Where are you today on the map of nervous system functioning?
By Dee Wagner, LPC, BC-DMT
As I was preparing for a workshop I am scheduled to present on Sunday, I paused to take a breath. I was hoping to regain more internal balance. Like many other people, I was very surprised by the results of the election.
In that breath, I had a realization related to a problem I have wrestled with for some time.
Polyvagal Theory and the Election
I preach the value of Stephen Porges’ polyvagal theory because polyvagal theory gives us a more useful map of nervous system functioning than we have ever had before. Other teachers, therapists and coaches who use neurobiology but who are not as familiar with polyvagal theory as me have waved off my enthusiasm. They say, “Don’t focus on one theory.”
My lightbulb experience post-election gave me a way to explain my polyvagal appreciation.
The picture that polyvagal theory offers me is actually a map—a simple map like one of the earth that shows only the shape and location of the continents. Everything related to the earth could be on this map but keeping it simple and only showing the continents helps me get my bearings on days like the day after the election.
On the metaphoric map where different nervous system functioning is represented by the different continents, other neurological systems could be represented. On the continents, there are lakes and rivers, fault lines, migration paths of birds, etc. However, just seeing the continents so to speak and identifying which continent I am on helps me best whenever I need to regain neurological balance.
Locating Myself on the Map
At any given moment, I am either on the continent of nervous system functioning that works when I sense life-threatening danger or I am on the continent that works when I feel safe. The one that works when I sense life-threatening danger has two major land masses that are connected like North and South America. North America would represent fight/flight response and South America would represent shut-down response.
Where am I today?
On the map of nervous system functioning, today I am in Central America, the metaphoric peninsula that connects the continent of shut-down with the continent of fight/flight. I am coming out of shock and feeling an urge to flee.
Instead of getting on a real boat or plane, I will find metaphoric transportation. I will use my breath to find balance. As I balance my inhales and exhales, I shift my weight back and forth from one foot to the other, then heels to toes, feeling powerfully present in my legs. This awareness moves me into my nervous system functioning that works when I feel safe.
As I return to the large metaphoric land mass that I live on when I feel safe, creative thinking becomes possible. On this continent, it becomes possible to rest again and then to digest the meal that did not initially sit well in my belly. After that, I will be able to play with options, even if those options are more limited than I would wish.