#12 - Wandering around Vagus - January 2024

Reflect on your shifts daily, weekly, monthly or yearly

Welcome to Month 12 of Wandering Around Vagus, a paid monthly subscription series exploring the Vagus Nerve + Polyvagal Theory.

I’m Tina Foster of Foster & Flourish, the creator and guide of Wandering Around Vagus.

A few quick notes to help you orient within our pages:

• If you’re new, or need a review, here’s the link to the START page. (NO PAYWALL)

• You can find last month’s post (our eleventh) on recognizing the signals of survival dorsal here. And a bonus post on survival dorsal and the current state of our world is here.

• Monthly & Supplementary Posts + Recordings can be accessed by topic from the navigation bar atop the Wandering Around Vagus Homepage.

• All past posts live on the archive page.​

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What we’ll do this month

PREVIEW OF 2024

Wandering Around Vagus debuted in February 2023, and marks the end of its first year with this January 2024 edition. Beyond exploring the vagus nerve this month, this final edition provides a glimpse into WAV Year Two starting February 2024. Noteworthy changes are in store for our second year, with some details available in the "What’s Next" section towards the bottom of the page. In response to these changes, paid subscribers won’t need to do anything new, while free subscribers can keep an eye out for a separate email outlining all the 2024 updates since the changes on this page are below the paywall. One hope is that the upcoming changes will make upgrading to paid a more accessible choice for subscribers who are currently using the free plan and would like full access.

THIS MONTH’S WORK

We wrap year one with a broad view of all three of the vagus nerve’s basic autonomic responses/ states (sometimes referred to as the three experiential states): ventral, sympathetic and dorsal. We last worked broadly within all three states in #6 (expressing the states through shapes and movements) and #7 (“tuning in” to the states as a way to begin to “partner” with our nervous system).

This month, we'll explore the flow and relationships between the three states, along with the patterns their flow and relationships form over time. We’ll consider the significance of liminal spaces and transitions between states alongside the states themselves. Additionally, we’ll notice shifts we’ve made in our ability to stay regulated and grounded in the ventral state as often as possible and, in times of dysregulation, our ability to turn back towards regulation and ventral.

By the end of this 10 minute audio you’ll have a better sense of:

• the feelings that arise throughout the day or whatever time period you’re considering (maybe a 2023 yearly reflection?)

• how the three responses/ states are designed to flow from one to another

• your role in working within this design to help the states flow as needed to appropriately respond to your environment and experience

• which of the three responses/ states tends to dominate a particular day

• patterns that emerge as you shift between states + how you might respond and work with these patterns with more personal agency

Feelings, flows, pathways and patterns

Throughout the day, our vagal responses and states constantly shift in response to what’s happening in each moment. Some shifts are evident, while others are subtle or incomprehensible. These states accumulate, form predictable pathways in the nervous system and recur in our thoughts, feelings, impulses, behavior and eventually, our destiny. Regularly pausing to notice these pathways helps identify the ongoing narratives unfolding in our lives.

In practice, we'll explore how to reflect upon our most prominent feelings at the end of each day as well as the pathways and patterns these feelings forge. Staying regulated involves steady awareness of transitioning states as they overlap, blend entirely and, in some cases, circumvent one another. It’s a game changer to not only recognize the feelings we’re having in a particular moment but also understand which vagal responses and states are associated with these feelings and the longer-term patterns these states are likely setting up in us.