I have been teaching people about the Vagus Nerve for over 6 years as a therapist in treating trauma and as a coach to teach somatic strategies to navigate stress.

Polyvagal theory, introduced by Dr. Stephen Porges, describes how our autonomic nervous system organizes around safety, danger, and life threat. Think of three “settings”:

1. Ventral Vagal – Social Safety & Connection

• Felt sense: Calm, grounded, curious; you can make eye contact, listen, empathize, and think clearly.

• Body signs: Steady breath, warm face/hands, digestion on line, flexible voice.

• Use: Ideal lane for learning, creating, digesting, and repairing.
  

2. Sympathetic – Fight/Flight Mobilization

• Felt sense: Urgency, irritation, anxiety; mind races, tunnel vision.

• Body signs: Faster heart rate, shallow chest breathing, cool hands, tense muscles.

• Use: Great for deadlines and sprints—if you can shift out when the task ends.
  

3. Dorsal Vagal – Shutdown/Conservation

• Felt sense: Numb, foggy, disconnected, hopeless.

• Body signs: Heavy body, low energy, flat voice, digestive slowdown.

• Use: An emergency brake for overwhelm; helpful briefly, but chronically it feels like burnout.
  

The goal isn’t to live only in ventral vagal, but to travel between states skillfully and return to connection. Your practices are like on-ramps back to safety.

Today's episode explores the connection between the vagus nerve and stress (management). I think this is a really important topic since when we are stressed, we so often look to the head for the solutions, when in find the body knows best and given that stress is 98% physical, it makes sense to look to somatic practices.

I will talk you through practical applications of this theory and how you can harness its power to help you navigate the stress response.

Now let's geek out and begin the episode!