Part 1: Understanding the Polyvagal System: Your Body’s Built-In Safety Map
By Kelley Winters, LPC, EMDR Therapist | Denver Wellness Counseling
Why Your Body Reacts Before You Can Think
As a team of Denver therapists specializing in trauma, we use healing modalities that address both memory systems and ingrained responses to perceived threat.
Healing happens when we help clients build their toolbox of self-regulation strategies — essential preparation for reprocessing trauma through EMDR therapy.
This is where the Polyvagal System, developed by neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges, comes in. It helps us understand how safety, danger, and disconnection show up in the body. Learning this “map” of your nervous system can be one of the most powerful tools for healing.
What Is the Polyvagal System?
The vagus nerve — sometimes called the “wandering nerve” — is the longest cranial nerve in the body. It connects your brain to your heart, lungs, and digestive system, constantly scanning for cues of safety or danger.
Dr. Porges’ Polyvagal Theory explains that the vagus nerve has three key pathways that shape how we respond to life:
Ventral Vagal (Safety & Connection)
You feel calm, open, and connected.
Breathing is steady, thoughts are clear, and your body feels grounded.
This is the ideal state for therapy, connection, and EMDR reprocessing.
Sympathetic (Fight or Flight)
Your body mobilizes to protect you.
You may feel anxious, angry, or tense.
This isn’t “bad” — it’s your system doing its job to keep you alert.
Dorsal Vagal (Shutdown or Collapse)
When escape isn’t possible, your body conserves energy.
You may feel disconnected, numb, or fatigued.
Many trauma survivors spend time here without realizing it.
The Nervous System’s Job: Protect, Then Connect
The Polyvagal System operates through neuroception — your body’s unconscious ability to detect safety or danger before your thinking brain can process it.
A slammed door might make one person flinch and another laugh — not because one is “overreacting,” but because their nervous system has learned what danger feels like.
When the body believes it’s unsafe, trauma work like EMDR can feel overwhelming. That’s why therapy begins with regulation and resourcing, not reprocessing. Your nervous system must feel safe enough before deeper healing can occur.
Why Regulation Comes Before EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps the brain reprocess trauma so the past no longer feels like the present. But before reprocessing can begin, we ensure your nervous system has access to the ventral vagal state — that internal sense of “I’m safe now.”
Without this foundation:
EMDR may activate memories faster than your body can regulate.
Emotional flooding or dissociation can occur.
Healing may stall if your system prioritizes protection over processing.
As an EMDR therapist in Denver, I help clients build their capacity for regulation — learning to track body cues, identify triggers, and reconnect to safety in the present.
The Three States as a Ladder
Deb Dana, LCSW — a leading clinician translating Polyvagal Theory into therapy — describes the nervous system as a ladder:
Top rung – Ventral Vagal: Connection, safety, hope.
Middle rung – Sympathetic: Activation, survival energy.
Bottom rung – Dorsal Vagal: Shutdown, freeze, collapse.
Healing isn’t about staying at the top all the time. It’s about learning to climb the ladder — recognizing when you’ve slipped down and how to return to safety.
Everyday Examples of the Polyvagal System
Before a presentation: butterflies (sympathetic) that calm once you start (ventral).
After conflict: shutdown or avoidance (dorsal) before reconnection.
During therapy: activation followed by grounding and safety.
These shifts are normal. The goal isn’t to avoid them, but to notice and support your body through them.
How the Polyvagal System Prepares You for Trauma Therapy
Before trauma reprocessing begins, your therapist will help you:
Recognize your nervous system states.
Practice regulation tools to return to safety.
Create anchors of safety — images or sensations that remind your body “I’m okay now.”
Develop co-regulation with your therapist.
These steps align with Phase 2 of EMDR therapy — Preparation and Resourcing.
🌿 Try This: Grounding Exercise for Your Vagus Nerve
Sit comfortably and feel your feet on the floor.
Inhale gently through your nose for 4 counts.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 6–8 counts.
Turn your head side to side, noticing your surroundings.
Find one thing that feels safe or comforting — a color, sound, or object.
Let your exhale be longer than your inhale, signaling: It’s safe to relax.
Notice your body’s response — maybe softer shoulders or a steadier breath.
This simple exercise activates the ventral vagal pathway, creating the foundation for emotional safety and readiness for trauma therapy.
When Your Body Feels Stuck
Many trauma survivors feel trapped in one state — always anxious (sympathetic) or numb (dorsal). You might think:
“I can’t seem to relax,” or “I feel disconnected from everything.”
These aren’t personality flaws — they’re nervous system patterns shaped by survival.
With consistent Polyvagal-informed therapy, these patterns can shift. Through safety, connection, and awareness, your body can finally learn that the danger has passed.
Integrating Polyvagal Awareness in Therapy
At Denver Wellness Counseling, we integrate Polyvagal concepts into trauma therapy and EMDR. Before reprocessing, clients often spend time:
Practicing breathing and grounding
Learning somatic tracking (“What is my body saying right now?”)
Building safe-place imagery and resource states
Experimenting with bilateral stimulation in calm states
When clients recognize their nervous system states, EMDR becomes safer, smoother, and more effective.
The Takeaway: Your Nervous System Is Not the Enemy
Your body isn’t broken — it’s protecting you in the best way it knows how.
The Polyvagal System simply needs new experiences of safety to update its settings.
Understanding this system helps shift from self-blame (“Why can’t I just get over it?”) to self-compassion (“My body is trying to keep me safe”).
Healing starts to feel not only possible — but natural.
Coming Soon: Part 2 of the Polyvagal Series
In the next article, we’ll explore how the vagus nerve and neuroception shape trauma and healing — and how this knowledge prepares you for EMDR and other trauma therapies.
If You’re Preparing for Trauma Therapy or EMDR in Denver
At Denver Wellness Counseling, we specialize in trauma therapy that begins with safety first.
If you’re ready to understand your nervous system, heal at your own pace, and build a foundation for lasting change — reach out for a consultation.
Start your healing journey with an EMDR therapist in Denver who understands the language of your nervous system.