Welcome to the training!

Congratulations on taking this step in participating in this new

training.

The cultural pressure to be busy, work hard and achieve more may lead to
an internalised belief that you should over-ride your neuro-biological needs
and rely on stress coping habits that artificially regulate your nervous
system.
These coping habits don’t actually discharge stress activation or provide
true recovery for your nervous system.
These strategies temporarily soothe feelings of distress, fill emotional
emptiness and can give a sense of control in times of uncertainty.

Maybe you know the feeling of being pulled towards using caffeine,
stimulants, sugar or other things that artificially mobilise your energy,
override your limits so that you can get more done.

Maybe you’ve fallen into habits after weeks of being under too much
stress.

If you’re unable to switch off you may find you’re only able to relax at the
end of the day by numbing out with alcohol and comfort food. Or you
distract yourself with excess social media, television or time online.

Maybe fear and uncertainty drive you to become perfectionistic. You’re

under stress so you push yourself to go harder, faster, multitask, strive
and you hear your internal critic loudly telling you you’re being ridiculous
for feeling stress and that THIS is the way to take control of your life.
 Welcome to the training!
Although these coping habits are individual, many workplaces,
education systems and social institutions have values that may
encourage you to default to them so you can “push” more.

They may unconsciously influence you to dissociate from your body,

override your needs, and move towards nervous system dysregulation.

Your nervous system is absorbing the message from your

environment, the people you’re around in person and those you follow
online. They can move you subconsciously away from your healthy
baseline, and over time you may drift towards nervous system
dysregulation.

Dysregulation means stuck on high (anxious, irritable, can’t switch

off), or stuck on low (flat, depressed, no motivation, burnout).

Yes, there are times where you need to mobilise energy and deal with
stressful things and this is healthy if you get to recover fully.

It’s when stress activation is always on and you feel the pull towards
short-term coping habits that your nervous system needs recovery
and support.

 Welcome to the training!

This is how you shift the cycle from dysregulation to nervous system
re-regulation and you recover your innate resilience and
psychological and physical well-being.

In Part One of this training you'll: build autonomic awareness and

understand your nervous system's unique responses.
You'll learn a framework that you can easily integrate into your daily
life that will give you a better understanding of stress, trauma and
regulation. You’ll learn to appreciate your own mind and body, rather
than blaming yourself for your reactions to stressors.

You'll learn to widen your window of tolerance to stress arousal to

build resilience and self-regulation. You'll learn what vagal tone is and
how it can be impacted by past traumas. You'll learn the key role it
plays in how you respond to future stressors and how it can be
increased.

In Part Two we'll cover the different stress coping strategies of

each state of the nervous system and how they bring short-term
relief. You’ll identify what your stress coping strategies are and the
triggers that lie beneath them that are driving these responses: this
is the key to undoing habits.

 Welcome to the training!

You’ll increase awareness, develop insight and you’ll begin shifting
from artificial regulation to true regulation. You'll cultivate the agency
to engage with your nervous system, rather than feeling helpless and
overwhelmed by feelings, emotions, thoughts or reactions that drive
coping habits.

Part Three will teach you all about interoceptive awareness and how it
helps with nervous system regulation and to bring true recovery and
support to your nervous system.

You’ll start to build the skills to hold and befriend sensations to widen
your window of tolerance.

You’ll learn to become a nervous system detective and discover the

clever ways your nervous system learnt to adapt.

This is where you really start to create change! You’ll have the tools to
create new daily habits and will be supported in integrating daily
practices and habit swaps.

You’ll feel supported and have the chance to get involved with the
community of people sharing their wins and finding true regulation.
Welcome to the training!

I look forward to seeing you create the

changes that will bring true recovery and
regulation to your nervous system.
I sincerely hope that this training helps
you feel at home inside of your body.

Warmly, Jessica Maguire.

 PART ONE
The Window Of Tolerance.

Physiologically, we are designed to live within a certain level of

autonomic nervous system activation.

"Window of Tolerance" was coined by Dan Siegel to describe the

optimal window within which we can respond to stressors without
becoming overly wound up or aroused (hyperaroused), or shut
down and withdrawn (hypoaroused). It's a helpful framework to use
to learn and understand your nervous system.

In a nutshell, this part of our nervous system oscillates up and

down throughout the day.

When we get up in the morning, our sympathetic (excitatory)

nervous system activates and prepares us to get out of bed.
When our shoulders drop and relax while we shower we might
notice this goes down and settles us.

On the way to work we might get stuck in traffic and feel

frustrated and annoyed. We relax at a friendly lunch, we face emails
and tasks in the afternoon and our energy increases to help us face
these challenges.
 The Window Of Tolerance

When you have access to a healthy Window of Tolerance, you

benefit from a self-correcting system that can respond to
stressors, challenges and demands, and come back to rest again. It
recovers fully from the activation. This is largely from having
healthy vagal tone.

Each person has a different capacity for self-regulation and

resilience that creates the width of their window.
Inside the window you can access the ventral branch of the vagus
nerve, or the vagal brake.

This supports your social engagement system so that you can

connect with others. You're aware of yourself and others and
connected to the present moment.

This is the zone where we effectively process what's going on

without becoming too reactive or to withdrawn, given the
circumstance.
 The Window Of Tolerance.

The vagal brake connects the brainstem to the heart's

pacemaker, the sinoatrial node. It slows the heart rate to a
pace where your physiology is regulated.

When you face stressors the first response is to take off

the vagal brake and let more energy into your system to
meet those demands.

Although there's a lot of talk on how "stress is bad for you",

you have an inbuilt capacity to deal with stressors and
recover fully from them.

This process is known as allostasis.

Allostasis is how the nervous system achieves stability
through physiological changes during the different
conditions you're in.

Following chronic and traumatic stress allostasis may not

work as it should - this three part training has been
designed to help you restore regulation and bring true
recovery to your nervous system.
 The Window Of Tolerance.

Window of tolerance

Inside the window we have the ability to respond with thought and
attention to ourself and other people.
We're present in the here and now.

We can process information and experience effectively. We can still

think flexibly and adapt. Our energy remains stable although we may
move up to nervousness or down to disappointment and physical
sensations change.

We're stable in what we say or do.

It's reflecting our regulatory range indicating self-regulation.
 The Window Of Tolerance.

Window of tolerance

When we are regulated within this window we are better

prepared for learning experiences - we are capable of
receiving, processing and integrating information.
We can face the demands of everyday life with a greater
sense of ease.
 The Window Of Tolerance.

You'll know you're inside your Window of Tolerance because

you'll notice it:

1. In your body: there will be a general sense of ease

throughout the entire body giving us a greater sense of
groundedness and connectedness to our inner experience.
Even our pain receptors are calm and we likely experience
less pain and discomfort.

2. Mentally and emotionally: there will be a greater sense of

ease and calm. You'll become more curious about learning new
things in the world around you. You may have a more playful and
relaxed mood. You seek out others and want them around.

3. Actions: you may feel more motivated to pursue your goals,

accomplish what you set out to do, and finish projects. You may
have more spontaneity. Your creativity and innovative thinking
shines through.

Tolerance.
The Window Of

Can you bring to mind a time in your life recently

where you were inside your Window of Tolerance?

What sensations do you notice in your body?

You may place your hands on the areas where you feel
them the most.

Tolerance
The Window Of
Can you bring to mind a time in your life recently where
you were inside your Window of Tolerance? (the same
or different to above).

What are your thoughts and emotions like?

What situation, people, environment, event led you

into the Window of Tolerance?
 The Window Of Tolerance

Can you list three things that consistently help you move into
your Window of Tolerance?
This will be unique to you and it may take some reflection
time.
Some examples could be: walking on the beach or in nature,
music, movement, being around certain people, art, spending
time with a pet
 The Window Of Tolerance

Moving above the window.

When we experience hyperarousal we move into sympathetic
dominance. The vagal brake is inhibited and it takes us to a threshold
that takes us outside our Optimal Arousal Zone.
This can be like having the on button jammed "on".

We need to take the active measures to settle ourselves and allow our
nervous system to truly recover. This may mean we need soothing or to
discharge this stress activation. Otherwise we may continue to
respond to the arousing stimulus with active threat responses such as
fight or flight.
 The Window Of Tolerance

How to know when you're moving above the window:

1. In your body: there will be a feeling of mobilising energy

throughout your body. You may feel your heart beat faster,
butterflies in your belly, tension and heat through your jaw,
neck and shoulders. There may be a surge of activation that
makes you tense your body. You may feel sweaty.

2. Mentally and emotionally: there will be a greater sense of anxiety,

anger, reactivity or overwhelm.
You may feel that your environment is not safe. You may become
agitated or angry towards others.

3. Actions: you may find it hard to sit still or relax and are
compelled to take action, even if it's scattered. You may want to
leave your environment. You may react before thinking things
through. You may say or do things that you don't mean.
 The Window Of

Tolerance
Moving above the window
Can you bring to mind a time in your life recently
where you became anxious, angry or went into
hyperarousal.

What sensations do you notice in your body?

You may place your hands on the areas where you

feel them the most.
 Checking in with my body in hyperarousal.
Think of a time recently where you became anxious or
went into hyperarousal.
(the same or different to above).

How does my body move or what posture shifts do I

notice?
Eg hands in fists, tight shoulders, rigid back, tension in
the jaw and neck.

What are your thoughts and emotions like?

 The Window Of Tolerance

Moving below the Window

When we experience hypoarousal, it takes you into the other

direction. There is too little arousal in the system. This isn't just
being sleepy, but there's a sense of our energy dropping and
disconnection from the present moment that may make it hard for
us to concentrate. We may feel dizzy, numb or cut off from the
sensations in our body. There's a feeling of impending doom as this
is how we respond to a threat.

 The Window Of Tolerance

Moving below the Window.

1. In your body: You may experience numbness,

disconnection or a lack of energy. You may notice that
your body slumps, feels heavy and you feel a sense of
doom. You may feel dizzy or lightheaded.

2. Mentally and emotionally: You may feel spacey or vague,

like you can't think clearly. You may feel waves of shame,
apathy, depression or hopelessness about a situation.

3. Actions: in this state it's hard to communicate or take any

action - you may feel frozen or stuck. You may want to
withdraw from your friends and family and spend time in bed
or on the couch.
 The Window Of

Tolerance
Moving below the window
Can you bring to mind a time in your life recently where
you became disconnected, spacey depressed or went
into hypoarousal.

What sensations do you notice in your body?

You may place your hands on the areas where you feel them
the most.
 Checking in with my body in hypoarousal
Think of a time recently where you became numb or
disconnected or went into hypoarousal.

How does my body move or what posture shifts do I

notice?
Eg lethargic, dizzy, desire to lie down and hide, rounded
posture.

What are your thoughts and emotions like?



The Window Of Tolerance

If you have a history of trauma, or have been through a period of

chronic stress, your ability to self-regulate or co-regulate within
the Window of Tolerance may be limited - the width of it is smaller.
Remember that moving above or below the window, or how you
respond to stressor is not something that you're choosing - it
happens outside of conscious awareness.

Although you have an inbuilt mechanism to handle large amounts of

stress and can return to baseline if you get the opportunity to
recover fully from it, returning to baseline only comes when you can
take corrective action on your own (self-regulation), or with other
people (co-regulation).
When this doesn't happen, your nervous system activation can
become stuck outside the level of healthy oscillation, and it doesn't
self-correct.

Trauma pushes us outside our window of tolerance: our nervous

system continues to react to an old threat.
Recovery means relearning that the past is the past and the
present is the present.
Summary from Part One - The Window of Tolerance

What are the main things I've identified that help me to

remain in or move inside of my Window of Tolerance?

How can I include them in my life so that I can spend more

time in my Window of Tolerance?
Summary from Part One - The Window of Tolerance

What are the main things I've identified as triggers that

cause me to move into hyperarousal?

How can I reduce or manage these triggers so that I can

spend more time in my Window of Tolerance?
Summary from Part One - The Window of Tolerance

What are the main things I've identified as triggers that

cause me to move into hyoarousal?

How can I reduce or manage these triggers so that I can

spend more time in my Window of Tolerance?
 DISCLAIMER:
This training is not a substitute for medical advice, it's
for educational purposes only.

This training is subject to copyright.

Please do not copy or re-use this material.

Keen to learn more?

All the details on the next Vagus Nerve
Masterclass can be found at:
www.jessicamaguire.com/vagus-nerve-
masterclass