5 Points to Understand Polyvagal Theory

5 Key Points to Start Understanding Polyvagal Theory (and Why It Matters for Your Mental Health)

Ever heard of Polyvagal Theory and wondered what it actually means for your everyday life? This theory, introduced by Stephen Porges in 1995, helps us understand how the vagus nerve shapes your emotional and social behavior.

If you’ve ever wondered why you freeze up in a tough conversation or why you feel calm around certain people, Polyvagal Theory offers a lens to understand these responses and how your nervous system impacts your mental health.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Polyvagal Theory 101: It All Starts With the Vagus Nerve

   
   

Polyvagal Theory explains the crucial role of the vagus nerve in your emotional wellbeing and social behavior. It’s all about how your body and brain work together to keep you safe, calm, or ready to react.

When you start understanding how your nervous system reacts to safety and danger, you gain insight into why you feel or act the way you do.

2. Your Nervous System Impacts How You Show Up in the World

   
   

Your body’s perception of safety or threat directly shapes how you express yourself, engage in relationships, and function in daily life.

Ever notice how you feel open, warm, and socially connected in some situations, while in others you feel tense, shut down, or ready to withdraw? Polyvagal Theory helps explain why.

3. The Hierarchy: Your Body’s Built-In Traffic Light System

Polyvagal Theory describes your autonomic nervous system in three response pathways:

🚦 Green Light (Ventral Vagal Complex): This is your place of regulation and social engagement. You feel calm, connected, and ready to engage with the world.

🚦 Yellow Light (Sympathetic Nervous System): Known as “fight or flight”, this activates when your body senses danger, helping you stay alert and ready to protect yourself.

🚦 Red Light (Dorsal Vagal Complex): This is your freeze or collapse response. It can show up when your system feels overwhelmed or needs to shut down to protect you.

Throughout the challenges of everyday life, we move up and down this hierarchy, responding to how safe (or unsafe) we feel in different moments.

4. Neuroception: How Your Body Scans for Safety (Without You Even Realizing It)

   
   

Neuroception (a term coined by Stephen Porges) describes how your nervous system subconsciously evaluates safety in your environment.

For example:

Green: Walking into a room of smiling, familiar faces can trigger feelings of calm and openness.

Yellow: Smelling something that reminds you of a frightening memory can instantly activate your fight-or-flight response.

Your nervous system is scanning for safety or danger all the time, even if you’re not aware of it.

5. Co-Regulation: Why the People Around You Matter

   
   

Co-regulation is the way your physiological state is influenced by those around you. When you’re in a safe, supportive environment, your nervous system mirrors that safety, helping you feel calm and connected.

On the flip side, if someone near you is anxious, angry, or distressed, your nervous system can pick up on that and replicate the state, even if you don’t want it to.

Why Does Polyvagal Theory Matter?

Understanding Polyvagal Theory gives you a new way to look at your nervous system, mental health, and trauma responses.

Your body is constantly working to keep you safe and help you cope.

This theory helps you:

✅ Approach your experiences with more self-compassion

✅ Increase self-awareness around your reactions

✅ Build resilience as you learn to work with your nervous system instead of against it

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At Aligned Minds Counselling and Therapy, we can support you with exploring this further in therapy.

Learning to notice how your body feels in different states can be a powerful first step in regulating your nervous system and improving your emotional wellbeing.

References

Polyvagal Card Deck, Deb Dana

Park, Y. (2023) The Polyvagal Theory.