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You learned the Polyvagal Theory.

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Now what?

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How do you apply this knowledge
to your everyday life?

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What the heck do you do with it?

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I'm sharing five tips to
answer that one question.

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This episode in particular is the
fourth in the five part series.

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This tip focuses on understanding
and identifying neuroception.

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I wanted this to be a short episode,
but we have a lot to get into.

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Neuroception is commonly misunderstood,
so we really gotta spend a lot of

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time first on clearly understanding
what it is, and then we apply the idea

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to your life in particular in a very
easy, practical, and approachable way.

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Hi, I am Justin Sunseri.

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I'm a therapist and coach who helps
you live more calmly, confidently, and

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connected without psychobabble or woo woo.

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Welcome to Stuck Not Broken.

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This podcast is of course not
therapy, nor is it intended to

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be a replacement for therapy.

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The first thing to get into
is what neuroception is.

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We need to understand its top down
to then recognize it bottom up in the

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simplest but most accurate possible terms
I could muster- Neuroception is your

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body's way of detecting safety or danger.

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Super simple definition, but
it's of course more complex.

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So we'll add to the super simple
version with this- Neuroception

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is your body's way of detecting
safety or danger or life threat.

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It does get more complex, but let's
spend a little bit of time here.

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When you neurop safety, your body
accesses its ventral vagal safety state.

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When you neurocept danger,
your body turns off the safety

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activation resulting in increased
sympathetic flight fight activation.

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And if it detects a life threat, then the
dorsal vagal shutdown system kicks in.

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That is a very one dimensional,
cartoony, simple way of putting things.

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But we're starting off simple.

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Now let's make it a bit more complex.

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By extending our definition of
neuroception a bit more- Neuroception

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is your body's way of detecting safety
or danger or life threat before your

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conscious mind is aware of these things.

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Neuroception is not a conscious process.

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You're not aware of it
while it's happening.

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You're only aware of
it after it's happened.

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You notice the effects of
neuroception, not neuroception itself.

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We can extend our definition
a smidge more by inserting

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something, uh, right in the middle.

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Ready for it?

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Neuroception is your body's way
of detecting safety or danger or

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life threat from the internal or
external world before your conscious

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mind is aware of these things.

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Neuroception responds to more
than the external world, like

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the loud boom of thunder above.

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It also responds to the internal
world, like if you're chronically ill.

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Neuroception is not conscious thought.

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It's not consciously directed.

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It's a biological process
happening in the brainstem.

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The brainstem is where top down
and bottom up communication meet.

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Your body sends signals of safety or
danger up to the brainstem and your

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higher brain structures send signals of
safety or danger down to the brainstem.

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The body and brain meet and discuss
safety and danger at the brainstem.

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So let's, let's use a metaphor.

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It's gonna make it silly, but
hopefully more understandable.

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Think of your body and the rest
of your brain as people, and

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your brainstem is a person too.

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So we have three people.

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The brainstem is the
decision maker of the group.

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The brain and the body come to the
decision maker and give it their data.

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The brain says, "This person whose
thoughts I have, they're a real idiot.

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They're going to get fired soon.

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And everyone in the office talks about
them behind their back." The brain

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tells this to the brainstem and the
brain stem says, "That's not good.

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Um, sounds like danger.

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So we'll keep things on high alert.

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So, brain, I need you to focus
intently on maybe getting fired and

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how maybe nobody likes this person.

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All of your energy, brain, needs to
go and focus on these dangers." And

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the brain would say, "But we have a,
a thing on Saturday and I need to get

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to the kids, the kids to the doctor-"
and the brainstem says, "Nope, just

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focus on the most immediate danger.

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All systems need to
prioritize these dangers."

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Meanwhile, the body's there
too and has a message for the

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brainstem, the decision maker.

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The body says, "Things are pretty tense
down here. I'm super tight in the gut

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area and I can't get enough air into
my chest." So the brainstem says, OMG.

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Things are worse than I thought.

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Sounds like a ton of dangers.

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Okay, body.

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Let's also stay on high
alert- keep tense, keep ready.

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Focus all energies on maintaining
hypervigilant readiness.

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If there's anything off,
let me know immediately.

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If somebody at work has a slightly
tense voice, prioritize that,

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I'll let the brain know and it'll
put a response into action."

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And so, uh, yeah, things stay this way,
potentially indefinitely, sorry to say.

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Well, that's not entirely true.

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It's not indefinite.

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But if you are in a traumatized state,
it is chronic that defensiveness

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and potentially indefinite,
um, if nothing else changes.

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The good news is, is that the body's
also sending other signals to the

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brainstem, like the smell of food on the
way to work, or the sites of pink cherry

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blossoms on a tree outside a window.

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And the brain can remember
moments of connection.

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These messages are also sent to
the brainstem decision maker too.

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The point is that the brainstem is
where all the polyvagal state shifting

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takes place, and it shifts based
on the cues that it receives from

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the body and the rest of the brain.

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That's the basics of neuroception.

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Let's create a fictional scenario to help
bring this to light a little bit more.

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It is Sarah's first week at her new job
and she's attending, um, a team meeting.

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She arrives a few minutes before it starts
wanting to make a good impression on

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her, her colleagues, and the higher ups.

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She says to herself, "You got this,
Sarah." She opens the door to the

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conference room  and lifts her leg
to take a step in before her foot can

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land, though, uh, for that first step,
her eyes take in the harsh brightness

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of the fluorescent bulbs above.

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Her ears take in the dull hum and
the chatter of her colleagues.

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Her nose picks up the slight
scent of disinfectant.

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Her eyes take in the view of
the city from the 50th floor.

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Her eyes also pick up the faces of
her colleagues facing away from her

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or the back of their heads, I guess.

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A subtle tension grips her shoulders
and her breathing becomes more

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shallow, uh, into her chest.

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Her foot finally falls for that
first step into the conference room.

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The second foot follows and
her legs tense as she stands

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stoically still like a statue, her
eyes widening to scan the room.

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A thought pierces her mind like
a lightning bolt, "This is too

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much for me. I am not ready
for this. And they all know."

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Okay, dear listener, um, how is
or is Sarah neurocepting danger?

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Obviously.

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Yeah, right.

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She enters into a freeze state based
on what she's picking up in the room.

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The onset of the freeze is
rapid and she has no idea why.

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To her it's because of imposter syndrome.

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That's what she would say to herself.

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She thinks people are judging her but
really it's because she entered the room

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with some anxiety already, and then the
room itself and the people within it

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provided her brainstem with numerous tiny
sensory danger cues like the height of the

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room overlooking the city, the lighting,
the voices, the faces of her colleagues,

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and the uh, the scent in the room.

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All of these are danger.

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They're not dangerous, but
the cue danger in her body.

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She is unaware of all of these
sensory pieces at a conscious level,

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but her brainstem picked up on every
single one of them and then shifted

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the body into a life threat state.

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That's what the freeze was.

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Let's take this, uh, story a step further.

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Sarah is standing there frozen
in place with her eyes wide.

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Unsure what to do, uh, where
to sit or who to talk to.

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Emotionally, she feels, of
course, anxious and insecure.

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One of the colleagues looks over to
her and smiles, "Hey, Sarah, right?"

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She stutters out something affirming
that, yes, she is indeed Sarah.

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" Welcome!" The colleague says. I don't
know if Jerry prepped you for this, but

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this is a multidisciplinary team meeting
and we like to sit with people we usually

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don't work with. People in different
teams get to know each other this way."

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Sarah feels a warmth spread all over her.

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She takes a breath in, smiles
at her colleague and says,

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okay, great, and gets cut off.

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Another colleague across the room
shouts to Sarah in a playful tone.

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"Come over here. We have a spot. I need to
pick your brain about something anyhow!"

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Sarah smiles a bigger smile and
confidently walks over to sit.

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All right, so now what happened?

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She neurocepted, uh,
safety this time, right?

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The smile from her coworker, gaining
clarity on the group norms at the

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top down, and the invitation from
her other coworker, along with

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that coworkers, the other coworkers
welcoming and excited vocal tone.

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She accurately neuro steps
safety and shifts state out of

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freeze or out of immobility and
into a mobilized safety state.

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So now you understand
neuroception accurately.

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Let's now take the next step
and learn how to identify it.

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You can probably see that neuroception
is not something we directly experience.

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I mean the moment of neuroception,
the biological communication

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from brainstem to brain and body.

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Instead, we can directly experience
the effects of neuroception.

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This is a subtle but important difference.

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Sarah didn't notice the neuroception
of danger before her first step

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landed in the conference room.

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She didn't even notice the effects like
shallow breathing and the tent shoulders.

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She was too far in defensive activation.

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But if she had enough safety in
her system and if she was mindful

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enough, she would've noticed
the breath and the tension.

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The breath and tension are the
effects of neuroception, the,

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the outcome of neuroception.

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These are the potentially
conscious results of neuroception.

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We identify neuroception through
its effects, through its outcomes.

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One problem with this is that
neuroception affects so many

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different variables of you.

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When you shift into defense,
it affects your thoughts, your

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emotions, your sensations, your
impulses, and your behaviors as well.

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Another problem is that you may have
little to no connection with yourself.

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Everything from the neck down
might be a stranger to you.

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So we need to start much smaller.

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We don't have to notice everything.

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We get really notice
things on a smaller level.

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I have three questions that I want you
to ask yourself to identify neuroception.

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I'll also clarify the three
questions so they make more sense.

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Write these down.

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You're gonna be using these a lot.

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Number one, how is my breathing?

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Is it more or less shallow?

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Is it in my chest or my belly?

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Are my shoulders moving?

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Is it comfortable or not?

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Number two, how is my muscle tension?

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Am I tense or relaxed?

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Where do I feel tension or relaxation?

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Is it all over or is
it in a specific spot?

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And number three, am I more
or less likely to smile?

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This one I think is
pretty straightforward.

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And by the way, if you are more,
more likely to smile, then do so.

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Let yourself smile.

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Those are your three key questions
to identify neuroception.

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You're gonna look for the effects of
neuroception in these three key areas.

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Let's get a little more
specific though, because it's

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time to take your first steps.

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You are going to look for the effects
of neuroception in these three areas in

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response to sensory inputs, in particular.

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When noticing come from as
much curiosity as you can.

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Not evaluation.

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This isn't about, uh, good
or bad, right or wrong.

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It's just noticing what is, noticing
what is truthful about our experiences.

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You are gonna use your senses to
notice neuroception, and you're

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going to do so proactively.

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For now, don't wait for your senses
to pick something up and for your

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body to shift and then notice it.

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That's reactive.

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I want you to be proactive.

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I invite you to choose an experience today
that engages just one of your senses.

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Not all of them, just one.

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I want you to mindfully experience
the taste, sight, feel, smell

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or the sound of something.

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And then notice how
that impacts your body.

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Take in the sensory input and then
ask yourself those three questions.

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So how do you do this?

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I bet you have a candle in your home.

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Smell it mindfully and ask
yourself those three questions.

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I bet you're gonna be going to Target
or Walmart today, or, or some store.

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Go to the candle aisle and
smell one of the candles there.

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You're probably gonna get a coffee today.

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Taste it and answer those three questions.

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Real easy.

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These are things that
you would do anyways.

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Focus though on proactively experiencing
the effects of neuroception.

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As this becomes easier, then notice
how your body reacts to sensory

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inputs that you don't expect.

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If you can't catch it in the moment
like Sarah did not catch it in the

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story, then reflect back on those
moments at the end of the day.

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You are wondering why this is important
and how it helps, uh, especially

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'cause you wanna get unstuck.

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Noticing the effects of neuroception helps
build self-awareness without judgment.

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That's huge.

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If you're gonna continue down the
unstuck path that, that's, seriously,

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this is a huge component of it.

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Further down the unstucking road,
you'll need to build your ability

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to notice how your body is, what
it wants, and how it reacts.

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This self-awareness you build now tells
you what cue safety and what cues defense.

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In the Unstuck Academy, you will
learn what cues safety in your

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body, but you need to feel it.

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You'll also learn how to access and
feel mindfully defensive activation,

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and again- this requires a lot of
nonjudgmental connection with yourself.

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But you're not there yet.

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That is further down the road.

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You've just learned the
Polyvagal theory and you're

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trying to put things into place.

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But as you progress down the
unstuck road, those other pieces

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will become way more important.

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Over time, as you become more comfortable
with noticing how your body responds,

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you'll begin to understand what it wants.

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Our bodies are compelled to
self-regulate, to get unstuck from

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defense and access more safety.

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But to get there, we need
to listen to what it needs.

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We need to consciously listen
to what our body needs.

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When it needs to squeeze to
release stuck fight activation.

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We need to listen and act on it when it
needs to hug another and receive warmth

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and comfort, we need to listen to it.

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When it needs to collapse face first on
the bed and breathe in silence, recovering

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from the day we need to listen to it.

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This simple, proactive sensory
neuroception tip that I gave

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you with the three questions is
a small step in that direction.

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Small but sustainable and small
but significant, especially

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if you're just starting.

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Using this simple, proactive sensory
neuroception tip is also useful

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because it puts you in the driver's
seat, it puts you in control.

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You decide what sensory input you
use and when, and you decide to look

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inward and notice your body's reaction.

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I will bet you are typically reactive.

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You live reactively.

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You react to things.

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You react to the state of your body.

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You try to numb what it's going
through or distract yourself.

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What I'm suggesting is the opposite.

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It is proactive and helps you connect,
not numb or distract, but directly connect

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with your body in the present moment.

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Thanks so much for joining
me on Stuck Not Broken.

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I hope this episode has helped
you understand neuroception

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deeper and more accurately.

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And I hope you have your next
step- proactively connect

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with your senses or one sense.

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And notice how your body
responds to what it neurocepts.

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You got this.

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Bye.