Nervous System & Somatic Glossary

A beginner-friendly reference guide of somatic, trauma-informed, and nervous system concepts used in modern mind–body practices.

Nervous System

Your internal regulation system.

It constantly interprets cues of safety, stress, or overwhelm and shapes how you think, feel, relate, and respond.

Regulation

A return to steadiness and connection within your body.

Regulation means your system can move through stress while staying present and grounded.

Dysregulation

When your system feels overwhelmed or unable to return to steadiness.

This can look like anxiety, shutdown, urgency, irritability, or emotional disconnection.

Polyvagal Theory

A framework that explains how the nervous system shifts between three primary states:

• Ventral Vagal: openness, presence, connection
  

• Sympathetic: activation, urgency, fight-or-flight
  

• Dorsal Vagal: collapse, shutdown, withdrawal
  
  This map helps you understand your patterns without judgment.

Fight-or-Flight (Sympathetic Activation)

A state of high activation.

Your body prepares for movement, problem-solving, or protection.

Common signs: rapid thoughts, tension, restlessness, pressure to act.

Freeze

A protective state where the system becomes still while energy remains high inside.

Often experienced as numbness, fogginess, feeling stuck, or difficulty moving forward.

Shutdown (Dorsal Activation)

A low-energy protective response.

The system pulls inward to conserve energy.

May feel like heaviness, disconnection, or exhaustion.

Fawn Response

A survival response where the system moves toward pleasing, appeasing, or over-accommodating to maintain safety or connection.

Survival Pattern

A learned response that once protected you.

These patterns show up as overworking, perfectionism, people-pleasing, withdrawal, or emotional shutting down.

They shift with awareness and support.

Vagus Nerve

A key nerve that supports regulation, digestion, facial expression, and emotional connection.

Strengthening vagal tone can support resilience and ease.

Capacity

Your system’s ability to stay present during activation.

Capacity expands gradually as your body feels safer and more supported.

Co-regulation

Regulation through connection with another regulated nervous system.

Humans are wired for this.

It is foundational to healing.

Self-regulation

Your ability to support your own system with tools, breath, awareness, and somatic practices.

This strengthens over time.

Orienting

A gentle practice of looking around and noticing your environment.

It helps the nervous system register safety and arrive in the present moment.

Tracking

Noticing sensations, shifts, temperature, breath, or movement within your body.

Tracking increases awareness and supports regulation.

Resourcing

Connecting with internal or external supports that help your system feel steady.

Examples: breath, grounding, nature, warmth, imagery.

Integration

When insights and shifts begin to settle into your body and daily life.

Integration happens gradually and naturally with time and space.

Hypnosis / Trance State

A focused, relaxed state where your subconscious becomes more accessible.

You remain aware, in control, and connected throughout the process.

This state helps soften old patterns and introduce new possibilities.

Subconscious Repatterning

Shifting automatic emotional or behavioral responses at their root.

This work rewrites old pathways and supports new ways of relating to yourself and the world.

Parts Work

A gentle way of connecting with different internal states or “parts” that developed to protect you.

Each part carries intelligence and can integrate with support and curiosity.

Inner Architecture

The structure of your internal patterns, beliefs, sensations, and responses.

In this work, we refine that architecture so your system supports clarity, presence, and coherence.