Geral Blanchard, LPC, is a psychotherapist who is university trained in psychology and anthropology. Formerly of Wyoming and currently residing in Iowa, Geral travels the world in search of ancient secrets that can augment the art and science of healing. From Western neuroscience to Amazonian shamanism, he has developed an understanding of how to combine old and new healing strategies to optimize recovery, whether from psychological or physical maladies.
MDMA and Polyvagal-Informed Therapy, part 3 of 4
When consideration is given to the effects of research grade MDMA the literature is replete with examples of increased empathy, a heart softness, warmth, strengthened bonds, and compassion.
This article briefly touches on how MDMA, by enhancing compassion toward self and others, quiets and smooths out the vagus nerve network.
MDMA & POLYVAGAL THEORY, PART III
Think of the vagus nerve as functioning much like the frontal lobe of the brain, both are braking systems for impulse control, particularly aggressive urges. The more the braking system is activated in a gentle restraining way, the more relaxed you feel; it slows the heart, relaxes abdominal muscles, and loosens the larnyx. This quieting activity, which can be enhanced by MDMA, sends signals bodywide that the environment is safe, there is no emergency, which then allows you to focus on preferred thoughts and activities, and subsequently increases your creativity too. Relaxed vagal tone (anchoring activity of the ventral vagus) guards us from the harmful effects of stress constriction, and anxiety – whether social or neurological in origin -- thereby serving as a physical health protector, a buffer of sorts against bodily wear and tear resulting from chronic, strong negative emotions.
Jennifer Stellar, of the University of Toronto, was among the first researchers to show the strong link between compassion and vagal tone. When her subjects were induced to feel compassion by showing them images of people in distress and in need of help, the amount of compassion felt was directly tied to vagal activity: those who felt compassion had an elevated vagal tone. In other words, compassionate regard for others calmed down the vagus nerve system.
Taking it another step, Karen Bluth of the University of North Carolina predicted and proved that the tendency toward being self-compassionate strongly predicted a reduced stress response, and with it, an improved sense of well-being. Those who had the ability to forgive themselves for perceived stumbles, or what some call “mistakes,” engaged in less self-criticism, and as a result, experienced less stress as measured by their cardiac and hormonal responses.
So whether a person feels compassion toward others or themselves, vagal tone can improve, with associated recuperative powers for mental and physical health.
Scared people pull inward; they socially withdraw. Compassion – whether witnessing the need for it, engaging in the practice, imagining you are warmly comforting someone else, restorying your trauma in gentler language, or simply reading compassionate words – helps us transcend self, allowing us to safely risk social engagement and thereby assuage loneliness. When experiencing the ventral vagal state of safety we create a platform for compassion. But the reverse is also true: feeling or imagining compassion gets us to an emotional state of shelter. Held in the embrace of a relaxed and regulated nervous system, you can better see and understand another person’s plight, and then as Quakers say, “hold them in the light.” By practicing mindful regulation of these states they are strengthened and create new neuronal pathways – carving deeper grooves. Then we are less likely to be disrupted by sudden fears or stressors, whether perceived or real.
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“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.”
-Plato
“If there is a feeling change, there is an autonomic change.”
-Stephen Porges
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Additional Reading:
The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe by Stephen Porges
Other Topics
Basics of MDMA
Rituals and Ceremony
Brain and MDMA
Trauma
Heart
Energy Movement
Quantum Physics
Native Cosmologies
Nature
Spirituality/Enlightenment
Kogi Tribe
Books written by Geral T. Blanchard
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