#9 - Wandering around Vagus - October 2023

Savoring & SIFTing in Ventral states

Welcome to Month 9 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 eighth) on the vagal brake 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

This month, our focus shifts back to the ventral state. The last time we spotlighted ventral vagal, was #3, the exploration of glimmers which are often clarified as the opposite of triggers. Glimmers are the extra special micro-moments in life when we naturally feel wellbeing and contentment as our nervous system senses a neuroception of safety and connection.

Now we’ll look at two more ways to enhance and deepen the goodness of the ventral state:

• savoring, which is an intentional way to experience a glimmer

• SIFTing, which is a way to re-experience a glimmer or another pleasant memory stored in the nervous system.

We’ll look at how and why savoring and SIFTing work in the short term to shift towards regulation and shape our nervous system in the long term. Then, we’ll explore savoring and SIFTing experientially as practice.

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

• what it means to savor a glimmer & how to savor a glimmer

• when is best to savor a glimmer

• what SIFT is an acronym for

• how to SIFT an experience or memory

• why savoring & SIFTing work in both the short & long-term