaker 1: ready to go to school, they start heading down that

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Speaker 1: ladder into sympathetic. And then of course there's the really

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Speaker 1: big stresses when life hits hard, so work deadlines, piling

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Speaker 1: up exams at UNI or school, the death of a love,

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Speaker 1: on financial pressures. We can move quickly through that sympathetic

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Speaker 1: into dorsal and then that's the cave response, and all

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Speaker 1: we want to do is shut the door, just hide

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Speaker 1: under a do and just disappear. And I think it's

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Speaker 1: also worth talking about that our past experiences shape how

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Speaker 1: we move up and down that ladder. So if you've

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Speaker 1: lived through trauma or long periods of stress, your nervous

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Speaker 1: system might respond more quickly to queues of danger, and

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Speaker 1: it can be harder to climb back up to the

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Speaker 1: ventral once that you've dropped. And research shows that this

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Speaker 1: is often linked to what we call lower vagual tone

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Speaker 1: and reduced heart rate variability, and they are measures of

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Speaker 1: how flexibly our system can regulate itself. And in simple terms,

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Speaker 1: past challenges can leave us with a more sensitive alarm

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Speaker 1: system and a slower reset button. But that doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: that change isn't possible. It just means awareness and practice

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Speaker 1: are even more important, So over time, those small regulating

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Speaker 1: practices can help the nervous system become more flexible again.

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Speaker 1: Polyvagal theory has been especially helpful for people healing from trauma.

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Speaker 1: But it isn't just for trauma survivors. All of us

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Speaker 1: can benefit from noticing what state we're in because once

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Speaker 1: we know, then we have more choice in how we

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Speaker 1: respond to it. And I think a key point here

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Speaker 1: is that the mind can really talk the body out

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Speaker 1: of these states, Like we can't tell our body to

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Speaker 1: stop feeling a certain way. This is why beating ourselves

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Speaker 1: up for feeling what we feel is really unhelpful and

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Speaker 1: it doesn't work. So when the nervous system reacts, first

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Speaker 1: the mind tries to find meaning in how we're feeling.

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Speaker 1: So if your body is anxious, your mind's going to

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Speaker 1: try and find reason. It's like, you know, I can't cope,

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Speaker 1: I shouldn't be feeling like this, or I don't belong

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Speaker 1: or these people are talking about me, And then if

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Speaker 1: your body shuts down, the story might be well, what's

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Speaker 1: the point. So I've got some tips through a polyvagal

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Speaker 1: informed lens that may help when you are recognizing which

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Speaker 1: part of the ladder that you're in. And once you're

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Speaker 1: able to recognize that, then you can regulate your nervous

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Speaker 1: system through some exercises. So of course, no surprises breathing,

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Speaker 1: so inhaling for four seconds, exhaling for eight seconds, so

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Speaker 1: that long out breath is the really important one because

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Speaker 1: that signals safety to your nervous system. Box breathing is

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Speaker 1: another one, and it just depends. I find with my

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Speaker 1: clients some people who are in a highly heightened sort

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Speaker 1: of anxious state don't want to hold their breath, So

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Speaker 1: just experiment with this one. If it doesn't work, that's fine.

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Speaker 1: You can do the four seconds in eight seconds out.

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Speaker 1: But what box breathing is, if you haven't heard of it,

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Speaker 1: that it's you take a deep breath in for four seconds,

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Speaker 1: you hold your breath for four seconds, breathe out for

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Speaker 1: four seconds, and then hold for four seconds. And if

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Speaker 1: you want to try this with your kids, you can

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Speaker 1: make it really tangible by tracing that. They can trace

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Speaker 1: their hand, so as their finger moves up their thumb,

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Speaker 1: they breathe in, and then as it moves down they hold,

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Speaker 1: and then up the next finger, breathe in, down that finger, hold,

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Speaker 1: and then you just keep going until you've reached your

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Speaker 1: little finger. So that's a kind of a more playful

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Speaker 1: it's playful and regulating.

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Speaker 2: At the same time.

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Speaker 1: And the next one is one of my favorites, and

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Speaker 1: this is StEB Dana talked about this in the workshop,

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Speaker 1: and that is finding glimmers.

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Speaker 2: And I used to call these moments of joy.

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Speaker 1: So they're the opposite of the triggers. They're tiny moments

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Speaker 1: of safety and joy, things like sunlight, a smile, favorite song,

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Speaker 1: spending time with the people that you're close to. You know.

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Speaker 1: One of mine is that there's a cook borough that

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Speaker 1: sits up on a.

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Speaker 2: Wire practically every day.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if it's the same crooker borrough, but

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Speaker 1: I'm just going to say that it is, and it

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Speaker 1: just brings me so much joy. It's like, every time

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Speaker 1: I drive past this cooker, barro is perched there.

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Speaker 2: So it's these little things that you can notice.

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Speaker 1: And what they do is they bring you those kind

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Speaker 1: of like little oh sort of you know, you kind

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Speaker 1: of go, oh wow, isn't that nice? And it can

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Speaker 1: bring you back up the ladder to ventral grounding through

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Speaker 1: your senses. So look around. Name three things you can see,

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Speaker 1: three sounds you can hear, three things you can touch,

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Speaker 1: and that brings you back into the present and can

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Speaker 1: move you up that ladder. And gentle movements, especially if

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Speaker 1: you're in. Also, if you're in that shutdown mode, something

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Speaker 1: as simple as just a gentle stretch, a walk outside,

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Speaker 1: or even just swaying side to side, just pressing your

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Speaker 1: feet into the ground, it can reconnect you. So this week,

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Speaker 1: try and notice where you are on the ladder and

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Speaker 1: try not to judge yourself for there, because it's it

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Speaker 1: is so normal and natural for us to move up

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Speaker 1: and down this ladder and because their survival states, all

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Speaker 1: of them. But the more we can recognize and work

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Speaker 1: with them, the more time that we can spend sort

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Speaker 1: of moving towards that top rung. We're never ever going

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Speaker 1: to stay there because that's just not life, but we

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Speaker 1: can regular we're aware of where we are, then we

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Speaker 1: can use these regulating exercises and then move ourselves up

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Speaker 1: and that's where we can stay connected and curious and present.

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Speaker 1: So your nervous isysdom isn't something to resist or fight,

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Speaker 1: it's something to listen to and understand. And then when

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Speaker 1: your body and your mind can work together instead of

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Speaker 1: opposing each other, that's when life can really open up.

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Speaker 1: So that is your mojo Monday for this week. I

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Speaker 1: hope it's been helpful and I will see you next week,

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Speaker 1: see ya