by Harmony Kwiker, MA, LPC, Founder of the Institute for Spiritual Alignment
Why Polyvagal Theory Matters in Trauma Healing
In somatic trauma therapy, understanding the nervous system is essential to creating safety and transformation. Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, offers a revolutionary lens for understanding how the body responds to stress, connection, and healing. It teaches us that our capacity for presence and relationship depends on the physiological state of our autonomic nervous system.
Rather than seeing trauma as purely psychological, Polyvagal Theory shows us that trauma lives in the body’s adaptive responses. These states are not pathology—they are intelligent strategies the body uses to survive. When we bring awareness and compassion to these states, the body can complete what was once incomplete and restore balance.
The Three States of the Autonomic Nervous System
Polyvagal Theory describes three primary nervous system states that shape how we meet life:
- Ventral Vagal (Safety & Connection): A state of regulation where the body feels safe, the heart is open, and social engagement is possible. Clients in this state can connect, reflect, and access curiosity.
- Sympathetic (Mobilization): When the body senses danger, energy mobilizes for fight or flight. The pulse quickens, breath shortens, and vigilance rises. This is not a problem—it’s protection.
- Dorsal Vagal (Shutdown): When the system feels overwhelmed or trapped, energy collapses. Clients may feel numb, distant, or disconnected. This too is wisdom—it’s how the body conserves energy when it can’t fight or flee.
Healing unfolds as clients learn to move fluidly between these states, finding safety in connection and presence within their own bodies.
How Polyvagal Theory Informs Somatic Therapy
Somatic approaches to trauma therapy rely on the body as the doorway to transformation. Polyvagal awareness helps us read and respond to the body’s cues with compassion and precision. The therapist’s job is not to pull the client into regulation but to create the conditions where regulation arises naturally.
Through moment-to-moment attunement, we notice subtle shifts in breath, tone, posture, and energy. A client in sympathetic activation may need a slower rhythm or grounding through breath and movement. A client in dorsal vagal shutdown may need gentle orientation, warmth, or tone of voice that signals safety.
Our own nervous system is the most powerful therapeutic tool we have. When we stay regulated, grounded, and coherent, we become a mirror of safety for our clients. Co-regulation restores trust where trauma once fractured it.
Exercises for Safety and Connection
Regulation happens through the body, not the mind. Somatic techniques that stimulate the vagus nerve—the bridge between body and spirit—help clients experience safety from within. In sessions, you can use these practices to support vagal tone, grounding, and reconnection:
- Vagus Nerve Massage: Gently massaging along the sides of the neck or behind the ears helps release tension and activate the parasympathetic system.
- Stretching the Vagus Nerve: Slow neck stretches, yawning, or opening the jaw stimulates the vagal pathways that calm the body and soften hyperarousal.
- Humming or Chanting: Sound vibration through the throat and chest engages the vagus nerve, anchors breath, and brings the system into ventral vagal connection.
- Gentle Orienting: Invite clients to slowly look around the room, notice colors and textures, or take in safety cues from the environment. This brings the social engagement system online and restores presence.
Each of these practices communicates to the body: You are safe now. When combined with mindful awareness and compassionate witnessing, they allow the nervous system to unwind and integrate stored activation.
Therapeutic Presence as a Regulating Force
In polyvagal-informed therapy, presence is the intervention. When we embody calm, awake awareness, our very being becomes an anchor of safety. Clients borrow our regulation until they can find their own. Mindfulness-based somatic therapy trains us to inhabit this state—so that our awareness attunes to both the physiology and the soul of the person before us.
Through this relational field, safety is restored, and the natural rhythm of regulation and repair returns. This is not something we do to the client—it’s something we become together.
From Neurobiology to Spiritual Alignment
Ultimately, polyvagal regulation is about returning to connection—with self, others, and the greater field of life. When safety and awareness meet in the body, the soul can fully land. Healing becomes not just the release of trauma, but the remembrance of wholeness.
The therapist’s role is to hold a field where biology, emotion, and consciousness rejoin in harmony. In this space, transformation doesn’t need to be forced—it unfolds organically as the body remembers it is safe to be alive.
Explore Our Trainings
If this approach speaks to you, we invite you to explore our trainings. Our programs weave polyvagal-informed somatic therapy, Gestalt awareness, mindfulness, and subtle energy attunement to support deep transformation for both practitioner and client. Contact us for more information.
Learn more: https://awakenedtherapist.com/holistic-therapy-trainings/