Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory

'Deb Dana guides us to understand and befriend our autonomic nervous system, engaging its healing capacities to connect with ourselves and with our social world.' Gabor Maté

'Once we know how our nervous system works, we can work with it,' teaches Deb Dana. 'We can learn to access an embodied, biological resource that is always present, available, and there to guide us toward well-being.'

An aggressive email from your boss, or a fight with your partner - these situations aren't life-or-death, yet our bodies may react as if they are. But we can train our nervous system to stop overreacting, and start responding to the world with greater safety and ease, if we know how. In Anchored, expert teacher Deb Dana shares a down-to-earth presentation of Polyvagal Theory, then brings the science to life with practical, everyday tools.

Using field-tested techniques, Dana helps you master the skills to become more aware of your nervous system moment to moment, and change the way you respond to the great and small challenges of life. Here, you'll explore:

• Polyvagal Theory - get to know the biology and function of your vagus nerve, the highway of the nervous system.
• Befriending Your Nervous System - attune to what's going on in your body by developing your 'neuroception'
• Using Your Vagal Brake - discover key techniques to consciously regulate the intensity of your emotions.
• Connection and Protection - learn to recognize and influence your internal cues for safety and danger.
• Your Social Engagement System - find ways to create nourishing relationships with others and the world around you.

Through guided imagery, meditation, self-inquiry, and more, Anchored offers a practical user's manual for moving from a place of fear and panic into a grounded space of balance and confidence.