Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Blog Postself care

Posted Saturday April, 11th 2020

Polyvagal Theory, Stephen Porges: If There Was Ever a Time to Activate Your Vagus Nerve, It Is Now

1 MB Ub Mn Zlk Wqcba N Nt Bp Yi A

If you experience a racing heartbeat or tightness in your chest when you read a news story about the pandemic, it’s because of your sympathetic nervous system. When the brain senses a threat, it triggers the fight-or-flight response.

On the flip side, your parasympathetic nervous system plays a role in calming your body. For example, escaping from a grizzly bear and returning to your safe, cozy cave signals to the brain that the threat is gone, so the stress responds ends. Now that you’ve resolved the threat, you can return to a state of peace.

But what happens when a stressor doesn’t have a definitive ending — like, say, a pandemic that might go on for months? You could suffer some significant health consequences — unless you intervene, with the help of your nervous system.

Read More

Comments
Recent Posts
View All Posts

Subscribe

Sign up with your email to receive news and updates.