The Nervous System Isn't the Enemy: How Polyvagal Theory Can Empower Chronic Pain Recovery

Why mapping your autonomic states could be the most healing thing you do this week.

When you live with chronic symptoms — pain, fatigue, migraines, poor sleep — it can feel like your body is a battleground. You're tired of the flare-ups, the unpredictability, and the feeling of being at the mercy of your nervous system.

But what if your nervous system wasn't the enemy?

What if it was doing exactly what it was designed to do - protect you - but just got stuck in survival mode?

This is where the work of Dr. Stephen Porges and Deb Dana offers something profound. Dr. Porges, a neuroscientist and distinguished professor who developed Polyvagal Theory in the 1990s, and Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker who translated this science into accessible therapeutic applications, have revolutionized how we understand nervous system regulation. Through Polyvagal Theory, we learn that the nervous system isn't just reactive, it's intelligent. It responds to cues of danger and safety, often below conscious awareness. And with the right approach, we can help it return to regulation.

From an evolutionary perspective, these nervous system responses developed to keep us alive in an environment full of threats. They're not malfunctions or character flaws—they're ancient survival mechanisms that sometimes don't match our modern environment. This understanding alone can be profoundly relieving for chronic pain sufferers.

In this article, I want to share five practical ways you can begin working with your nervous system, not against it, inspired by Deb Dana's polyvagal-informed therapy. These tools can be especially helpful if you feel like your system shifts between anxious energy and shutdown fatigue - a common pattern in chronic pain.

1. Map Your Autonomic Landscape

Start by noticing: Where is my nervous system right now?

Deb Dana teaches a practice called "Mapping the Nervous System." It helps you identify three core states:

• Ventral Vagal (Safety & Connection): You feel calm, hopeful, maybe even joyful. Your breath is steady, your posture open. There's a sense of ease in your body.

• Sympathetic (Mobilisation): You feel anxious, agitated, maybe angry or panicked. Heart rate quickens, breath becomes shallow. There's a sense of urgency or restlessness.

• Dorsal Vagal (Shutdown): You feel heavy, foggy, hopeless. Your body might feel numb or distant. There's a pulling inward or a wish to disappear.

Begin tracking your shifts throughout the day. This gives you a "map" of your system. As Deb Dana says, "You can't self-regulate unless you know where you are."

Tracking Example:

Morning, 8am: Woke up feeling heavy and foggy (dorsal). Struggled to get out of bed.
9am: After shower and tea, noticed slight lifting of energy (moving toward ventral).
11am: Work email triggered worry about deadline (sympathetic). Felt heart racing.
12pm: Lunch break outside - noticed birds, felt sun on skin. Breathing deepened (ventral).

Even this simple tracking reveals important patterns and potential resources (like going outside) that help regulate your system.

2. Recognise Shifts: Glimpses and Glides

Now that you've begun mapping your states, let's look at the movement between them.

A client of mine, once said her emotional state was like a yo-yo - bouncing from anxious activation to deep fatigue.

What she didn't know was this was actually good news.

In Deb Dana's language, these fluctuations are "glimpses" of regulation or "glides" between states. They show that the nervous system is still flexible.

Examples of Glimpses:

• The moment of calm you feel when you step outside and feel the sun on your face, even during a stressful day

• The brief smile that emerges when you see a text from a friend, despite feeling down

• The deep breath your body naturally takes when you hear a favorite song

• The subtle relaxation in your shoulders when you pet your dog or cat

• The momentary clarity that comes while sipping hot tea, even during brain fog

Examples of Glides:

• Moving from high anxiety (racing thoughts, tight chest) to fatigue (heavy limbs, foggy mind)

• Shifting from shutdown (feeling numb) to irritability (snapping at loved ones)

• Transitioning from focus and productivity to sudden exhaustion

• Changing from social connection to needing isolation

Encourage yourself to notice even brief moments of ease: when you feel a bit lighter, when you connect with a friend, when a song softens your mood.

These moments are gold. They're signs your nervous system still knows the way back to safety.

Practical Application: Glimpse Journal

1. Create a simple tracking system in your phone notes or a small notebook.

2. Set 3 random alarms throughout your day to prompt awareness.

3. When you notice a glimpse of ventral vagal state (any moment of ease, connection, or safety), record:

   • What preceded this glimpse? (Environment, activity, person)

   • How did it feel in your body? (Specific sensations)

   • How long did it last? (Seconds, minutes)

   • How did you know it was ending? (What changed?)

4. Weekly review: Look for patterns in your glimpses. Are there particular people, places, activities, or times of day that consistently offer these moments of regulation?

5. Glimpse expansion practice: Once you identify reliable sources of glimpses, intentionally extend these experiences. If petting your dog gives you a glimpse of calm, try petting your dog while also taking five slow breaths, potentially extending the regulatory moment.

Tracking your glimpses builds your "regulation awareness" muscle and helps you identify your natural resources for nervous system support. Even noticing one glimpse per day can begin to change your relationship with your nervous system.

3. Build Your Ventral Vagal Anchors

Once you've identified your state fluctuations, you can intentionally cultivate resources that bring you back to safety.

Once you know what safety feels like, you can begin to build your own list of anchors - cues of safety that gently guide you back to regulation.

These might be:

• A warm blanket or scarf

• A lavender-scented essential oil

• Looking at a photo of someone who makes you feel safe

• Gentle yoga, a short walk, or lying on the floor

• Humming, chanting, or slow breath

Your anchors don't need to be big. The nervous system responds to the quality of the cue, not its size.

As Stephen Porges reminds us, "Safety is in the body, not the story."

Practical Application: Create a "Nervous System Toolkit" by listing 2-3 anchors for each sense (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). Keep this list accessible on your phone or printed somewhere visible. Commit to using at least one anchor daily for 2-3 minutes, and additional anchors during symptoms or flare-ups.

4. The Story Follows the State

With anchors established, we can now address the challenging mental narratives that often accompany dysregulation.

One of the most compassionate insights of Deb Dana's work is this:

"The story we tell ourselves is shaped by the state we're in."

So when you're feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or despairing, it's not that your thoughts are wrong or bad - they're being filtered through the lens of your nervous system.

Instead of challenging the story, try naming the state:

• "This sounds like dorsal speaking."

• "Ah, I'm in sympathetic right now. No wonder everything feels urgent."

This separates you from the story and builds the muscle of self-compassion.

5. A Daily Anchoring Practice

Building on everything we've learned, let's establish a consistent daily practice.

Deb Dana's Anchored model encourages a simple daily check-in. Here's a version you can try:

1. Name your state. Where am I: Ventral? Sympathetic? Dorsal?

2. Notice your body. What are the sensations, breath, posture?

3. Choose a micro-anchor. Touch, smell, sound, movement.

4. Offer a kind phrase. "I'm here." "This will pass." "I'm safe now."

Recommended Practice: Set aside 5 minutes each morning and 5 minutes before bed for this practice. Additionally, set a gentle reminder on your phone to do a 30-second check-in three times throughout your day. Consistency is more important than duration—even brief moments of awareness build the neural pathways of regulation.

Managing Flare-Ups: Emergency Response Plan

When pain or symptoms intensify, your nervous system will likely shift into protection mode rapidly. Here's a step-by-step approach for these moments:

1. Acknowledge the flare-up: "I'm having a flare-up right now. My nervous system is trying to protect me."

2. Identify your state: Are you ramping up (sympathetic) or shutting down (dorsal)?

3. Apply targeted regulation strategies:

   • For sympathetic activation: Focus on slowing down. Extend exhales, lower your gaze, and use weighted objects like a heavy blanket.

   • For dorsal shutdown: Focus on gentle activation. Try humming, looking up at the sky, or making small movements with your hands or feet.

4. Use multiple sensory inputs: Combine anchors across different senses - touch a smooth stone while listening to calming music and smelling a familiar scent.

5. Set time expectations: Regulation takes time. Give yourself at least 20 minutes before expecting significant shifts.

Remember: During flare-ups, your goal isn't to eliminate pain but to create enough safety that your nervous system can move from protection back toward connection.

Final Words

Working with your nervous system doesn't mean fixing it. It means learning its rhythms, listening for its signals, and building a bridge back to connection.

It's a daily practice of reclaiming agency, moment by moment. After eight weeks of consistent mapping and anchoring practices, my client reported fewer pain flares and an increased ability to catch sympathetic activation before it escalated to unbearable levels. Her sleep improved, and she found herself more able to participate in family activities - small victories that represented profound shifts in her quality of life.

Because when you start to see your states, you begin to shape your story. And healing begins.

📩 Want more mind-body tools and science-backed practices? Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly support on your healing journey.

If you’d like support on your journey, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out, and we can have a friendly chat to see if my personalised approach is the right fit for you.

📚 Books:

The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe → https://amzn.to/43WgjFJ

Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory → https://amzn.to/42nkR6S