Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety

What does it mean to anchor yourself in safety—to discover the practices that reshape your nervous system and create new pathways of regulation, resilience, and connection? Deb Dana's Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety is the first layperson's guide to polyvagal-informed practices ever written, a book that offers accessible exercises and meditations to help you tune into your autonomic nervous system and strengthen your capacity for ventral vagal regulation. This is not a theoretical text but a practical workbook by a pioneering teacher who has made polyvagal principles actionable for thousands of people worldwide. Dana offers a comprehensive overview of Polyvagal Theory alongside guided practices for mapping, reflecting, listening, deepening, creating, and connecting—tools that allow you to change old patterns and find new rhythms for your nervous system.

Dana writes from her understanding that the autonomic nervous system is shaped by early experience and can be reshaped with ongoing practice. The workbook asks: How do we tune into our nervous system states moment to moment? What practices help us build and strengthen ventral vagal connections? How do we map our autonomic patterns and create new pathways of safety? How do we listen to our body's signals and respond with compassion and skill? How do we deepen our capacity for regulation and connection? Dana shows us that a polyvagal approach to life is grounded in the knowledge that we can work with our nervous systems to cultivate greater safety, presence, and well-being.

For readers seeking contemplative wisdom and embodied practice, Polyvagal Practices serves as both a penetrating introduction to polyvagal principles and a comprehensive collection of exercises and meditations for nervous system regulation. This Norton edition includes a never-before-published chapter on Polyvagal Theory alongside practical exercises for mapping autonomic states, reflecting on patterns, listening to the body, deepening regulation, creating new pathways, and connecting with safety and others. This is a book for anyone seeking to reshape their nervous system, for those drawn to somatic practices and embodied self-awareness, for anyone who wants to anchor themselves in safety and build resilience. It's a reminder that the autonomic nervous system can be befriended, that we can learn to tune into its rhythms, and that we can cultivate new patterns of regulation and connection.

Looking for hands-on practice? Explore The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma by Arielle Schwartz for body-based activities to rewire your nervous system.

What You'll Discover

• First layperson's guide to polyvagal-informed practices and exercises
• Never-before-published comprehensive chapter on Polyvagal Theory
• Guided practices for mapping, reflecting, listening, and deepening regulation
• Exercises to build and strengthen ventral vagal connections
• Tools to change old patterns and find new rhythms for your nervous system

Deb Dana, LCSW, is a clinician, consultant, and leading expert in the clinical application of Polyvagal Theory. She developed the Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series and has trained thousands of therapists and individuals worldwide in polyvagal-informed practice. A founding member of the Polyvagal Institute, Dana has made Stephen Porges's neuroscience accessible and actionable for both clinicians and general readers. Polyvagal Practices, published in 2023, offers a practical, exercise-based approach to nervous system regulation that complements her earlier works and provides readers with hands-on tools for anchoring themselves in safety.

Perfect for: Anyone seeking practical exercises for nervous system regulation, readers who want to work directly with polyvagal principles, those drawn to somatic practices and embodied self-awareness, students of Polyvagal Theory seeking hands-on application, anyone experiencing anxiety, stress, or nervous system dysregulation, practitioners of meditation, yoga, and contemplative practice, readers exploring trauma recovery and resilience building, those interested in autonomic mapping and ventral vagal strengthening, students of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, anyone who wants to reshape their nervous system patterns, readers seeking to anchor themselves in safety and cultivate connection, those who loved Anchored and want a practice-focused companion.

Norton paperback edition. Deb Dana's essential practice guide to polyvagal-informed living—offering accessible exercises, meditations, and a comprehensive overview of Polyvagal Theory to help you tune into your nervous system, build ventral vagal connections, and anchor yourself in safety, regulation, and resilience.