Nervous System MetaMap

Ventral

Bliss / Intimacy / Ecstasy

Flow / Play / Passion

Sympathetic

Stress / Workaholism / Anxiety

Fawn / Perfectionism / Overcare

Dorsal

Freeze / Paralysis / Self-criticism

Shutdown / Burnout / Depletion

Overload

Panic / Emergency / Health Anxiety

Dissociation / Existential / Delusion

The Ventral Vagus Branch of the Nervous System is capable of producing the experience of Ease, Flow and Bliss. It wires us for more refined expressions of Social Attunement by sensitizing the eyes, upper face muscles, inner ear muscles, through enhancing blood flow to the brain and regulating the heart rhythms through HRV (heart-rate-variability).

The Sympathetic and Doral branches employ functional strategies to deal with survival, potential danger and life threat in extremely predictable ways.

Dorsal Vagal responses reduce the amount of energy in the system and recoil the wiring for social connection ( depression / withdrawal / disengagement ).

The Sympathetic response on the other hand increases the amount of energy in the system to deal with perceived threats resulting in ( strain/ overcare / hypervigilance ).

When someone is in Survival-mode (or they imagine themselves to be) - social connection, attunement and harmony reflexively become second priority.

When this happens, we literally stop being WIRED for connection, for empathy, for play, for joy — it’s not all in your head — it’s in your nervous system.

When there is a “System Overload,” panic or dissociation often occurs. Whilst the full neurological mechanisms around this are not fully understood, experts speculate that feelings of ‘flood’ and ‘panic’ trigger NMDA receptor activity which could be responsible for these dissociative experiences. The good news is that our brains can be rewired and re-association can occur through Neuroplasticity. The nervous system can be influenced, and greater regulation can be achieved.