Polyvagal Theory and Trauma: How Your Body Responds to Stress
Have you ever felt anxious, even when nothing seems wrong, or numb and disconnected when you long to feel alive? These aren’t signs of weakness or failure. They’re your body’s natural survival responses.
Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, helps us understand how the nervous system reacts to stress and trauma. It explains why, even when you’re safe, your body might still respond as if danger is near.
Three Body States: Your Nervous System’s “Gears”
Safe & Connected (Ventral Vagal State)
You feel calm, steady, and open to connection. Life feels manageable.
Fight or Flight (Sympathetic State)
Your body senses danger. You may feel restless, anxious, angry, or ready to escape.
Freeze or Shutdown (Dorsal Vagal State)
When overwhelm takes over, your body may collapse into shutdown. You might feel numb, hopeless, or disconnected.
These states are part of your body’s survival system. But after trauma, the system can get “stuck,” making it harder to return to balance and presence.
Why This Matters for Trauma
Trauma isn’t just a memory in your mind; it lives in your nervous system. It can show up as:
Constant hypervigilance or anxiety
Emotional numbness or dissociation
Physical tension, digestive issues, or sleep struggles
Feeling disconnected from yourself or others
Generational trauma, medical trauma, immigration trauma, and life transitions can all shape how your nervous system responds. Even phobias and panic often begin as protective reflexes that become patterns over time.
The Path Back to Safety: Healing Through Connection
Our nervous system heals best in a safe connection. In therapy, this is called co-regulation, two nervous systems calming each other. Over time, you can also learn self-regulation through practices like:
Taking slow, steady breaths
Feeling your feet firmly on the ground
Stretching or gentle movement
Listening to soothing music or humming
Reaching out to someone who helps you feel safe
These practices help widen your “window of tolerance,” your ability to face life’s challenges without tipping into overwhelm or collapse.
How I Use Polyvagal Theory in Our Sessions
In our work together, Polyvagal Theory acts as a map for healing. I’ll guide you to:
Notice your body’s signals — learning to recognize when you’re in fight, flight, freeze, or safe connection.
Build awareness with compassion — helping you understand that these states aren’t your fault; they’re your nervous system doing its best to protect you.
Practice gentle regulation tools — from grounding and breathwork to somatic techniques that support your body in finding calm.
Strengthen co-regulation — through our therapeutic relationship, we create a safe, steady connection where your body can begin to trust safety again.
Integrate resilience — over time, you’ll develop more capacity to return to balance and carry that sense of safety into daily life.
This approach helps you move from survival into presence so you can feel more grounded, connected, and alive.
You don’t have to carry this alone. If you’d like support in reconnecting with safety and presence, I’d be honored to walk alongside you. With the right care, healing is possible, moving from survival into wholeness, and from feeling stuck into feeling free.
