The Window of Tolerance: Why the Same Thing Lands Differently
The Window of Tolerance: Why the Same Thing Lands Differently on Different Days I’ve noticed the same sentence surface in first appointments for years, usually said with some embarrassment. It was nothing. That’s what bothers me — it was genuinely nothing, and I completely lost it. The spilled drink. The third question in a row. […]
Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: Which One Is Yours?
Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: The Four Stress Responses Explained Why is it that some people shout when they’re threatened, some go quiet, and some become extraordinarily accommodating? The standard answer is personality. The better answer is that these are four distinct physiological responses, they’re largely automatic, and which one you default to has more to […]
How to Increase Vagal Tone: What Works, Ranked Honestly
How to Increase Vagal Tone: A Ranked, Honest Answer She arrived with a list. Actually printed out. Cold showers every morning. Gargling twice a day until her eyes watered. Humming in the car. An ear clip device she’d bought online. Twenty minutes of ice on her chest at night. Six weeks in, she felt roughly […]
What Heart Rate Variability Actually Measures
What Is Heart Rate Variability, and What Does Your Number Actually Mean? If your heart rate is sixty beats per minute, it is almost certainly not beating once every second. It might be 0.94 seconds, then 1.08, then 0.97, then 1.11. Averaged across a minute, sixty. Beat to beat, constantly varying. That variation is heart […]
Polyvagal Theory, Explained Honestly
Polyvagal Theory Explained: What It Says, and What It Gets Criticised For Two women, same week, same clinic. The first is fifty-two and describes herself as permanently on. Wakes at four with her heart going. Snaps at her family and feels guilty for hours. Can’t sit through a film without checking her phone. She uses […]
