Why Lasting Change Needs a New Inner Foundation

Transformation and healing is never about just one thing. It’s important to merge a holistic blend of modalities, perspectives and practices that truly serve you, your uniqueness and your specific situation to access your full joy of being.

This is why I love to offer tailored holistic transformative support that blends many different modalities ranging from scientific evidence-based to intuitive to spiritual and back, to support you on your journey home to your true self.

That said, there is one important common core factor in all of these different approaches and modalities, which is vital to take into account if you are on a path to your most expansive inner wellbeing. All healing and positive growth touches this in one way or another — whether explicitly or implicitly — regardless of your path or the themes you're navigating.

Of course, the body, mind, heart and soul, your ancestors, feelings and energy all play crucial roles in your expansive inner wellbeing, and we can’t separate them — together they form a whole.

Your Roots - A Foundational Element Often Overlooked

If we were to name one foundational element to attend to to maximise your inner wellbeing, fully come home to yourself and enjoy life being you — what would it be?

The Hidden Conductor: Your Autonomic Nervous System

It’s at the foundation of our human experience here on earth — and informs everything we do and receive.

It enables positive change & transformation to occur in its fullest potential.

It drives the show, night and day, minute by minute, millisecond by millisecond.

What is the Autonomic Nervous System?

Your autonomic nervous system’s job is to keep you safe and functioning. It has its own automatic ways of perceiving the world, deeply anchored in your subconscious. It is constantly taking in cues of safety in your body and in your environment to gauge your safety. These cues are based on your past experiences, your biology, the experiences you inherited from your ancestors and your environment. All of this happens outside of your conscious awareness.

It does a miraculous job — but it can also hold you in old protective patterns.

Understanding Polyvagal Theory in Simple Terms

Polyvagal Theory describes how the autonomic nervous system works. This theory was developed by the renowned researcher Dr. Stephen Porges, who has written several books about it and also founded the Polyvagal Institute.

Polyvagal Theory describes the autonomic nervous system as having three primary states, each with unique qualities that exist along a continuum. We often experience blended states where a pattern of response is influenced by more than one state.

So it helps to know about this in order to better understand your own patterns, and empower yourself to shift into more wellbeing whenever possible.

The Three Core Nervous System States

Ventral vagal (‘safe mode’)
Sympathetic (‘mobilised’ or active fight or flight mode)
Dorsal vagal (‘immobilised’ or shut down mode)

Ventral Vagal — Inner Sunshine

When your autonomic nervous system is in ventral vagal energy it is in ‘safe’ mode. In this state, you can easily connect with yourself and others, and are available for health, inner growth and inner wellbeing. Being connected to your true self allows you to fully tap into your creativity, joy of being, self-confidence, inner calm, expansive inner wellbeing, spirituality, and much more.

I love to call this state ‘inner sunshine’.

Sympathetic — Mobilised State

When your autonomic nervous system senses danger, it will shift you more into sympathetic energy or ‘active’ mode, mobilising you to ensure your immediate survival. Sympathetic energy puts you on high alert to fight or flee, and it disconnects you from your true self in order to ensure survival.

Dorsal Vagal — Shut Down

When your autonomic nervous system senses that the sympathetic state is ineffective for self-defence, it will shift into a suppressed state of shut down or collapse. In this state, we become disconnected, collapsed and experience feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.

What is Regulation?

We often experience blended states of these primary states — a pattern of response influenced by more than one state.

These states happen along a continuum. When well-regulated, your nervous system shifts flexibly and smoothly between the states as needed. This is called regulation.

However, your autonomic nervous system can also become chronically dysregulated and get stuck in patterns which may be active even in times when you don’t need them.

These patterns can show up in your life as habitual survival mode patterns.

Alongside a myriad of chronic signs and symptoms, this means you may not be able to fully access your true self and its expansive qualities as often as you could.

Many people who notice this feel a sense of failure or shame — trying to push harder and harder to make things work, risking burnout, overwhelm or emotional withdrawal. This is especially common in our performance-driven world.

Habitual Survival Mode Patterns

1. Chronically activated patterns (sympathetic/‘on alert’):

Always being on the go and do-do-doing
Overwhelm & inability to relax completely
Not being able to access your creative ideas when you sit down
Feeling like you have to control things
Chronic muscle tension
Difficulty engaging with others

2. Chronically suppressed patterns (dorsal vagal/shut down):

Sluggishness & inability to concentrate
Feeling like you’re moving through life with invisible brakes engaged
Helplessness & hopelessness
Fatigue, emotional drain, stuck feelings
Task procrastination
Difficulty connecting with your desires
Lack of self-confidence
Feelings of loneliness

Automatic Response Patterns

So if you find yourself stuck in repetitive behavioural or feeling patterns that seem to happen as if on autopilot — or you’re having trouble accessing your creativity and connecting with your deeper self — your autonomic nervous system may be playing a role.

This is your biology doing its work — not a personal failure. These responses run outside of conscious awareness.

Re-attuning to Your True Self

The good news: you can re-attune your autonomic nervous system. You can shift more flexibly between states and access ventral vagal ‘safe’ energy — your inner sunshine — more often. And there are many ways to do it.

Practices that help you do this might look like:

Taking quiet time to breathe and feel into your body
Walking in nature and letting your senses gently open
Placing a hand on your heart or belly to signal safety
Humming, singing, or listening to calming music
Moving your body slowly — stretching, shaking, or resting in stillness
Spending time with people or animals that feel safe and nourishing
Giving yourself permission to pause, rather than push
Doing somatic practices that combine movement and breath
Doing guided imagery practices with calming, nourishing journeys that make you feel good and grounded

None of these are quick fixes — but over time, they help your nervous system remember that it doesn’t always need to brace.

Re-attuning your nervous system can be a missing piece of the puzzle in helping you transform your life from the inside out.

If you found this blogpost helpful, you might also like these:

♢ What is the Safe and Sound Protocol — and how can it support your inner journey?

♢ Coming Home to Your Nervous System

♢ If you’re curious about receiving guided support in this process, my nervous system coaching (blending SSP and embodied practices) offers a gentle space to explore and repattern. It’s not about overriding your patterns — but meeting them with care, and learning new ways to come home to yourself.

**Mindfulness-based Embodiment Coach and Intuitive Transformational Guide**
Your energy and presence are gifts to share with the world — even if they are deeply quiet. They are the very fuel that helps you transform your life and truly flourish.
You can tap into this when you ground in the essence of being you.
That’s what this blog is here to hold: reflections from my own long journey home — woven with insights from years of lived experience and deep training
Warmly, Julia

This blog uses information from:
Dr. Stephen Porges and his Polyvagal Theory
Deb Dana and her Clinical Applications of Polyvagal Theory to Psychotherapy
Other teachings blended & assimilated from my own trainings in (somatic) psychotherapy, medicine, trauma therapy, spiritual life coaching and family constellations.
Experiences from my own healing journey from autonomic nervous system dysregulation.

The Missing Piece: Why Your Nervous System is Key to Lasting Transformation