What are the Goals of Polyvagal Informed Training?
In order to optimally develop the skills and strategies of the polyvagal informed toolbox, it is necessary to understand the goal of polyvagal informed training.
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A common and important consideration related to implementation of polyvagal informed training relates to the question of what is the ultimate goal of training these skills. A frequent misconception is that the objective is to remain regulated at all times and reduce to zero the number of instances of dysregulation. The origin of this misunderstanding is unclear. Perhaps it is based upon the ability of embodying polyvagal informed principles to improve regulation and provide stabilization to the nervous system.
It is definitely the case that training the skills and strategies of the polyvagal informed toolbox can increase the degree of regulation and enhance stabilization across all aspects of life. While this is true, it is not synonymous with the misperception that the objective of this training is to remain stabilized and regulated at all times. In fact, this goal is neither possible nor desirable.
While there are many benefits realized through increased ventral vagal stabilization, the sympathetic and dorsal vagal states remain important. As has been discussed in past articles, there are instances in our experience in which these states are highly adaptive and necessary. Ultimately these states can serve to improve our protective and survival ability in certain situations. Given this reality in combination with the recognition that, as humans, it is not possible to avoid dysregulation at all times, it becomes important to clearly understand the goal of polyvagal informed training.
The significance of this recognition is twofold. Firstly, when we understand the true objective of a given training, we are better able to set realistic expectations. Secondly, this understanding allows for the identification of progress in our training. Each of these elements become important to further motivating and promoting additional skill development, thereby leading to further enhancements in our capacity to embody these skills and strategies in our pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
As alluded to above, it is neither possible nor desirable to remain regulated in a ventral vagal state at all times. For this reason, continuous stabilization and regulation is not the goal of polyvagal informed training. This is a common misconception. Rather, the goal is to improve and optimize nervous system flexibility and resilience. These terms can be used interchangeably and are often misunderstood. As detailed in a previous article, the extent to which our nervous system is flexible and resilient describes the ability to encounter various experiences which may provide cues of uncertainty, risk, and threat and to do so without becoming locked in sympathetic and dorsal vagal states.
To further describe this concept, it can be useful to illustrate the point. In the face of cues of uncertainty, risk, and threat it would be predicted that neuroception would lead to shifts in biological state towards sympathetic or dorsal vagal states. A flexible and resilient nervous system is one that shifts in these predictable patterns and then, assuming the situation is not optimally managed through these states, is able to efficiently and effectively shift back to ventral vagal stabilization.
This provides the ideal objective of polyvagal informed skill development. Namely, the goal is to increase nervous system flexibility and resilience. Such capacity provides the ability to experience the various events and cues that are inevitable across all areas of our life. Furthermore, such an ability allows us to shift our biological state in a consistent fashion with our physiology and psychology while maintaining the ability to leverage these shifts in alignment with our larger goals and objectives. This skill allows us to avoid becoming locked within sympathetic and dorsal vagal states and return to ventral vagal stabilized states as efficiently as possible.
With an understanding of the ultimate goal of polyvagal informed training in mind, it is also informative to consider how this emerges in practice. When we are able to increase the degree of flexibility and resilience of our nervous system, the ensuing manifestation is that we experience dysregulation less frequently, do so with reduced magnitude, and are able to recover back to a grounded state more rapidly. The benefits of these attributes are the result of the characteristics of ventral vagal states and are ideally suited to promote health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
The features underlying these attributes and the increased flexibility and resilience of the nervous system are also important to understand. Specifically, these are increased ventral vagal tone and a strengthened vagal break. When we understand these concepts, it facilitates and informs the specific skills and strategies we utilize to train.
The principles of ventral vagal tone and vagal break have been described in past articles. In essence, the greater degree of ventral vagal tone which we possess, the greater is our stabilization in ventral vagal states. This is reflected in a reduction in the frequency and magnitude of dysregulation within sympathetic and dorsal vagal states. A complimentary yet separate attribute is the vagal break. Effectively, this describes the ability of our nervous system to reduce the extent of ventral vagal inhibition of sympathetic tone in a graduated and controlled fashion. The importance of this lies in the resulting ability to modulate the degree of expression of sympathetic activation in the face of various cues of uncertainty and risk. When the vagal break is inefficient, we effectively have an on-off switch with our sympathetic nervous system. As a result, we are typically either in a ventral vagal state or a sympathetic state. When the vagal break is strengthened, we develop the capability to modulate the extent of sympathetic tone such that a more appropriate extent of mobilization is expressed and is more commensurate with the given situation. This allows a greater opportunity to perform towards the limits of our potential and do so in a sustainable fashion.
In order to pursue the goal of improving nervous system flexibility and resilience, as well an enhancing ventral vagal tone and vagal break, it is necessary to train the skills and strategies of the polyvagal informed toolbox. As described in past articles, this is best accomplished through proactive training in which these skills are developed in lower demand situations and then progressively implemented in higher stakes scenarios. In essence, we train these skills through exposure to dysregulating experiences of graduated magnitude such that we develop the ability to progressively utilize the skills and strategies within high consequence situations.
Another important consideration impacts nervous system flexibility and resilience as well as the extent of ventral vagal tone and vagal break. As humans, our abilities to express these skills is not uniform over time. Rather it is dynamic. There are instances in which we demonstrate increased capacity to effectively employ these skills and there will, inevitably, be times in which we are less successful. This is perfectly normal and not reflective of any deficiency. Rather it is a result of our shared humanity and the polyvagal informed principles allow us to acknowledge this reality with increased compassion and less judgment and criticism.
The polyvagal informed skills and strategies which are the foundation of The Practices of the Healthcare Athlete provide the basis with which to optimally pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. Understanding the true goal of this paradigm and the skills which increase the capacity to reach this objective is necessary in order to provide realistic expectations and guide the process of training the required skills and strategies. 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.
Dana, D. Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-centered Practices. New York: W.W. Norton & Company; 2020.
Dana, D. Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory. Boulder, Colorado: Sounds True, 2021.