How does heart rate variability affect your health?
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.
As we mentioned before, when your nervous system detects a threat to its safety, whether real or perceived, the nervous system shifts its regulation of the other systems to assure your survival. Remember when our sympathetic nervous system is dominant more attention and regulation is placed on the systems that ensure our survival, while at the same time systems like digestion, reproduction and immune system are put on the back burner. Again, this is just another example of the innate brilliance in our body because while these systems are important and deserving of proper regulation, they are not crucial to our survival and therefore are left to do the best they can on their own.
It was mentioned previously about the muscles being primed to fight or flee; this is important for a few reasons. The first is, if your muscles are primed to run or fight and the stress at hand does not require such actions and you do not work out your muscles in another way like going to the gym or going for a walk those muscles are left stiff and sore. The other reason again goes back to the brilliance and innate intelligence in your body. As the bigger muscles get more attention during times of stress, the smaller muscles at the top of your neck tend to “go to sleep.” These muscles are much smaller, and their job is primarily sensory in nature. Located within these muscles are receptors that relay information to your brain about where your body is in space. When we live with chronic stress these muscles tend to become weak and do not stretch as they should, which leaves the brain having to rely on memory and previous experiences to continue to function. Want to test this out.... balance on one foot with your eyes open for 20 seconds...now close your eyes and try balancing again...odds are it was a bit more challenging with your eyes closed.
Regular chiropractic care has been shown to impact the nervous system in a way that helps to restore balance to your autonomic nervous system and as a result can improve your physical and mental health as well.
In our office we measure heart rate variability on your first visit and on regular intervals throughout care to assess your nervous system function and to determine how you are responding to care.
Want to learn more about how the stress of life impacts your health and wellbeing? Check out our FREE e-book located under the “resources” tab under “patients” on our website drnicciedearing.com.
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.
As we mentioned before, when your nervous system detects a threat to its safety, whether real or perceived, the nervous system shifts its regulation of the other systems to assure your survival. Remember when our sympathetic nervous system is dominant more attention and regulation is placed on the systems that ensure our survival, while at the same time systems like digestion, reproduction and immune system are put on the back burner. Again, this is just another example of the innate brilliance in our body because while these systems are important and deserving of proper regulation, they are not crucial to our survival and therefore are left to do the best they can on their own.
It was mentioned previously about the muscles being primed to fight or flee; this is important for a few reasons. The first is, if your muscles are primed to run or fight and the stress at hand does not require such actions and you do not work out your muscles in another way like going to the gym or going for a walk those muscles are left stiff and sore. The other reason again goes back to the brilliance and innate intelligence in your body. As the bigger muscles get more attention during times of stress, the smaller muscles at the top of your neck tend to “go to sleep.” These muscles are much smaller, and their job is primarily sensory in nature. Located within these muscles are receptors that relay information to your brain about where your body is in space. When we live with chronic stress these muscles tend to become weak and do not stretch as they should, which leaves the brain having to rely on memory and previous experiences to continue to function. Want to test this out.... balance on one foot with your eyes open for 20 seconds...now close your eyes and try balancing again...odds are it was a bit more challenging with your eyes closed.
Regular chiropractic care has been shown to impact the nervous system in a way that helps to restore balance to your autonomic nervous system and as a result can improve your physical and mental health as well.
In our office we measure heart rate variability on your first visit and on regular intervals throughout care to assess your nervous system function and to determine how you are responding to care.
Want to learn more about how the stress of life impacts your health and wellbeing? Check out our FREE e-book located under the “resources” tab under “patients” on our website drnicciedearing.com.
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.
As we mentioned before, when your nervous system detects a threat to its safety, whether real or perceived, the nervous system shifts its regulation of the other systems to assure your survival. Remember when our sympathetic nervous system is dominant more attention and regulation is placed on the systems that ensure our survival, while at the same time systems like digestion, reproduction and immune system are put on the back burner. Again, this is just another example of the innate brilliance in our body because while these systems are important and deserving of proper regulation, they are not crucial to our survival and therefore are left to do the best they can on their own.
It was mentioned previously about the muscles being primed to fight or flee; this is important for a few reasons. The first is, if your muscles are primed to run or fight and the stress at hand does not require such actions and you do not work out your muscles in another way like going to the gym or going for a walk those muscles are left stiff and sore. The other reason again goes back to the brilliance and innate intelligence in your body. As the bigger muscles get more attention during times of stress, the smaller muscles at the top of your neck tend to “go to sleep.” These muscles are much smaller, and their job is primarily sensory in nature. Located within these muscles are receptors that relay information to your brain about where your body is in space. When we live with chronic stress these muscles tend to become weak and do not stretch as they should, which leaves the brain having to rely on memory and previous experiences to continue to function. Want to test this out.... balance on one foot with your eyes open for 20 seconds...now close your eyes and try balancing again...odds are it was a bit more challenging with your eyes closed.
Regular chiropractic care has been shown to impact the nervous system in a way that helps to restore balance to your autonomic nervous system and as a result can improve your physical and mental health as well.
In our office we measure heart rate variability on your first visit and on regular intervals throughout care to assess your nervous system function and to determine how you are responding to care.
Want to learn more about how the stress of life impacts your health and wellbeing? Check out our FREE e-book located under the “resources” tab under “patients” on our website drnicciedearing.com.
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.
As we mentioned before, when your nervous system detects a threat to its safety, whether real or perceived, the nervous system shifts its regulation of the other systems to assure your survival. Remember when our sympathetic nervous system is dominant more attention and regulation is placed on the systems that ensure our survival, while at the same time systems like digestion, reproduction and immune system are put on the back burner. Again, this is just another example of the innate brilliance in our body because while these systems are important and deserving of proper regulation, they are not crucial to our survival and therefore are left to do the best they can on their own.
It was mentioned previously about the muscles being primed to fight or flee; this is important for a few reasons. The first is, if your muscles are primed to run or fight and the stress at hand does not require such actions and you do not work out your muscles in another way like going to the gym or going for a walk those muscles are left stiff and sore. The other reason again goes back to the brilliance and innate intelligence in your body. As the bigger muscles get more attention during times of stress, the smaller muscles at the top of your neck tend to “go to sleep.” These muscles are much smaller, and their job is primarily sensory in nature. Located within these muscles are receptors that relay information to your brain about where your body is in space. When we live with chronic stress these muscles tend to become weak and do not stretch as they should, which leaves the brain having to rely on memory and previous experiences to continue to function. Want to test this out.... balance on one foot with your eyes open for 20 seconds...now close your eyes and try balancing again...odds are it was a bit more challenging with your eyes closed.
Regular chiropractic care has been shown to impact the nervous system in a way that helps to restore balance to your autonomic nervous system and as a result can improve your physical and mental health as well.
In our office we measure heart rate variability on your first visit and on regular intervals throughout care to assess your nervous system function and to determine how you are responding to care.
Want to learn more about how the stress of life impacts your health and wellbeing? Check out our FREE e-book located under the “resources” tab under “patients” on our website drnicciedearing.com.
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.
As we mentioned before, when your nervous system detects a threat to its safety, whether real or perceived, the nervous system shifts its regulation of the other systems to assure your survival. Remember when our sympathetic nervous system is dominant more attention and regulation is placed on the systems that ensure our survival, while at the same time systems like digestion, reproduction and immune system are put on the back burner. Again, this is just another example of the innate brilliance in our body because while these systems are important and deserving of proper regulation, they are not crucial to our survival and therefore are left to do the best they can on their own.
It was mentioned previously about the muscles being primed to fight or flee; this is important for a few reasons. The first is, if your muscles are primed to run or fight and the stress at hand does not require such actions and you do not work out your muscles in another way like going to the gym or going for a walk those muscles are left stiff and sore. The other reason again goes back to the brilliance and innate intelligence in your body. As the bigger muscles get more attention during times of stress, the smaller muscles at the top of your neck tend to “go to sleep.” These muscles are much smaller, and their job is primarily sensory in nature. Located within these muscles are receptors that relay information to your brain about where your body is in space. When we live with chronic stress these muscles tend to become weak and do not stretch as they should, which leaves the brain having to rely on memory and previous experiences to continue to function. Want to test this out.... balance on one foot with your eyes open for 20 seconds...now close your eyes and try balancing again...odds are it was a bit more challenging with your eyes closed.
Regular chiropractic care has been shown to impact the nervous system in a way that helps to restore balance to your autonomic nervous system and as a result can improve your physical and mental health as well.
In our office we measure heart rate variability on your first visit and on regular intervals throughout care to assess your nervous system function and to determine how you are responding to care.
Want to learn more about how the stress of life impacts your health and wellbeing? Check out our FREE e-book located under the “resources” tab under “patients” on our website drnicciedearing.com.
Heart rate variability or HRV is the measure between heart beats, and it is thought to be a strong predictor of future health outcomes as it reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system is made of two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The main job of the nervous system is to coordinate and control every other system of our body. To do this properly it is important that there is a balance between these two branches, in other words one should not be more dominant than the other. When we lose that balance, we lose our health, let’s look at how that presents itself in our life.
The best way to explain this is to look at Deb Dana’s polyvagal ladder which is based off the work by Dr. Stephen Porges. At the top of the ladder is what is called ventral vagal, this is where our nervous system is in a state of ease and balance. In this state our nervous system can properly regulate all the systems of our body and keep things working in a delicate balance; this allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves possible.
Just like our physical health, in a ventral vagal state our emotional health is also in a state of ease and balance. This allows us to handle the stresses and storms of life without it affecting our physical or emotional health. This has been referred to as our window of tolerance. (That is another topic for another time but if you have questions in the meantime call or email the office and we would be happy to answer those for you). In a ventral vagal state, we are better able to connect with others as well as be in tune with ourselves, in other words we are our best self in this state.
When we come up against a stressor or threat, whether real or perceived, our body loses that proper balance, and our nervous system becomes dysregulated in an effort to keep us safe.
The initial dysregulation we encounter is a state of fight or flight; this is the result of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming the more dominant force. This will be expressed in our physical health with increased blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate as well as our bigger muscles becoming engorged with blood. This beautifully brilliant response to stress helps us to be better prepared to run from the threat at hand or to stand our ground and fight. Emotionally, we can become anxious, on edge, or short tempered. This can also be expressed as being over-analytical of situations or being an over achiever.
In a perfect world, as the stress that triggered this dysregulation passes, we would “shake it off” so to speak and return to the baseline of ventral vagal however that often isn’t the case. In the world we live in stressors come in all forms and in some cases aren’t even real threats to our wellbeing. Our nervous system will respond the same way to a bear standing next to your bed with a chain saw as it will to being late for work and stuck in traffic...despite its brilliance, your brain can’t determine what is a life threat and what is just a perceived threat. What's worse is that often before we get a chance to recover from the first threat another is right around the corner; eventually we start to live in a state of chronic stress. We will talk more about that in just a little bit.
The last rung of the polyvagal ladder is dorsal vagal or what is sometimes referred to as freeze or fawn and this is a result of the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system becoming more dominant.
This state is the result of our nervous system determining that the best course of action is not to fight or flee but rather to roll into the shadows and just wait for the stress to pass, similar to a possum when they get scared. Emotionally this state is expressed with depression, brain fog, feeling detached from those around us, and feelings of isolation.
When it comes to our physical health conditions that are often associated with state include but are not limited to migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. All these conditions are under the umbrella of “medically unexplained symptoms.” This means that while these conditions cause pain and disability there is no lab work or other objective test that determines the diagnosis; rather, diagnosis is made after everything else is ruled out. Research has shown that these conditions are the result of dysregulation in the nervous system.Polyvagal neck pain back pain migraine headaches tension headaches Natural health tips Holistic remedies chiropractor near me HRV
