Written by: Brandi Ducote, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
One nervous system at a time. From a wide lens, it can be easy to become discouraged by the state of the world. Political polarization, lingering isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly intensifying climate change-related events, war-related atrocities, increased exposure to horrific images via social media… the list goes on. However, when I gather with my colleagues, and we share stories about how healing from our trauma histories and regulating our nervous systems has had a widespread effect on our lives, I feel tremendous hope. I also get to witness this effect in those that I work with professionally every day. When an individual decides to end intergenerational patterns of trauma and works to restore the natural rhythm of their nervous system, everything they touch changes in response to this shift.
How can this help save the Earth, you ask? Just as the flu is contagious to those we encounter; our regulation or dysregulation influences the world around us. If we are present, mindful, and regulated, we have the capacity to be kinder, more compassionate, and empathetic toward those around us. We may also be more aware of how our actions can have a larger effect on the world we live in, leading us to do less harm. If we are overwhelmed, distracted, and dysregulated, the opposite is likely true.
Polyvagal Theory
Introduced by Stephen Porges in the mid-1990s, Polyvagal Theory creates a framework for understanding three nervous system states – ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal. Ventral vagal refers to a state of relative safety and social connection. Sympathetic activation refers to our flight and fight responses, which mobilize us to act in the face of a threat. Dorsal vagal is a state of self-preservation, allowing us to lie and wait for a threat to pass when flight and fight are not available.
It can be said that cognition—the thoughts and beliefs we have about the world, ourselves, and others—follows the physiological state that we are in. When we are in a ventral vagal state, it is easy to see the beauty of the world, locate solutions to solvable problems, and feel a sense of interconnectedness with those around us. In a state of sympathetic activation, we orient to and mobilize to respond to threats, and in dorsal vagal, we experience a disconnect or shut down.
Nervous system regulation can be described as having an appropriate physiological response to what is happening in the here and now. Dysregulation can occur when our body is responding to trauma-based threat responses. In a state of dysregulation, the body’s threat response is either not directly related to what is occurring in the here and now, or the response becomes heightened, leading to a sense of overwhelm.
Applying polyvagal theory to climate anxiety
Given that a regulated nervous system has an appropriate physiological response to what is happening in the here and now, some sympathetic activation is appropriate and necessary to mobilize us toward action to combat the destruction of Earth’s natural resources. However, it can be easy to become overwhelmed by the full scope of these problems, which can send us into a state of overwhelm or shut down. Here are some exercises you can begin to practice to shift your nervous system out of a state of overwhelm:
1. Movement for movement’s sake
Dorsal vagal shutdown is often accompanied by feeling stuck. Movement challenges this felt sense of stuck-ness.
First, whether you are sitting, standing, or lying down, take a moment to notice your posture and body position. Are you bracing or holding tension in any part of your body? See if you can gently invite movement into your body. Start wherever movement is most accessible. You might start with your fingers and toes, working your way toward larger muscle groups, or you may start from your feet and work your way up, but make sure to spend time focusing on each part of your body. Once you have moved through all the different parts of your body, invite any integrative/whole-body movements that want to happen. Dance, wiggle, shake off any excess energy. Take a moment to pause and notice what feels different in your body.
2. Find your backbone to recognize your inner strength
Come to a standing or sitting position and begin to shift your focus toward the parts of your body that hold you together. Bring your attention to your pelvis. It can be helpful to place your hands on your hips to increase focus and attention on this stable, supportive part of you. Notice your legs beneath your pelvis, holding you up, which are supported by the ground beneath you. Next, bring your attention to your spine and how it connects to your pelvis. Notice how your spine is stacked on top of your pelvis. Now focus on your neck bones and their support to your skull. They are supported by the rest of your spine below, which stacks on top of your pelvis. Can you allow your muscles and organs to rest down into this internal structure? Gently invite small movements into the space around your spine and neck to bring attention to the flexibility of this stable and supportive part of you. Lastly, if it is available to you, recall an image of a tree swaying in the wind, with its roots connected to its trunk, which supports its branches and leaves, just as your body’s structure holds you up and grounds you. Pause, breathe, and notice how you feel overall.
3. Find an opposing sensation to recognize the “both/and” of all things
Take a moment to identify how you feel overall right now. Next, scan through your body, identifying what types of sensations are present. Sensations may include tension, tightness, openness, numbness, electricity, stillness, warmth, coolness, lightness, or heaviness. Once you’ve identified what types of sensations are present, be curious about which sensations feel pleasant, which feel unpleasant, and which feel more neutral. Allow your focus to shift toward a part of your body that feels more pleasant or neutral. You may have to scan through your body once more to find this place. Observe this part of you that feels more pleasant (or less unpleasant) in some way with curiosity. How would you describe this sensation to another person? Does it have a shape? Is there a color that may go with this sensation? An image? Notice how the rest of your body responds to being with this neutral or pleasant sensation. What happens with your breath? Your heartbeat? Your thoughts? Now take a moment to identify how you feel overall.
4. Orient through the five senses to connect with the world around you
It can be helpful to practice this exercise outside or near a window.
Let your eyes go where they want to go. Linger on anything that feels pleasant to look at and move on from anything unpleasant. Spend some time taking in everything around you through your sense of sight. Next, focus on what you can hear and then move on to touch, smell, and taste. Pause and notice anything that feels different internally.
Important to note is that some of these exercises may feel more helpful than others. Each nervous system responds differently to regulation tools. If you find any of these tools useful, practice them often. If any practice doesn’t feel helpful, it can be set aside.
Take action
No single individual can solve all our world’s problems, but just as an illness is spread from one person to another, each of us can affect change in small ways. Allow the appropriate sympathetic energy that emerges in response to these larger global problems to mobilize you into action. Choose one thing that you can do, such as volunteering for an organization that is meaningful to you, making changes to your dietary or spending habits, or becoming involved in an important cause. Another option is to focus on internal change by attending therapy to shift out of trauma-based patterns of dysregulation. Additionally, seek others who are also doing their part to create change within and around themselves. Together we can have a large impact.
Interested in working with a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner? You can access a directory of SEPs at Home - Somatic Experiencing® International (traumahealing.org).
Visit my website for more info!
Brandi Ducote, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Brandi Ducote is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of Somatic Psychotherapy San Diego. As a highly sensitive person (HSP) who has struggled with chronic anxiety and associated somatic symptoms throughout her life, she has learned what it takes to break free of deeply engrained, destructive patterns of coping and how to build a life full of meaning and joy. In her practice today, she passes on this valuable knowledge to help others live in a way that is more congruent with who they are at their core.
