Tapping and the poly vagal theory.
Tapping and the poly vagal theory
The term poly vagal refers to the body’s nervous system. Poly means many and vagus refers to the vagus nerve system which has multiple circuits that serve different purposes.
The vagus nerve tells us how to respond in stressful situations. There are three main responses:
Fight -Confront the threat directly by arguing or physically responding
Flight -Try to escape the threat. This could be walking away, shutting down a conversation or physically running away.
Freeze- You become immobilised or unable to act. Your mind or body locks up due to feeling overwhelmed. You might stay in bed, faint, have severe fatigue, nausea or migraine.
The vagus nerve is an information highway.
It gives messages to be on high alert, to be calm or to shut down. When we have enough vagal tone we can mobilise from a calm place instead of fear.
Tapping or the Emotional Freedom Technique as it is also known, helps your body to mobilise with clarity. The tapping or touch on our acupuncture points or meridian points gives sensory feedback to the vagus nerve. It provides a pathway for rebalancing our autonomic nervous system. We want to be in the driver's seat for our nervous system and not have one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator.
There are three tiers to the poly vagal theory.
The first tier involves trying to establish a sense of connection. Can I get support through my voice, or through expressions on my face? Can I receive support on some level to feel connected?
The second tier- If I can’t establish connection or a soothing response, then fight or flight commences. I have to leave or stay and fight.
The third tier is the dorsal vagal shutdown. I can’t get away or fight back or socially connect. I go into shut down.
How do we come back out of this?
You can’t usually come back quickly from a total shut down. You climb slowly back at a pace you can tolerate. This happens through voice, movement and stimulation of the social engagement points of the vagus nerve through tapping.
Tapping allows you to be fully present in the here and now. You can tap on the emotions and pain you are experiencing and shift them. You can feel safe enough and enable a sense of calm and clarity to replace the unsettled feelings you had previously.
Tapping encourages you to acknowledge how you truly feel. You tap on those feelings while stimulating the vagal nerve points that are above the heart. You are changing your biochemistry.
The meridian points you are tapping on have more electrical conductivity than other parts of the body. When you tap you send an electrical charge to part of your brain. This will either increase activation or decrease activation in the executive part of the brain or the limbic system. Brain imaging has shown that this happens.
Tapping helps with Post Traumatic Shock. I have used tapping for PTSD after my accident and found it to be a really fast way to change my biochemistry and release the anxiety around driving. Tapping interrupts the reaction and allows for an updated response.
Tapping can be used to consolidate memories.
In order for that to happen you need something to contradict the model that has been established in the brain. We use memories of experiences to create models for the brain to use. However, not all these models are useful. If we had an experience when we were younger that was unpleasant, that can lock in a phobia.
Tapping on that memory can help shift the mental model. It can help you question what model your brain is living in. You can tap on those memories and reflect on them from a place of calm. This new view changes the model. It can provide an emotionally corrective experience and interrupt reactions of anxiety and fear. You can separate your emotional response so that you can think clearly. We continue to attract things until we are healed and learn what we need to.
Tapping helps us to heal.
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