Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection Quotes

“Through the eyes of compassion, from your own regulated nervous system, you can see another person’s dysregulated system, respond with regulation, and connect with kindness. From the energy of your ventral vagal system, you can also connect inside and be with your own suffering in an act of self-compassion. Ongoing experiences build the capacity for connecting with compassion. Find the combination of practices that brings your ventral vagal system alive. Create your own compassionate connections.”
― Deb Dana, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices

“Use this question to look through the lens of discernment: In this moment, with this person, in this place, surrounded by these things, are you actually in danger, or are you safe?”
― Deb Dana, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices

“In a state of protection, survival is the only goal. The system is closed to connection and change. In a state of connection, health, growth, and restoration are possible.”
― Deborah A. Dana, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices