Understanding the Nervous System
in EMDR Intensives
Athletes, coaches, and leaders often train their bodies and minds to push through stress—but the nervous system does not respond to pressure alone. It responds to safety, connection, and regulation.
At EMDR Intensives for Athletes, Coaches, and Leaders, polyvagal-informed work is integrated to help clients understand and work with their nervous system rather than against it. This approach supports both trauma healing and sustainable high performance.
What Is
Polyvagal Theory?
Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, explains how the autonomic nervous system continuously scans the environment for cues of safety or threat—a process known as neuroception.
- Ventral Vagal (Safety & Connection):
calm focus, social engagement, presence, and optimal performance - Sympathetic (Mobilization):
fight or flight, urgency, anxiety, intensity, drive - Dorsal Vagal (Shutdown):
collapse, numbness, disconnection, exhaustion
None of these states is “bad.” Each developed to protect survival. Problems arise when the nervous system becomes stuck in stress or shutdown, limiting performance, recovery, and emotional flexibility.
Why Polyvagal Work
Matters for Athletes
High-performance environments often reward sympathetic activation—pushing harder, staying alert, overriding fatigue. Over time, this can lead to:
Over time, this can lead to:
- Chronic stress or anxiety
- Difficulty settling after competition or training
- Emotional reactivity or shutdown
- Inconsistent performance under pressure
- Burnout or injury vulnerability
Polyvagal-informed care helps athletes recognize their nervous system states and build the capacity to shift intentionally toward regulation and safety.
When athletes learn to access ventral vagal states more consistently, they often experience:
- Improved focus and decision-making
- Greater emotional regulation under pressure
- Faster recovery from stress and competition
- Increased resilience and consistency
Polyvagal States
and Performance
Optimal performance does not come from constant intensity—it comes from regulated activation. Ventral vagal states support:
- Flow and present-moment awareness
- Efficient energy use
- Clear communication and teamwork
- Trust in the body and instincts
Polyvagal work helps athletes move out of survival-based patterns and into states where performance feels more connected, flexible, and embodied rather than forced.
Integrating Polyvagal Work into
EMDR Intensives
Polyvagal principles are woven throughout EMDR intensive work to support safety, pacing, and integration.
Within EMDR Intensives, polyvagal-informed care is used to:
- Expand the window of tolerance before trauma or performance processing
- Support nervous system regulation during EMDR sets
- Identify early signs of overwhelm or shutdown
- Help clients track and name their internal states
- Reinforce safety after reprocessing is complete
This integration enables EMDR to be both efficient and respectful of the nervous system, especially when working with high-performing individuals accustomed to overriding internal cues.
Changing Default Nervous
System Patterns
The nervous system defaults to familiar patterns—even when those patterns are rooted in past trauma, chronic stress, or high-pressure environments.
Polyvagal-informed practices help clients:
- Increase awareness of their dominant nervous system states
- Learn how safety and connection are experienced in their body
- Build flexibility between states rather than getting stuck
- Shift baseline functioning toward regulation over time
As baseline regulation improves, athletes and leaders often notice greater emotional range, improved recovery, and more consistent access to optimal performance states.
Polyvagal Work
Beyond the Session
Clients are encouraged to apply polyvagal-informed practices outside of sessions to reinforce nervous system change.
This may include:
- Breath and rhythm-based regulation practices
- Tracking internal cues of safety and stress
- Building moments of connection into daily routines
- Using movement, voice, and orientation to support regulation
Over time, these practices help rewire the nervous system toward safety, adaptability, and resilience.
Who Benefits from
Polyvagal-Informed Care?
This approach is especially helpful for:
- Athletes managing anxiety, burnout, or performance inconsistency
- Injury recovery and return-to-play transitions
- Coaches and leaders operating under chronic stress
- Individuals with trauma or attachment-related nervous system patterns
- High achievers who feel disconnected from their body or emotions
Polyvagal-informed care meets clients at the physiological level, creating a foundation for both healing and high performance.
Safety as the Foundation
for Performance
When the nervous system experiences safety, both healing and performance become more accessible.
By integrating polyvagal-informed care with EMDR Intensives, athletes, coaches, and leaders learn not only to process past experiences but also to build a nervous system capable of connection, flow, recovery, and sustainable success.
Polyvagal-informed practices are used as part of a comprehensive, trauma-informed EMDR intensive approach.
To learn more about integrating polyvagal work into an EMDR Intensive, contact us or schedule a consultation.