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“Through a polyvagal lens, we understand that actions are automatic and adaptive, generated by the autonomic nervous system well below the level of conscious awareness. This is not the brain making a cognitive choice. These are autonomic energies moving in patterns of protection. And with this new awareness, the door opens to compassion.”
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
“They teach you growing up that you are only one thing at a time—angry, lonely, content—but he’s never found that to be true. He is a dozen things at once. He is lost and scared and grateful, he is sorry and happy and afraid.”
― The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
― The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
“It is when we feel as though we are trapped and can’t escape the danger that the dorsal vagal pathway pulls us all the way back to our evolutionary beginnings. In this state we are immobilized. We shut down to survive. From here, it is a long way back to feeling safe and social and a painful path to follow.”
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
“Coming safely into stillness requires the ventral vagus to restrain the escape movements of the sympathetic nervous system and join with the dorsal vagal system while inhibiting its movement into protective dissociation. For many clients, the autonomic challenge of becoming safely still is too great. Without enough cues of safety from another Social Engagement System to co-regulate or the ability for individual regulation through a reliable vagal brake, the autonomic nervous system quickly moves out of connection into collapse and dissociation.”
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
― The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
“I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life that you’ve been given. To stop running from whatever you’re trying to escape, and instead to stop, and turn, and face whatever it is. Then I dare you to walk toward it. In this way, the world may reveal itself to you as something magical and awe-inspiring that does not require escape. Instead, the world may become something worth paying attention to. The rewards of finding and maintaining balance are neither immediate nor permanent. They require patience and maintenance. We must be willing to move forward despite being uncertain of what lies ahead. We must have faith that actions today that seem to have no impact in the present moment are in fact accumulating in a positive direction, which will be revealed to us only at some unknown time in the future. Healthy practices happen day by day. My patient Maria said to me, “Recovery is like that scene in Harry Potter when Dumbledore walks down a darkened alley lighting lampposts along the way. Only when he gets to the end of the alley and stops to look back does he see the whole alley illuminated, the light of his progress.”
― Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
― Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Marina’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Marina’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,233 books
|
5,387 friends
1,436 books
|
2,159 friends
76 books
|
9 friends
336 books
|
292 friends
1 book
|
6 friends
118 books
|
20 friends
127 books
|
15 friends
393 books
|
77 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Marina
Lists liked by Marina
