Self-regulation is not merely a matter of well-being but of cognitive freedom itself. When we lack the metabolic resources to process reality clearly, we are more susceptible to ideological manipulation, cognitive rigidity, and cycles of fear-based decision-making.
The Neurobiology of Expansion and Contraction
This minimum degree relies on the extent to which the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) is down-regulated and the ventral vagal complex (VVC) is up-regulated in the absence of real-life threat. In general, the DVC acts as a "closing" or contracting mechanism and the VVC acts as an "opening" mechanism. The DVC manages our metabolic energy during instances of high intensity or life-threatening stress and acts to conserve metabolic energy in the core of the body. At the homeostatic level that includes limiting hormone regulation, limiting immune modulation, stopping digestion, depressing respiration and blood pressure. At the level of the individual in an environment, it inhibits metabolic energy from expressing itself relationally and will not allow affect to be expressed in connection with self or other beings in the environment. The VVC acts to distribute this energy proportionate to the task of living. At the homeostatic level that includes hormone regulation, immune modulation, digestion, respiration and blood pressure. At the level of the individual in an environment, it allows metabolic energy to be processed relationally and with affect in connection with self and other beings in the environment.
The dorsal vagal complex (DVC) conserves energy and restricts relational engagement under stress, while the ventral vagal complex (VVC) allows energy to be expressed and connected with others when we feel safe. Proper regulation of these systems is essential for well-being.
Energy, Information, Consciousness - Three layers of our Experience
At the core of our human experience are three interdependent dimensions:
Energy – the movement of life force through our metabolism and nervous system. Its fundamental dynamic is to expand or open, and then to contract or close. When this natural rhythm is unimpeded, it manifests as vitality, curiosity, and connection. When obstructed, it appears as muscular, behavioral and cognitive fixations or "closures". When this closure is present on a chronic scale, it is being managed by the mTRC, the maladaptive threat-response cycle.
Information – at the most basic level that we can experience, information is a layer of experience that appears when cycles of expansion and contraction begin to release to organize into a non-random pattern (emergence from chaos) in the course of a particular manifestation. As human entities we acquire a capacity to experience the perception of the flow of interoception, exteroception, behaviors and cognition. When lived clearly, information provides accurate pattern recognition and helps us navigate through life. When distorted by past conditioning, it fuels repetitive cycles of suffering generated by the mTRC "mind".
Consciousness – the witnessing presence that is aware of both energy and information yet remains untouched by them. This consciousness is not cognitive in nature but metacognitive. It has the capacity to reflect on or be aware of the act of perceiving and sensing one's own body awareness. Metacognitive consciousness or "witnessing awareness" requires that our face be ventrally regulated by the VVC in connection with interoceptive feedback from the remainder of the sensory centers in the body.
Our experience consists of energy (life force moving through expansion and contraction), information (patterns organizing our perceptions), and consciousness (the witnessing awareness beyond both). Dysregulation distorts this process, reinforcing cycles of suffering.
Comprehending the 3 Layers in Daily Life
When we are regulated enough, we are happy. The mTRC is absent so we have sufficient metabolic resources to engage with both the external and internal environments. There is enough energy that can be used relationally through the VVC to orient to the external environment (exteroception), receive the signals within interoception (sensation) and develop an abstract summary as cognition. Based on this perceptual summary, we can then reason by comparing the summary to our store of knowledge in long-term memory. This reasoning can proceed into action (behavior) that best addresses a situation if we must respond to it. The behaviors are motor responses that co-respond (respond in unison) to someone or something in the external environment. After the behavior is complete, we observe the result via exteroception, collect the information back to interoception, check with our store of memory and sensations, and rest. There might be new situations, which we orient to as a form of exploration, not threat.
When we are dysregulated enough, we are unhappy. The mTRC is present so we have insufficient metabolic resources to engage with either the external or internal environments. There is not enough energy that can be used relationally through the VVC, so we are unable to orient to the external environment (exteroception), receive the signals within interoception (sensation) and develop an abstract summary as cognition. Instead, our nervous system is managed by the DVC. This means that we are not in touch with external or internal reality. We are stuck in a conflated world generated by a primordial biological machine whose main function is to detect and deal with threats. The threat execution is to immobilize our bodies at the muscular, behavioral and cognitive levels. The actual threats are long gone, yet we were unable to manage them, so we are stuck in a limbo that is neither past, present nor future. Our capacity to reason requires perception of the outside and the inside yet neither is available - there is no energy to engage with them. Our behavior is limited since we are not actually perceiving the needs of our body, the environment, or someone in it. The feedback we receive is perceived as yet another threat, so the mTRC is reinforced. Chronic unhappiness has set in.
Chronic dysregulation leads to a self-reinforcing cycle, referred to as the maladaptive threat-response cycle (mTRC). When the body remains in a state of perceived threat, energy is locked in defensive patterns, perception is skewed by past conditioning, and awareness is disconnected from direct experience. The result is a kind of existential limbo where engagement with life is minimal, reinforcing chronic unhappiness.
Happiness is not found in controlling our energy or manipulating information about how we see ourselves, but in recognizing the consciousness that observes them both without attachment. This witnessing presence is the actual source of happiness—not as an emotional state, but as the absence of suffering that arises when identification shifts from the cognitive fixation we call "thought" to pure awareness. Yet this capacity to reflect upon and rest in our own witnessing intelligence requires a minimum degree of functioning in our biological sensors (our body). This skillset is optimally learned in a safe group environment where each person can test and verify their own experience.
"The course was very well presented in a way that was thorough and easy to understand - layman language for the most part, excellent diagrams explaining the process of the nervous system and questions from participants which helped to further explain how the techniques can be applied. The environment felt very supportive and safe - I could feel that others felt safe and supported which reinforced my own feelings of safety."
Somatic Science® is a novel, reason-centered neurocognitive & nondual wisdom approach. It supports our nervous system to become regulated, relaxed and harmonized with itself & the external environment. This helps us to develop a basic capacity for self-attunement and self-regulation, which are essential for satisfying relationships with our self and others. This approach fills the void left by Science and Spirituality yet embraces both, which ignore the great importance of Nervous System Regulation in our lives.
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