Your nervous system has three settings — here's why that changes everything

Have you ever wondered why you can go from feeling totally calm to completely overwhelmed in seconds? Or why some days your body just won't settle, no matter how hard you try to relax?

The answer lies in your nervous system — and a groundbreaking framework called the Polyvagal Theory, developed by neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges, is helping us understand it like never before.

So what is polyvagal theory?

In simple terms, polyvagal theory describes how your nervous system constantly scans your environment for safety or danger — and shifts between three distinct states in response. This process happens automatically, beneath your conscious awareness. Your body is always asking one question: Am I safe?

"Your nervous system isn't broken. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do — protect you."

The three states

1. Safe and social (ventral vagal)
This is your optimal state. You feel calm, connected, creative, and curious. You can think clearly, engage with others, and your digestion, sleep, and immune system all work at their best. This is where healing happens.

2. Fight or flight (sympathetic)
Your body perceives a threat — real or perceived — and floods with adrenaline. Your heart rate rises, muscles tense, and digestion pauses. You might feel anxious, reactive, or restless. This state is essential for survival, but harmful when it becomes your default.

3. Shutdown (dorsal vagal)
When the threat feels too overwhelming to fight or flee, your nervous system hits the brakes. You might feel numb, disconnected, foggy, or exhausted. This is a protective collapse — your body's last resort.

Why does this matter for your health?

When your nervous system spends too much time in survival states, it affects everything — your digestion, sleep, immunity, hormones, focus, and relationships. Chronic stress, birth trauma, unresolved emotional experiences, and even the way we were raised can keep our nervous systems stuck in patterns of protection.

In our practice — the Insight Scanner

One of the tools we use to get a clearer picture of your nervous system is the Insight Scanner — a technology that measures Heart Rate Variability (HRV). HRV is one of the most sensitive indicators of how well your nervous system is adapting to everyday stress. By analysing the variation in your heartbeat, the Insight Scanner helps us identify where your nervous system may be getting stuck — whether that's in a state of high alert, shutdown, or somewhere in between. It takes the guesswork out and gives us an objective, data-driven starting point for your care.

This is where neurologically focused chiropractic care comes in. Rather than simply treating symptoms, we look at how your nervous system is functioning — and work to restore the communication between your brain and body so you can access that safe, social state more consistently.

The good news

Your nervous system is adaptable. With the right support, it can learn to feel safe again. Co-regulation — being in the presence of a calm, regulated person — is one of the most powerful ways this happens. It's why the relationship between practitioner and patient matters. It's why community, connection, and care are not luxuries — they are medicine.

If you're curious about how your nervous system might be affecting your health, we'd love to chat. Book a nervous system assessment with our team — including an Insight Scanner scan — and take the first step toward feeling like yourself again.