Activation to Regulation Cycle

When I started my healing journey, I started collecting lab results and amped up my healthy eating. In my westernized society, I thought that health was directly linked to genes, healthy diet and exercise. I think these things are idolized because the real work of health honestly isn’t talked about by medical professionals. The real work of health isn’t read through blood results, or on a CT Scan. The real work resides inside our minds and shows up in the physical reactions of our body. *

To those who know what I am talking about, congradualtions, you have either had a great mentor or have done the real work!

For the rest of us, I would like to share in this blog post how emotion can play a role in physical reaction in the body.

These reactions are often formed in childhood.

These actions are more pronounced in a children. For this reason I will use children as examples throughout this post.

A small child usually hasn’t been trained put on a happy face, even on a sad day. Nor put on a strong front when they are so discouraged inside. They move through their moods with physical reactions, then eventually return to a happy self.

I recently wrote a blog post describing this physical reaction. The words that I used in this blog post is “psychological rupture and repair”. The principal of repair is taught in this post you are reading. It is just taught from the lens of Polyvagal Theory. ¹

The power of repair is explained in this blog post:

“What Does Repair Look Like?” is such a foundational post, because it describes the resiliency created in the body, when connection with a primary caregiver occurs, often. This current post is similar, but explains moods and physical reactions. When a child is “activated” then need to return to a baseline of being calm and creative again. Returning to this calm state with connection of a caregiver is an ideal principal.

Activation is when a threat is detected and can be escaped. The sympathetic nervous system is activated, triggering the “fight-or-flight” response. This involves increased heart rate, blood pressure, and adrenaline to prepare the body for action and movement. ²

This cycle of activation back into a calm-regulated state is shown in the images below.

State of Presence

First is an image of a boy playing with trucks. Imagine that he is creative with his play. He is also calm–no threat detected.

Then imagine another child comes and rips a truck from off of the table. This action then creates the boy to move into a sympathetic state, yelling, “I want my truck back!” as he tries to rip it out of the other child’s hands. This activation creating action!

Cycle of Regulation

The action in the example giving would be yelling, and grabbing. Notice the emotion of anger or annoyance creates a physical movement. Mobilization is another word, meaning movement, that is introduced in this visual.

This is normal. Mobilization of the body in the sympathetic state is a normal reaction

Learning to Return to a Baseline of Regulation

What is also normal, is that the body can’t keep up that highly activated state for very long. It eventually runs out of charge, or that strong mobilizing energy.

With the help of a guide (a parent or a teacher in this situation) the adult can pull the activated child away from the other child and work on a resolution. Ideally they would find out what was had happened. Validate that they understand. A caretaker may say,

“I can see that John took the truck from you, and that made you mad.”

A compromise can be found. Maybe the adult will help John find another toy.

The care taker then can turn to the boy playing with trucks and ask, “Are you ok now”? This an attempt to see if this child is back into a calm state, or a state of presence.

Other skills to encourage a child to do is, “Can you take a deep breath”? OR, “Do you need to move so you don’t have to play with John anymore”? (These are only examples.)

Without a Guide

Without a present adult, a child would need to figure out this situation for himself.

A normally developing child will look for adult help. (This is not always the case with a neurodivergent child.)

States in According to Polyvagal Theory

There is three dysregulated states in the nervous system, according to polyvagal theory. They are: sympathetic state, a freeze state, and a shut down state (dorsal vagal complex).

These states all signal that I am not safe, and I need to physically move into safety.

This is a complex subject. I have linked a resource video created by the Polyvagal Institute to explain the impact of being stuck into one of these three states.

Remember,

the best training ground, for a child is an adult who understands this cycle, and trusts the child to move through the cycle. The adult’s job is to validate, and keep the child safe as they are moving from activation back into regulation.

Summary

These lists aren’t all inclusive. There are other ideas to add to this lists!

These lists are intended to be a helpful guide.

Physical Reaction

When a child is “activated” notice their physical posture and how they move within their body. These movements are often big and expressive.

If a child feels defeated, if they can’t get what they want–observe how their posture changes again. Most common posture being head hanging down.

If you are witnessing a child calming down, physical posture will once again look different. Witness the photo below. It offers a visual of presence and connection. My daughter Mae is looking up and has an open posture. Eye contact could be assumed. It illustrates a calm state.

Completion of the Cycle

The most important thing that I would like to finish this post with is children, with a present adult can return to regulation quite quickly.

The process doesn’t have to be complex.

I have found that the complexity comes from a variety of reasons. Children are often build with intuitive gifts to help them get back to a regulated state. Often as adults we can observe their correct movements and then guide them safely to regulation.

Our job as adults is to keep the kids safe, and validate their feelings. ³

I’m curious. As you view the cycle of regulation, what does it make you think of?

I would love to hear the insights that you are having as a human navigating the complexities of life.

So grateful for this knowledge offered by Steven Porges and Polyvagal Theory.

From my journey, to yours–I encourage you to keep learning! This blog post offers two different buttons to click on to continue your learning journey.

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*Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. These teachings are received from the lens of the Polyvagal Institute. These views are not meant to treat or cure any disease.

1. Polyvagal theory, developed by Stephen Porges, explains how the automnomic nervous system responds to stress by focusing on the importance of the vagus nerve and its pathways. [↩]
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvagal_theory#:~:text=mammalian%20nucleus%20ambiguus.-,The%20vagus%20nerve,the%20ability%20to%20socially%20engage.[↩]
3. Kennedy, Dr. Becky, Good Inside, 2023, MysticMeadow[↩]