Managing Sympathetic and Dorsal Vagal States
Developing strategies to manage sympathetic and dorsal vagal states is essential in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
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The previous article discussed the realistic expectations of polyvagal informed training. Specifically, it was described that it is neither possible nor desirable to avoid all instances of shifting into sympathetic and dorsal vagal states. These states are perfectly adaptable and necessary for specific situations. Sympathetic states are important for mobilization of energy resources and protection. Dorsal vagal states are necessary for survival under certain conditions. While these states can be adaptive in certain scenarios, it also can be readily appreciated that shifts into such biological states can, and often do, occur in situations in which they are not needed or desired. In fact, there are numerous circumstances in which such state shifts may be detrimental. In such situations, it becomes important to have developed skills and strategies to manage these states.
The focus of this article will be a discussion of how to manage sympathetic and dorsal vagal states within situations for which they are not ideally suited. The typical characteristics and features of sympathetic and dorsal vagal states have been described in detail in past articles. In essence, sympathetic states are associated with mobilization of energy resources and changes in physiological and psychological features which are commonly considered as ‘fight or flight’. Dorsal vagal states are characterized by reductions in metabolic resource consumption and changes in physiology and psychology that are thought of as being ‘freeze’, dissociation, or shutdown. As alluded to above, sympathetic states are also considered to be states of mobilization and protection, while dorsal vagal states are synonymous with survival.
Development of the skills and strategies of the polyvagal informed toolbox has been detailed previously and includes both mind-based and body-based skills. The purpose of training a wide variety of polyvagal informed strategies is reflected in the understanding that different skills will be maximally effective in certain situations while others are better suited for other scenarios. In order to optimally leverage our biology in pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance a robust set of both mind-based and body-based skills is needed in order to manage the various situations we will inevitably encounter.
Across many domains of human high performance, there is an emphasis on mind-based skills. These include optimism, focus, confidence, self-talk, gratitude, and maintaining calm. While these are all important strategies and are all included within the polyvagal informed toolbox, they are also ideally suited towards specific situations. This is due to the common need across these skills for cognitive capacity and engagement of executive functioning. These neurological attributes are optimally accessible within ventral vagal stabilized states, however are less readily engaged as ventral vagal tone decreases. When we become locked or stuck in sympathetic and dorsal vagal states, we effectively lose access to these mind-based skills. Within these states, our ability to access executive function is substantially, if not completely, reduced. As a result, the effectiveness of these skills is markedly reduced, if not lost completely.
A common human experience is one in which, no matter how diligently we have trained mind-based skills, we encounter a situation in which we become stuck in fight, flight, or freeze and are not able to effectively or efficiently think our way through the situation and restore a ventral vagal stabilized state. In such an experience, we may attempt to utilize mind-based skills and find that they are not effective. We may lose our confidence. It may become difficult or impossible to maintain optimism. Our positive self-talk may be replaced by the inner critic. Staying calm may be impossible. As humans, we have all experienced these situations.
Understanding the basis for the above experiences can be helpful in developing strategies to better manage these biological states. The situations described above reflect the common biological reality that when fully emersed in sympathetic and dorsal vagal states, we are not able to shift out of these states with mind-based skills alone. Due to the reduction in cognitive capacity and executive functioning associated with these states, no matter how strong our mind-based skills may be, we are simply not able to adequately access and employ them from within these states. Proof of this concept can be seen in the fantastic case study illustrations of best in the world tennis players described by Michael Allison. Despite training mind-based skills to the highest level, when their biological states shift into protective and survival states, it is not possible for these athletes to shift out of these states with mindset alone.
In order to shift our biological state from sympathetic and dorsal vagal states towards ventral vagal stabilized states, body-based skills are essential. Once sufficient ventral vagal tone has been reestablished, then mind-based skills can be implemented to either further shift towards ventral vagal stabilization or maintain the ventral vagal state.
In order to best understand how to accomplish these shifts in biological state, it is also important to acknowledge the hierarchy of these states which has been described in past articles. From the principles of Polyvagal Theory, Stephen Porges PhD has eloquently described the various states and their evolutionary origins. The dorsal vagal state is the most primitive state, followed by the sympathetic state, and the ventral vagal state is the most recent in terms of evolutionary origin. This understanding is important because our ability to shift from protection and survival states also follows this sequence. More specifically, if we are in a dorsal vagal state, we must first increase mobilization of energy resources towards a sympathetic state before shifting into a ventral vagal stabilized state.
The application of the hierarchy of states in the management of, for example, a dorsal vagal state is important in order to not only enhance the ability to efficiently shift states but to avoid the inadvertent situation of becoming further locked in a state. To illustrate the point, the example of breathing can be used. Commonly utilized breathing patterns include prolonged exhalation and prolonged inhalation. The former is effective in increasing ventral vagal activation while the latter is able to increase energy resources and shift towards sympathetic states. If we are in a sympathetic state and wish to shift towards a ventral vagal stabilized state, then a prolonged exhalation breathing pattern would be appropriate. Conversely, from a dorsal vagal state it is first necessary to utilize a prolonged inhalation pattern to increase energy mobilization and shift towards the sympathetic state and then employ a prolonged exhalation pattern. From the dorsal vagal state, the prolonged exhalation pattern may result in deepening of the dorsal vagal state, rather than the desired effect of shifting towards a ventral vagal state.
Within the context of any high demand, high performance domain there are frequent situations in which we shift into sympathetic and dorsal vagal states. When our primary focus is sustainable high performance, such shifts may not support our ability to pursue our fullest potential. In this scenario, it is desirable to shift our biological state towards a ventral vagal stabilized state in order to optimize our ability to be at our best. The discussion above provides the understanding and application of how best to accomplish this goal. In addition to implementing these strategies, it is important to do so with as little self-criticism and self-judgement as possible. Shifts in biological state are a reflection of the function of our nervous system, which we all share. It is, therefore, important that we also develop the capability to identify our biological state and accept whatever it may be without necessarily needing to understand what caused the current state or judging ourself for having shifted into the current state. Michael Allison describes this capacity as ‘meeting the body where it is’.
It is further important to recognize that this paradigm applies equally in a relational pathway when we encounter others whose biology may have shifted into protective or survival states. In such a scenario, we are unlikely to be successful in trying to talk or convince others into a ventral vagal stabilized state. This is an extension of the understanding described above and reflects the capacity of our cognitive function when we have shifted into sympathetic and dorsal vagal states. Rather than trying to talk others into ‘calming down’, a more effective and polyvagal informed strategy would be to implement skills to shift our biology towards a ventral vagal stabilized state in order to co-regulate those around us. The ability to co-regulate others will provide cues of safety and connection which will allow their biology to shift towards ventral vagal stabilized states.
In the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance it is inevitable that we will encounter shifts in our biology into sympathetic and dorsal vagal states. Developing skills and strategies to effectively manage these states and increase the extent of ventral vagal stabilization is necessary in order to pursue these important objectives. Understanding how best to implement the skills and strategies of the polyvagal informed toolbox in these scenarios is a foundational principle within The Practices of the Healthcare Athlete. To learn more, including about polyvagal informed coaching for healthcare professionals and others in high demand domains, visit www.darindavidson.com.
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REFERENCES
Allison, M. The Play Zone: A Neurophysiological Approach to our Highest Performance. https://theplayzone.com.
Allison M. How Our Feelings of Safety Guide Our Behavior. Looking at the World Through a Polyvagal Lens. Psychol Today, May 30, 2022; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/polyvagal-perspectives/202205/how-our-feelings-safety-guide-our-behavior.
Dana, D. Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory. Boulder, Colorado: Sounds True, 2021.
Dana, D. Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring The Self in Safety. New York: W.W. Nortan & Company, 2023.
Porges, SW. The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company; 2011.
Porges SW, Porges S. Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us. New York: W.W. Norton & Company; 2023.