Coaching practices for The Ladder of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States as a Caregiver
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Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- Whenever I let myself touch the hard feeling at all, I get pulled all the way under and flooded
- When I’m wound up, "everything is urgent and someone’s to blame" feels like the plain truth, and when I’m low, "nothing matters" feels just as true
- I can tell something’s off in my body but I can’t name it — am I wound up or shut down?
- My heart’s going, my thoughts are racing, everything feels urgent and like a threat
- When I’m rattled I tend to isolate, but I’ve noticed even a few minutes near a certain calm person settles me in a way I can’t do alone
Practices that may help
- The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation. - Pendulation: moving between states gently
Shift between a regulated and a less regulated state in small steps rather than forcing a leap.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Ladder narrative mapping: finding the story your state tells
Identify the specific beliefs and stories that your nervous system generates on each rung.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Identify your current rung
Before trying to change your state, learn to read which of the three rungs you’re on right now.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Sympathetic-to-ventral moves: downshifting mobilization
Use specific physiological levers to move from an activated (fight/flight) state toward the ventral vagal zone.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Using social engagement to activate ventral vagal tone
Seek out or create interactions that deliver prosodic and facial safety cues to your nervous system.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Titration: staying within your window of tolerance
Approach stressful content in small doses timed to your nervous system’s current capacity.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Use co-regulation — another settled nervous system — as a primary resource
Your nervous system can synchronize with a calmer one nearby; proximity to settled people is regulation, not weakness.
Neuroception: How Your Nervous System Reads Safety Before Your Mind Does - Dorsal vagal lift: moving out of shutdown
Use gentle movement and micro-connection to rise from a collapsed or numb state.
The Ladder of Regulation: Navigating Your Autonomic States - Arrange the environment to support Green Zone states
Predictable schedules, sensory comfort, and low transition stress make Green more accessible.
Zones of Regulation (Leah Kuypers)
Related concerns
- The Ladder Of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States At Work
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation.
- The Ladder Of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States During Conflict
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation.
- The Ladder Of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States For My Teenager
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation.
- The Ladder Of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States Under Stress
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation.
- The Ladder Of Regulation Navigating Your Autonomic States With Friends
The ladder of regulation, developed by Deb Dana from Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, is a map of three autonomic states — ventral vagal (safe and social), sympathetic (mobilized), and dorsal vagal (shutdown) — arranged as rungs. Knowing which rung you’re on and which direction to move gives you a practical framework for state navigation rather than white-knuckling through dysregulation.
- Nervous System States
Learn to notice which of three nervous-system states you are in before you try to change anything.
Map your state (ventral, sympathetic, dorsal)
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