Dr. Stephen Porges, the creator of the polyvagal theory, joins the podcast to walk us through how its lessons can be applied to recovering from traumatic experiences. We start by simplifying the polyvagal theory, discussing the three key states our body can rest in, and exploring some of polyvagal's key take-aways. Dr. Porges then explains why there are common responses to traumatic events, and finishes by sharing some polyvagal-informed practices we can use to to heal old wounds and feel safer.

About our Guest: Dr. Porges is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He’s published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and is the author of a number of books, including his recently released Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us.

0:00 Introduction
1:00 A brief overview of Polyvagal Theory (PVT)
5:05 Ventral, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal states
12:00 Relating PVT to trauma, and processing cognitively vs. in the body
19:30 Creating enough safety and co-regulation for healing work
23:30 What helps people gain awareness, safety, and regulation
27:20 Contextualizing a freeze response both psychologically and medically
30:55 Distinguishing feeling safe vs. being safe
33:20 Where to start when you don’t have a secure base in another person
36:40 How our physiology has evolved to detect psychosocial cues
38:45 How healing practices change our perception of the world
40:45 The calming effect of slow exhalation and top-down visualization
42:25 Other tools to calm the nervous system, and the need for social nourishment
46:25 Recap

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Who Am I: I'm Forrest, the co-author of Resilient (https://amzn.to/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https://apple.co/38ufGG0). I'm making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth.

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