#17 - Wandering Around Vagus (WAV) - June 2024

Deep Dive into the Intimacy State

Welcome to Month 17 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.

• You can find last month’s post (our sixteenth) on the play state 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.​

---

THIS MONTH’S WORK

We continue our exploration of the three hybrid states in polyvagal theory: Play, Intimacy and Freeze, each of which is a combination of two of the primary states: ventral, sympathetic and dorsal.

This month, we focus on the hybrid state of INTIMACY, a blend of the ventral and dorsal states. We'll define the intimacy state and learn ways to nurture it in our lives. In practice, we'll explore our sense of intimacy and introduce two tools to enhance it:

1. Savoring: A conscious, intentional way to experience a desired state.

2. SIFTing: A method to re-experience a desired state or pleasant memory stored in the nervous system. (SIFT is an acronym explained below.)

Savoring and SIFTing work to shift our nervous system toward regulation in the short term and shape it in the long term.

And before we go any further, let’s again touch on the three hybrid states and the two primary states that combine each hybrid state:

1. Play - combining ventral and sympathetic states

2. Intimacy (or Stillness) - combining ventral and dorsal states

3. Freeze - combining sympathetic and dorsal states

These hybrid states occupy the liminal space where one primary state bleeds into or overlaps another. They help us survive and add depth, color and nuance to our lives, enabling us to connect more often and in more meaningful ways with our environments and other people.

---

By the end of this 15 minute audio you’ll have a better sense of:

• how the intimacy state is defined in detail

• how to cultivate more intimacy in life

• the relationship between intimacy and transparency

• what the intimacy state brings to your unique life

• how the tools of savoring and SIFTing can help bring more intimacy into your life in a deeper, more enhanced way

---