Deb Dana: Managing our nervous systems to find safety and connection for better mental health

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Deb Dana, LCSW, is a world-renowned clinician, consultant, author and speaker who has successfully put into practice Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory (PVT), making it accessible and beneficial to hundreds of thousands of people around the world by developing therapeutic practices based on PVT. Deb has a busy career training therapists around the world on how to bring a Polyvagal approach into their clinical practice, and also works with agencies and larger systems to explore how to incorporate a Polyvagal perspective into organisational culture to make them safer, happier, and healthier places to learn, work and function. She is a founding member of The Polyvagal Institute, a consultant to Khiron Clinics, and an advisor to Unyte. She is the author of several books, including her latest Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory and Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety.
In this fascinating interview for The MindHealth360 Show, Deb discusses how the state of our #nervoussystem is essential to our mental and physical health and our daily energy regulation, and how we can understand and manage this state throughout the day using tools and techniques based on #polyvagaltheory. She talks about the hierarchy of the nervous system - from the ventral vagal state (social engagement, which is essential to health, growth and restoration), to the sympathetic state (fight-flight), and finally to the dorsal state (freeze, collapse) and how each one relates to different adaptive behaviours and pathways of neuroception, further influencing our nervous systems. She tells us of different strategies to move more quickly and easily from dorsal or sympathetic to ventral states so we can find calm, connection and healing in our lives. She also discusses the impact of loneliness; her #glimmers of ventral activation (gone viral on Tik Tok) that we can use to self-regulate; and tells us how different peoples’ nervous systems require different interventions to find their way back to the ventral pathway which is essential to healing; as well as the importance of following the “intuition” of our nervous system. If we could all put Deb’s healing work into daily practice and better manage our nervous systems, our inner and outer worlds would be happier, healthier and safer places to live.
Learn about:
- The three tenets of Polyvagal Theory: how hierarchy, neuroception, and co-regulation are essential to understanding how the nervous system functions and thrives
- How the sympathetic nervous system, and the dorsal and ventral pathways of the parasympathetic nervous system, create states associated with fight or flight, shutdown or freeze, and safety and connection
- How the nervous system can get “stuck” in the sympathetic and dorsal states, and strategies to help us return to the ventral pathway to find safety, security, and connection for health, growth and restoration
- How the Inside, Outside, and Between pathways of neuroception inform how our nervous system perceives the world
- How different strategies (such as music, nature, scent, breath) may work for different people’s nervous systems to help them return to ventral vagal states
- How we can use “glimmers” and “savouring” to find and extend moments of ventral vagal healing in our daily lives
Find out more at MindHealth360, your free guide to head to toe mental health: www.mindhealth360.com/

[@viviannimue]

Deb certainly is a blessing with her way of bringen these vitally important Information into the world that needs it as badly as everyone of us

[@yutooober]

One nervous system at a time. I'm working on my own daily. It's truly harrowing work, but essential and worthwhile. Thank you so much for letting me know I'm not alone in the journey.

[@jewels8363]

That was such a fascinating segment! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing.

[@LaurinaDream24]

What a lovely and valuable conversation. Thank you:)

[@zainabjagani9578]

Such a brilliant conversation, thank you both for your time & effort towards putting this together.

[@noellecuisine8912]

❤ thank you so match, merci pour cette merveilleuse conversation ! Truly loved it and I’m in favor of the clone, 1 million clone please, no joking it was just wonderful, and I saw resonate and love the spaciousness of this dance’conversation and of Deb ❤!

[@michelletruth9995]

Thank you so much for this wonderfully insightful conversation with great questions.

[@TheMindHealth360Show]

We appreciate your kind words, Michelle. Engaging in such a thought-provoking discussion was indeed a pleasure for MindHealth360 😄

[@postmodernerkindergartner960]

This was great, just ordered her book!

[@ClaireDeLune12]

Which one?

[@user-fs7tx5id3b]

Thank you !

[@luciennetaylor4608]

It's caused by damaged nerves. Mainly causesloss of control of limbs from sit to stand. Sometimes passing out.

[@kirstinstrand6292]

Learn to know and understand yourself. Find your Agency, own your own mind. This is a goal to achieve. Then, Polyvagal can be used daily to control your emotions.

[@jenniehalbroeder3652]

Thank you I learned so much from interview.... interesting points about whether we should change our state or thoughts.....in Buddhism after doing the breathing meditation to calm.thr mind we do what is called analytical meditation...I think this correlates with changing thoughts...but then we move to placement meditation so when those thoughts create a new or positive feeling we abide in those and savor it...by focusing on it it changes our state.

[@patriciarmuller6283]

Thank you for such a lovely, hopeful, impactful interview. Near the end you mentioned including contact info for Deb Dana in show notes. I want to find a therapist with her training. Is there a pointer to contact info? 🙏

[@TheMindHealth360Show]

Thank you for your kind words, so glad the interview resonated! Here is Deb Dana's contact info: [e-mail]

[@luciennetaylor4608]

I have autonomic dysfunction does your book cover this?

[@monicakochar]

Which book is being discussed here?

[@ummizaansabir4869]

I understand for me, but I am from another country! Where people do not understand nervous system

[@amy_ford]

Does anyone recognize the kind of fitness device Deb is wearing on her right hand?

[@sheemakarp6424]

Maybe FitBit?

[@nanasabia]

Adhd doesn’t go away through nervous system regulation though. The brain is wired in a different way and the differences are big. But it can alleviate the bad symptoms. But the „neurospicy“ will stay forever 🎉 don’t be ashamed of being neurodivergent.

[@luciennetaylor4608]

It's caused by damaged nerves. Mainly causesloss of control of limbs from sit to stand. Sometimes passing out.