Regulating Your Nervous System With Music

You may often hear that we need to focus on the mind-body connection. Learning to listen to  our bodies and understanding how our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations are connected can help lead to greater self-compassion and understanding. One way to begin  doing this work is learning a little more about our nervous systems. Our brains and bodies are always trying to protect us and help us survive even when their methods may be distressing to us. 

Nervous System

Our autonomic nervous systems are divided into two branches: sympathetic and  parasympathetic. They contain three pathways in which we respond to information from the outside world. 

Sympathetic

The sympathetic branch prepares us for action, which is known as a “fight or  flight” reaction, or also commonly referred to as “anxiety.” 

Parasympathetic

The parasympathetic branch contains the other two pathways, ventral vagal and dorsal vagal, which you may know as “rest and digest.” These two pathways are controlled by our vagal nerve, which travels from the brainstem at the base of the skull into two directions: downward through the lungs, heart, diaphragm, and stomach (dorsal vagal), and upward to connect with nerves in the neck, throat, eyes, and ears (ventral vagal).  

Now we don’t have to dive deep into the biology for the exercise at hand. Below are brief descriptions of what it may feel like to be in each nervous system state and how they developed to help us survive: 

Ventral Vagal “Safe and Social”  

This state has survival value because it allows us to safely connect with others and ourselves.  When you’re here, you may feel a sense that things are okay, maybe not perfect but that life is manageable and the world is safe enough. You may feel a sense of connection with others, a sense of joy, and have the ability to explore different options. 

Sympathetic “Fight or Flight” 

This state developed to protect us from danger by mobilizing us to either fight or flee the  scene. In this state our bodies produce cortisol and adrenaline to help prepare us to face danger. You may feel a sense of too much energy flooding your system, feel unsafe, angry, or overwhelmed.  

Dorsal Vagal “Shutdown” 

This state has survival value because it is attempting to conserve limited resources. We can even think of it like low power mode on our phones. Only the basic operating systems are  running. When you’re in this state you might feel shut down, zoned out, have little or no energy and you may feel depressed. 

The Ladder

If we were to picture our nervous system to be a ladder; ventral vagal would be at the top,  sympathetic in the middle, and the dorsal vagal at the bottom. We move up and down the ladder throughout the day as we pick up conscious and unconscious cues of safety and danger. Depending on which nervous system state or states we are in, we may need to take different actions to meet our needs. 

Music and Regulation

Music can help us to regulate our nervous systems. It sends signals to our nervous systems for safety, activation, and shut down. Listening to the human voice can send signals of safety. It works a little like this: we hear the mood of the music, unconsciously our nervous systems pick up cues from it, then we become more aware and begin to attach our own meanings to a song.  

The Exercise: Making Playlists for Our Nervous System States  

Feel free to give each nervous system state your own name for it based on your experience  and then try and curate a playlist with songs that bring you into each state. 

“Safe and Social” Playlist: Songs that feel fun and playful ones that make you feel some joy or  songs that give you a sense of calm. 

“Fight or Flight” Playlist: Songs with a faster beat that make you want to move your body, or  are communicating about a state of overwhelm. 

“Shutdown” Playlist: This could be songs with slower beats, sad lyrics, maybe about  disconnection. Songs that can communicate to you that you’re not alone in feeling a sense of  shutdown. 

Music can help us deepen our sense of connection in the ventral vagal state which can  enhance feelings of calm, safety, excitement, joy, and playfulness. It can also help us to  tolerate and maybe even enjoy the more emotionally difficult sympathetic and dorsal states.  

Music can allow us to be there for ourselves, present with our thoughts and emotions, while  feeling held by the lyrics and melodies. When the music matches your mood it can feel safer to  be with emotions such as sadness, anger, grief, and fear. We can also use music to help us  move into and out of different states. 

For example, maybe you’re having a hard day and starting to feel shut down. First, you may want to listen to a song that allows you to feel your pain. Next you can choose a song with a faster beat to help you start to move up that ladder into sympathetic. Finally, you can transition to a song from the ventral playlist for a mood  boost. 

Check out Clinical Connection for some examples of curated playlists matched with the three nervous system states. Try “Mood Boost” to support a  ventral vagal state, “Anxious Energy” for your sympathetic state and “Sad Girl Winter” for the dorsal shutdown state. 

Added Bonus: Check out the playlist “Relax&Reset” to help bring you out of a more anxious or shut down state and notice how the music is impacting your thoughts, emotions, and physical  sensations.  

Information used in this blog post has been adapted from: Dana, D. (2018). The polyvagal  theory in therapy: Engaging the rhythm of regulation. W W Norton & Co.