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The Polyvagal Theory
By Dr. Stephen Porges
“How safe we feel is crucial to our physical and mental health and happiness.”
- Dr. Stephen Porges
2022 PVI Gathering in Atlantic Beach /Me & Steve Porges
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) exhibits three primary states that adapt based on our sense of safety, and three hybrid states, shown below.
This shifting mechanism operates subconsciously (as described by neuroception) and underpins our emotions and feelings. These states also interact, creating hybrid states that allow for our spectrum of emotional and behavioral responses.
The Polyvagal Theory provides a language through which we can understand our experiences and physiological states of being.
When we begin to recognize that our Autonomic state determines our lens of interpreting cues from both our inner and outer worlds, we can begin to make changes in our lives in order to heal and grow.
Neuroception
Neuroception: A term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges
Neuroception is the subconscious process by which the autonomic nervous system (ANS) assesses safety and danger through continuous multisensory input. This system operates independently of conscious thought, allowing for immediate physiological responses.
Our autonomic state is informed by our level of resilience based on current and past experiences. Individuals with higher resilience tend to have more of a lens of safety in experiencing the world than individuals with lower resilience, who, based on their history, might be more attuned to threats and experience less safety as they move through the world.
Using Neuroception, neural circuits in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) use input to decide if a person or situation is safe, dangerous, or a life threat. It orchestrates input from Vision, Hearing, Taste, Touch, Smell, Proprioception, Interoception, Vestibular, and our Enteric Nervous System (ENS), which integrates information within the gut in real-time with the input from the ANS.
Learn more about Polyvagal Theory and its many applications, the work of Stephen Porges, nervous system regulation, coregulation, neuroception, the vagus nerve, and more at Polyvagal Institute. Check out courses, trainings, resources and events: https://www.polyvagal.org
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