Lecture on Nervous System and Safety

Introduction

• Quote by Thich Nhat Hanh: "Earth will be safe when we feel in us enough safety."
• Focus: How the autonomic nervous system helps us feel safe and build connections.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

• Role: Platform for lived experience and internal surveillance system.
• Functionality: Organizes our experience and is shaped by individual life events.
• Process: ANS sends information to the brain, which creates a narrative.

Co-regulation

• Concept: Balance between survival drive and desire to connect.
  • Sometimes these drives work together; other times, they conflict.
  • Past experiences can shape our responses to cues of danger or safety.
• Quote by Stephen Porges: "Trauma is a chronic disruption of connectedness."
  • Trauma results in dysregulation of the nervous system.

Autonomic Conversations

• Interactions: Continuous exchange between self, others, environment, and spirit.
• Safety Cues: Essential for connection and co-regulation.
  • Sending cues of safety invites connection.
  • Cues of danger increase survival responses.

Social Engagement System

• Components: Eyes, ears, voice, face, and head movements.
  • Controlled by cranial nerves.
• Function: Facilitates connection by sending and receiving safety signals.
• Impact of Masks: Focus on eyes for cues due to face coverings.

Listening and Voice

• SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol): An auditory intervention using music to calm the nervous system.
  • Enhances the social engagement system.
• Porosity: Music of the voice, conveying intent beyond words.
  • Monotone voice as a danger cue.
• Vocal Bursts: Non-language sounds understood across cultures and species.

Head Movement

• Movement: Nod and tilt as cues of connection.
  • Unmoving head signals danger.

Co-regulation and Self-regulation

• Begins at Birth: Essential for survival.
  • Co-regulation leads to self-regulation from a safe base.
• Misattunement and Repair: Important for relationship dynamics.

Ventral Vagal Anchor Practice

• Purpose: Identify elements that anchor us in a ventral state.
  • Who: Person who gives a sense of safety.
  • What: A simple, calming practice.
  • Where: Safe and comforting place.
  • When: Time when one feels safe and centered.
• Flexibility and Resilience: Being able to return to a ventral state promotes health and well-being.

---

Conclusion

• The lecture emphasized understanding and utilizing the autonomic nervous system to achieve safety and connection in daily life.
• Encouraged to explore further resources for in-depth learning.