How to Regulate Your Nervous System Using Storytelling
In the last blog we learned about the polyvagal ladder and how it represents the 3 different states of our nervous system: Ventral Vagal (safe & social), Hyperarousal (fight/flight), and Hypoarousal (shut down). Now we’ll talk how we can use storytelling (narrative therapy) to regulate the nervous system and reach our optimal state of Safe and Social.
Identifying our Place on the Ladder
Gaining awareness of the different states of our nervous system can help us identify them as we experience them in the moment. Awareness is a hugely important first step before we can enact any type of change or stroy telling, because without awareness we wouldn’t even know a change was needed! In the previous blog we learned a few details on how each state manifest emotionally, physically, and mentally. For example, one way to identify that we are in the state of hypoarousal would be to notice that we are withdrawn socially and emotionally numb, or we could identify hyperarousal level by realizing that we are feeling panicky and ruminative in our thinking. Once we tune into where we are at and put a name to it, we can decide what to do next.
Tell Each State’s Story
Whether we realize it or not, we are usually telling ourselves a story about what were are experiencing in our lives. The story we tell ourselves will affect how we feel, think, and act after. Let’s imagine someone cuts us off in traffic and our nervous system is reacting:
If we are in hyperarousal the story we’re telling ourselves might sound like this, “What the hell!? What if I had just gotten into an accident?! My car could’ve spun out of control! That person is a lunatic! I need to get home and off the road immediately in case something else bad happens!” We notice that this story sounds very anxious, panicked, fearful, and angry. It’s leading you to want to get out of the situation ASAP, and creating judgement towards the other people on the road. (fight/flight).
In hypoaraousal it might sounds like, “Of course, this always happens. I don’t even care about this event anymore. I’m going home and going to bed.” Detached, in the process of shutting down, emotionally numb, all leading you to want to go home and fully shut down.
In Ventral Vagal the story might sound like, “Oh wow, that was kind of a surprise and a little annoying. Maybe they have an emergency they’re dealing with. Or maybe they’re going through their own anger. It’s okay, my car is safe, I’m safe, and I’ll keep driving to my destination.” It doesn’t sound like a denial of the experience, it just rides the wave of stress and acknowledges its presence while also recognizing that we are still safe.
Telling each story of the trigger can help us choose which makes us feel the most safe and regulated so we can engage with that story more. Even though our nervous system will react automatically, knowing what the story of each state sounds like can help us get a clear picture of where we are on the ladder and gives us one path to reach our regulated state.
Telling stories and gaining awareness can be difficult alone. If you would like to work on this in therapy, click here to go to the calendar to schedule a consultation call.
Tina Caro, LPC, CCATP, ADHD-CCSP
*Please note that this blog is for your information only and does not constitute clinical advice or establish a client-counselor relationship.