I’ve been learning about the three main nervous system states, and it’s helping me understand my patterns in a more concrete way. According to polyvagal theory, we shift between: • Ventral vagal (rest & regulate) — slower breathing, steady heart rates, clearer thinking. This is where you feel more calm, present, and open to connection. • Sympathetic (fight or flight) — increased heart rate, faster breathing, narrowed focus. This can feel like anxiety, urgency, irritability, or panic. • Dorsal vagal (freeze/shutdown) — low energy, heaviness, disconnection, sometimes dissociation. This is a protective shutdown when things feel overwhelming. What’s useful about this is it links emotions directly to physiology. When I’ve had dissociative episodes—the confusion, indecision, automatic behavior—that lines up with dorsal vagal. It’s not random. Same with anxiety—it maps onto sympathetic activation. It’s not about whether the reaction is accurate. It’s about perceived safety. So instead of only analyzing thoughts, I can ask: • What state am I in? • What is my body doing? • What might help shift this, even slightly? Regulation isn’t forcing calm—it’s learning to work with your system. 🟣 The Purple Phoenix Collective