Fall 2021 This Moment Matters: The Power of Neuroception
Polyvagal Theory & The Power of Neuroception
At the crest of the 2021 back-to-school season, there’s a pervasive sense of uncertainty: will we ride into the academic calendar smoothly, or are we bracing ourselves for a crash? And of course this uncertainty is just another offshoot of the ongoing unknowing that has been a parallel pandemic throughout the last 18 months.
Prolonged uncertainty takes a big toll on the nervous system. Here at The Center for Family Well-Being, we have invested in extensive research and training on our nervous systems; we clinicians are studying the lens of Polyvagal Theory in therapy and our collective wellness. Perhaps you or your child has already experienced this with us in session, as we’ve asked you to acquaint yourself with a powerful tool you didn’t know you already have: neuroception. Also known as “detection without awareness,” neuroception is the way our nervous system detects and responds to internal and external cues of safety, danger, and even life-threat. That funny feeling you get that something’s behind you, and the sudden sense that you can run if you need to? The way you suddenly feel calmer when you step into a room of optimal temperature? Neuroception is constantly scanning, and readying your body for rest or action, connection or protection, by making major and/or minute biological adjustments.
Although the neuroceptive work of the nervous system happens at the unconscious level, we can bring that work into our conscious awareness, and thereby come to exercise some agency in how our nervous systems are shaping our lives. This is incredibly valuable when our nervous systems tilt slightly out of alignment, and we start to perceive dangers where they don’t really exist; stress is a notable culprit here. When we’re stressed, everything can seem like a threat.
But how to bring neuroception into conscious awareness? Become a neuroception detective. Start with this simple exercise, adapted from the work of Deb Dana and her vital text, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection:
Pause, for just a moment, and begin to notice your neuroception by taking in your environment. Use your senses. Observe the people and things around you.
Notice: what are the cues of safety? What are the cues of danger?
Ask yourself: Are there enough cues of safety to feel ready to connect? Or are there cues of danger that keep you steeled for protection?
Use this question whenever you need to pause and discern the messages your nervous system is sending: In this moment, with this person, in this place, surrounded by these things, are you actually in danger, or are you safe?
When you become a neuroception detective, you begin to be able to anticipate the need to protect by supplying yourself with ample cues of safety: maybe it’s a favorite image you can look at on your phone or in your wallet at a moment’s notice; maybe it’s a trusted friend on speed dial; maybe it’s a colorful fidget, a delicious snack, or a vial of your favorite, grounding scent, always available in your bag. Safety will look and feel different for every person; but what’s universal is our need to seek and find it, in whatever form. Your sense of safety, in this moment and every moment, matters.