Polyvagal Theory in Breathwork Practice
The Vagus Nerve is a long and wandering nerve which runs down both the front (ventral) and the back (dorsal) sides of the body
The vagus nerve is a very important nerve in the human body. Running down both the front and the back of the body, it is considered to have the widest reach of any of the nerves into the rest of the nervous system.
The vagus nerve passes through the lungs and the heart, and vagal tone can be significantly improved through slow and deep belly (diaphragmatic) breathing practices, which encourage the stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the ‘rest and restore’ aspect of the ANS (autonomic nervous system).
Studies in HRV (heart rate variability) have shown that people with a higher rate typically have better vagal tone, and an increased adaptability to manage stress well. In other words, good vagal tone has a significant impact on the reduction of stress amongst many other benefits.
Further indicators show that psychological and physiological resilience, and cognitive faculty are improved through good vagal tone and higher heart rate variability. So how does this relate to the breath?
As we mentioned above, deep diaphragmatic breathing stimulates and improves vagal tone, allowing the nervous system to self soothe, reducing stress levels significantly, creating an opportunity for us to manage our lives better.
Both branches of the vagus nerve calm the body but do so in different ways. Our freeze response is typically associated with the dorsal branch of the vagus nerve, and whilst it can calm the body in general through deep conscious diaphragmatic breathing, in active breathing with may find that this aspect is over stimulated and may, as a result, look like dissociation in a breath work session. The ventral part of the vagal nerve affects body functioning above the diaphragm and is the branch related to our social engagement system. The ventral vagal nerve typically dampens the body’s regularly active state.
There is so much going on in these wonderful brains of ours!
Without doubt unresolved trauma continues to affect our nervous system responses, many of us live in a perpetual state of fight or flight. When this goes on for too long, we may enter a state of almost perpetual shutdown so how can we help our clients move back into their social engagement biology?
We move gradually! We first and foremost encourage our clients to maintain a connection to the felt sense and the body which for some may take a long time. People who have typically left their bodies in order to stay safe, have a hard time understanding what is happening on the physical level. Start slowly, encourage modulation of the breath, work with nose breathing as a day to day practice, and in more dynamic sessions, make sure you understand what the client’s Window of Tolerance may look like (more on that soon).
Our job as breathworkers is to understand the anatomy and physiology of the breath, to know how to encourage regulation of the nervous system and to work towards supporting wellness on all levels for our clients. Whilst there can be value in allowing people to (safely) go to their most tender edges, it’s imperative that we are adequately trained in order to do that! So often we hear “it’s just breathing, surely you don’t need training to do that!” but there is so much we are holding as facilitators of healing and trauma release and in our experience, it certainly goes way beyond “just breathing”.
To discover more, why not consider becoming a facilitator of this work? Request a curriculum today! We welcome you to this life changing work!
