The Longevity Formula

The Secret Language of Your Nervous System: The Polyvagal Theory

• Dr. Brandon Crawford • Season 1 • Episode 27

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The episode delves into Polyvagal Theory and its significance in promoting healing, emotional well-being, and physical recovery. The conversation revolves around how understanding and applying Polyvagal Theory can assist individuals in better managing their autonomic nervous system, particularly through the vagus nerve. The episode explains that this theory goes beyond the traditional fight-or-flight response, introducing concepts like the social engagement system and neuroception, which influence how we perceive safety and threats in our environment.

The episode also covers practical applications of Polyvagal Theory, such as ear massages, deep breathing, cold exposure, and social connection, which help regulate the nervous system. These techniques are intended to enhance recovery from stress, trauma, and chronic illness, empowering listeners to take control of their own healing journey.


What You’ll Learn

  • Introduction to the Polyvagal Theory: Understanding how this theory goes beyond the traditional fight or flight response by introducing the "social engagement system."
  • Understanding the Vagus Nerve: Importance of the vagus nerve in the parasympathetic nervous system and its role in emotional regulation and social interactions.
  • The Five Autonomic States: Exploring the different states — social engagement, fight or flight, play, shutdown, and intimacy.
  • Neuroception: Concept of the brain's subconscious detection of safety and threat and its implications for healing.
  • Practical Applications and Techniques: Utilizing ear stimulation, breathing exercises, cold exposure, gargling, singing, and social connection to leverage the Polyvagal Theory for improved health and recovery.


Resources

Polyvagal Theory: Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, this theory introduces the social engagement system as a crucial aspect of the autonomic nervous system, which is vital for understanding and managing our responses to safety and threats.

Vagus Nerve: The longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system, central to the Polyvagal Theory. It affects facial expressions, listening abilities, and perception of tone, playing a significant role in social connection and healing.

Neuroception: A key concept in Polyvagal Theory, refers to the subconscious ability to detect safety or threat in our environment. It involves the fastest firing neurons in the brain and is crucial for our safety and well-being.

Autonomic States: The five key autonomic states identified by Polyvagal Theory—Social Engagement, Fight or Flight, Play, Shutdown, and Intimacy—are each associated with different nervous system activations and their impact on behavior and health.

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For more information, resources, and podcast episodes, visit https://tinyurl.com/3ppwdfpm

Voice Over: Welcome to the Longevity Formula with Dr. Brandon Crawford. Let's explore the new era of wellness. 

Dr. Brandon Crawford: Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. Today is going to be an interesting discussion. It's one that is actually coming out of the book that I've written. This book is, I'm really excited about it.

It's a book that I've written about brain injury and brain injury recovery. Hopefully we're going to have that published in the very near future. We're working on all of that now, but what I want to talk about is actually something known as the poly vagal theory. So we kind of touched on this a little bit in a previous episode where we talked about anxiety.

I believe the episode was called why am I anxious or something like that. Right. But we really got into a lot more of the more granular details about. How this polyvagal theory really can be applied. There is a lot of clinical comments in that. So I want to actually just broaden this out a little bit and discuss you know, this from , a bigger base, right?

Just give you the, a broader overview of this so you can, Understand it better and apply it to your life better. So, so let's get started. So, whether you're recovering from a physical injury dealing with emotional stress or just trying to enhance your overall wellbeing understanding this polyvagal theory is so important.

It can definitely be a game changer, right? So to unpack this, let's start from the beginning. So this concept, this theory, this was developed by Dr. Steven Porges. The polyvagal theory introduces us to a new way of looking at our nervous system. It goes beyond the typical, the traditional fight or flight response, which is what everyone's learned, you know, about going through biology in high school or, you know, in college, whenever we talk about this, everyone knows about the fight or flight, right?

So this goes beyond that. So the polyvagal theory introduces. A third type of nervous system poor just causes the social engagement system. So the social engagement system, it's driven by the biggest nerve. Obviously this is the longest nerve in the body. The Vegas nerve itself actually makes up about 75 percent of the, the parasympathetic nervous system.

I love, you know, the Vegas nerve was named Vegas after vagabond because it's just wandering all over the body. We use the Vegas nerve in so many different ways. We use it for brain injury, for emotional traumas, chronic pain conditions, or honestly, I just, I like to stimulate my vagus nerve for overall health and wellness.

I just feel better when I do it, right? So there's so many different applications. Let's understand why we can apply vagus nerve stimulus and get the different types of results and outcomes that we do get, right? So, so this vagus nerve, this vagal system, it affects your facial expressions, your ability to listen even how you perceive the tone of one's voice.

Okay. Essentially, it's deeply involved in how we connect with others and how we heal. At the core of the polyvagal theory is the understanding that our autonomic nervous system has evolved to help us navigate different levels of safety and threat. What's fascinating about the polyvagal theory is how it explains that safety and threat are not just external experiences, but are perceived and responded to via the vagus nerve and the vagal system, right?

And you'll hear me say this vagus nerve, vagal system. I really like the term vagal system better because this does go beyond just the vagus nerve, right? So, when we perceive safety, our body switches to a state that promotes restoration and connection. This isn't just theoretical, it's biological, and it can be harnessed to enhance recovery from ailments.

As varied as stress, trauma, chronic illness, you name it, right? This is your healing system, guys. So in essence, if we learn to regulate this system, we can potentially enhance our ability to recover from almost anything. From stress, trauma, you name it, right? Almost anything. This is crucial information for anyone who's on a healing journey.

Understanding that you have the power to influence your body state can be incredibly empowering. Literally, this is probably the most important concept in my opinion that you can really latch on to, right? For, for, especially if you're a lay person and you want to understand how to stay healthy or how to heal from something, this is something you really need to latch on to.

You really need to understand this. Now, if you're. A practitioner going into neuroscience, you're going to be a provider. I'm going to have various things. It's not just this. I need you to understand neurological development, neurophysiology, all these different things. But this is so important, right?

Because it applies to so many different things, right? In the polyvagal theory, Dr. Porges breaks down these five different autonomic states, if you will. So let's walk through what these autonomic states are and autonomic is meaning automatic, right? So we're talking about a system or a, a network, right?

That is automatic. You're not having volitional control over it. There are ways to gain volitional control over your autonomic nervous system. We'll talk about a few of those in the in the end, right? And on some strategies on how to harness these autonomic states and the polyvugal theory and whatnot, but let's just walk through these different states first.

So. We have social engagement, right? Well, I guess before we do that, let me just tell you what they are, right? So the polyvagal theory identifies the key five key autonomic states that we navigate in response to our environment. So we have social engagement, fight or flight, play, shutdown, and intimacy, okay?

So each state corresponds to different combinations of nervous system activation and has unique implications for our behavior and our health. Social engagement. So let's just imagine Sarah, a young lady attending her best friend's wedding, right? As she mingles with the guests, she feels a sense of joy and connection.

Her ventral vagal system is activated, allowing her to engage socially, make eye contact, and enjoy the conversations around her. She feels safe, relaxed, and fully present in the moment. Now let's talk about fight or flight. So, let's talk about this guy named John, right? So let's say he's hiking, right? He's in the mountains.

Suddenly, he encounters a bear. His sympathetic nervous system kicks in. Triggering a fight or flight response, his heart races, his muscles tense, and he feels the surge of adrenaline. John quickly decides to back away slowly, keeping his eyes on the bear. He's ready to run if necessary. Now, let's talk about play.

So let's look at Emma, a child playing on the playground with her friends. She climbs the jungle gym, slides down the slide and laughs with joy. Her ventral vagal and sympathetic nervous systems are both active, allowing her to engage in playful activities while feeling safe. The combination of energy and safety creates a state of play where physical activity and social connection blend seamlessly.

Now, let's talk about shutdown. So, let's talk about Paul, who has been experiencing severe work related stress for months. One day, he feels completely overwhelmed and unable to cope. He withdraws from his colleagues, feeling numb and disconnected. His dorsal vagal system has taken over leading to a shutdown response.

In this state, Paul's body minimizes energy expenditure to cope with the extreme stress. Intimacy. So finally, let's imagine Anna and her partner spending a quiet evening together. They share a deep conversation. They hold hands. They feel a profound sense of connection. Both their dorsal and ventral vagal systems are active, creating a state of intimacy.

In this state, they feel safe enough to be vulnerable and connect deeply with each other, fostering a sense of trust and closeness, right? So those are the five states that the polyvagal theory defines. Now, what we've done in developmental functional neurology is we've taken a developmental approach.

And so what I also want you to know is that early in life in utero, you're developing the dorsal vagal system, right? And we've already talked about that. So we have three essential systems that then combine together to give us these five states. So our dorsal vagal system initially develops and again, that's more associated with this shutdown mechanism.

Then we develop our sympathetic nervous system and it's like our brain says, Hey, don't shut down, fight or run away. But then we develop our ventral vagal system and that ventral vagal system is all about social engagement. Don't run away. Don't fight. Let's talk about it. Let's reason. Let's really listen into that voice and see if this is something that I should be offended about.

Right? So those three different systems developmentally develop in that order and those all then combined to give us these different states that we just walked through. Right? So, ultimately when we talk about the polyvagal theory, we also need to understand what neuroception is, right? So neuroception, let's talk about it.

Have you ever walked into a room and felt uneasy without knowing why? Have you met someone and instantly felt comfortable? That's neuroception. Your body's way of picking up on subtle cues about safety or threat, right? That's neuroception at work. Your body is picking up on subtle cues and signals that tell your brain whether you're in a safe environment or need to be on alert.

One of the key concepts in polyvagal theory is neuroception, which refers to our subconscious ability to detect safety and threat in our environment. Neuroception involves the fastest firing neurons in the brain. These are known as the spiny motor neurons. They're very fast, very efficient. This constant surveillance is surveillance is crucial.

for our safety and efficiency. Our bodies are always scanning for cues of danger or safety, even when we're not consciously aware of it. So, let's talk about why all of this matters for healing, right? So, why does Polyvagal Theory matter when it comes to healing? So, Polyvagal Theory offers a powerful framework for understanding how our bodies respond to safety and threat.

When our bodies feel safe, Our nervous system allows us to rest, digest, and heal. Conversely, when we feel threatened, our bodies prioritize survival over healing, leading to chronic stress and illness. By creating an environment of safety, we enable our bodies to enter states that support healing and resilience.

And something that you need to understand is that it's a perceived threat, right? So it doesn't mean that, you know, a flash of light, which seems mundane, hmm? You know, it should, it's just light that can be perceived as a threat to the subconscious brain. So there can be imbalances. There can be all types of things going on that lead us to this threat state, right?

That fires these parts of the nervous systems of the nervous system that, you know, puts us in a state where we can't really heal properly. So let's talk about some practical applications. Right? So what are some ways that we can use polyvagal theory to improve our daily life? So the, the, one of the most important, well, one of the strongest ways that I've seen to really stimulate the vagal system and stimulate different parts of the brain and really evoke a healing response In the neurophysiology is via an area called the Simba concha in the ear.

So this little area, if you're watching on video and pointing into the ear again, it's called the Simba concha. You can Google it. You can see what area of the brain I'm talking or the area of the ear I'm talking about. You can literally massage it. You can put your finger in there, tap it, massage it, whatever.

I would suggest maybe getting something that's stainless steel that's from acupuncture where stainless steel will both tonify or sedate a meridian which means it'll increase the energy or reduce the energy in a meridian. You can use gold, which tonifies a meridian. But you can use, you know, something stainless steel to stimulate that area.

You can use little ear seeds, right, that you can get on Amazon. You can put it, your seed in there, which again, comes out of the acupuncture world. My absolute favorite, favorite way to stimulate this is by using pulsed radio frequency. That's via a device that we use in neuro solution called a stem pod.

I have bar none seen no better results than when we use that. So. I use this on me. I use it on my kids. I use it on my wife. I obviously use it on my parent, my, my patients. This is a very, very safe and effective way to stimulate all of these healing properties that can be harnessed from the vagal system is to stimulate the Simba conscious in your ear.

Breathing. So this is the mechanism that I was saying. This is our, Way to voluntarily have control over that autonomic nervous system. I love doing this. So at night, if I'm feeling kind of hyped up, like I'm having trouble calming down, I'll actually, so I wear my whoop, right? Thanks to Josh, who's sitting here next to me, recording me.

So I'm, I wear my whoop and I can pull up the app and I can see my heart rate going right then and there. Right. So I, so if I'm laying in bed and I pull up my. My app, cause I'm having trouble calming down and I look at him like, dang, my heart rate's like 85. What's going on? That's too high. I'm just chilling in bed.

I can then start with some breathing exercises and I can just watch my heart rate slowly come down. Right. And the way that you want to do this, if you need to promote calmness, then you want to focus more on your exhale. So your exhale needs to be longer than your inhale. Your exhalation is controlled more by your vagus nerve, right?

So if you need to calm down if you're prone to anxiety, if you're hyped up, you know, this kind of thing, you're stressed out, then exhalation. So maybe you breathe in for three seconds, four seconds, but then you breathe out for six to eight seconds, right? So breathing is a very, very, Easy way, but powerful way that you can control this autonomic nervous system through voluntary means and there's hundreds of different breathing techniques, but the main thing here is if you need to calm down, focus on your exhalation.

If you need to pick yourself up, if you need more energy, if you need to focus, then you would actually. Focus on your inhalations, but be careful not to breathe, you know, in a way that you then promote anxiety. We really just, I typically advise people to work on focusing on breathing out. Cold exposure.

I'm one of those crazy people that loves jumping in ice cold water. I did not like it at first. But it's very, very effective at stimulating the vagus nerve and the vagal systems. Obviously there's more to it than that. Think of it this way. If I jump in cold water, right, full body, I'm in cold, I'm in cold water or I'm in the shower and I just flip those cold water on.

That cold water is going to cause all of my vasculature, my veins, my arteries is going to cause them to constrict. Right. So it's going to push all the blood into my core so that I can keep my organs warm longer. Right now, what happens then is my vagus nerve is going to kick on and say, Hey, I need to control vessel dilation.

I need to make sure. That, you know, I can balance this blood flow. So the vagus nerve really becomes active and starts to spread out that blood flow. It's a, it's a phenomenal vagus nerve stimulus. There's certain areas where you can have a greater impact on the brain with cold exposure. And that's going to be to The upper half of the face, the palms of the hand and the soles of the feet.

But you know, you can splash your face, you can put your hands off. Oftentimes if I'm working with someone in the office, like an autistic child or something like that. I'll have them by just standing in ice cold water, right? So I'm getting the soles of the feet. So many different other reasons why, you know, I want you to do cold exposure.

A lot of it does revolve around this concept of prefrontal cortex integrity, right? So this concept of. I don't want to do that, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do it because I know there's benefits to it. That's very, very important to develop for so many different reasons. So prefrontal integrity is very important.

And then I love the concept of getting a surge of dopamine after doing something that you don't want to do. So you jump in cold water, it's miserable. You get that painful response. Then when you get out, you get that, you know, That flip side, that pleasure response, and that corresponds with a huge spike in dopamine by up to 250 percent which has been recorded in the literature.

So, so many different reasons to do. Cold exposure and so many different ways to do it, too. We can do gargling and singing And I'll add in their gag reflexes, right? I I used to advise a lot of patients on this Where I would have them drink some or you know, put some water in their mouth throw their head back And just, it's almost like you're yelling at the ceiling.

It's like you're gargling and I want you to be gargling so intensely that water is splashing out on your face. The goal of this is to produce tears. If you produce tears, then you've summated the facial nuclei, right? So the facial nuclei, cranial nerve seven, this has to do with lacrimation. That's tear production.

If I can produce tears by gargling, well, the, the vagal nuclei are next to the facial nuclei, right? So if I'm sitting here gargling intensely and I'm trying to summate these vagal nuclei and I do it so effectively that then that activation spills over into these facial nuclei and I produce tears, I know I have brought to threshold these vagal nuclei.

So it's very important. Same thing with gagging. You can do a gentle gag reflex. If you can gag and produce tears, perfect, you're done. Usually, you know, people with a pretty dysfunctional vagal system, either they cannot produce a gag or it's hyper responsive, right? So they barely touch your tongue and they like throw up.

That's very dysfunctional too. Or they do a gag and they do not produce tears. So the goal here is to do a gentle gag, typically about three times or to tear production. And I'm not talking about crying, just a little watering of the eyes. And of course singing. So you know, next time you're in the shower or whatever, just let it go.

Laughter, social connection we shot some podcasts this morning with Dr. Jerry and she brought up this concept of laughing yoga. Never heard of it. Sounds interesting. But it's this concept of when you laugh, right, it has this explosion of neurochemistry. You activate the vagus nerve, you activate your prefrontal cortex, all of these things.

And then of course, social connection, social engagement highly ventral vagal. Ultimately, what we need is a very healthy ventral vagal system so that we can socially engage properly. We can be with others. We want to be with others. We can read others, right? So that's, you know, really what the name of the game is here.

But well, no, the name of the game is balance. We want to be able to call on and use any of these systems when appropriate. It's just that the ventral vagal system is very dysfunctional in today's society at this point in time. So clinically, I can think of so many different ways that we've used this polyvagal theory to help people recover.

One specific, you know, memory that just came to mind was when we were working with someone with CRPS, that's Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome the poly, this, this, this vagal system concept, the polyvagal theory is always top of mind when we're navigating Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. And I was doing our desensitization technique.

That I created actually and so I was walking this person through some traumas through their life, right? And when I do that, I always do it in combination with finding what's joyful or what's comfortable. So all I'm doing is just desensitizing the limbic system, right? This subconscious area of the brain that is just looking.

For things that it thinks are threats, right? So finding those emotional traumas, presenting them to the vagal system, allowing that vagal system to then process these traumatic events, emotional events, whatever you want to call them. And then the brain is okay with it, right? So essentially gaining that higher cortical function through doing that desensitization technique and it's highly effective.

The, what I'm thinking about right now, I remember the person was in like. A seven or eight out of 10 pain level. And after doing this literally in about 20 or 30 minutes, they were down to like a one. And that's something that's not uncommon. I've seen it multiple times. And again, it's just harnessing the concepts that we're talking about here.

So, so, you know, by creating an environment of safety, whether through social connection, relaxation techniques, mindful practices, whatever, right, we're enable we enable our bodies to enter states of support healing and resilience. We've just scratched the surface of how the polyvagal theory can influence our lives.

The journey to well being is both a personal and a scientific quest. I'll leave you with this. The power to heal is within you. How will you heal? So thanks for joining me today. I've really enjoyed this episode. I think that this is extremely important topic guys. So if you're listening to this, you got good information from it.

You felt like this could help you. There's people like you that you know, that could benefit from this information. Please rate, please review, please comment, please share this information so that This can help others, right? Cause that's why I'm here. So thank you again. And I'll see you next time.

Voice Over: We hope today's episode has inspired you to take that next step towards your best self. Remember the path to longevity is paved with small daily decisions. Your journey is unique and every step, every choice brings you closer to your ultimate vision of a healthier, happier life. For more insights, tips, and resources, visit drbrandoncrawford.com.

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