Polyvagal Theory: Why You Feel So Anxious All The Time - Dr Stephen Porges - #1128
Modern Wisdom
07/25/26
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Dr Stephen Porges is a neuroscientist & psychologist.
Why does your nervous system always feel on edge? When everything feels like a threat, your body may be stuck in survival mode. So what keeps your nervous system on high alert, and how can you finally teach it to feel safe again?
Expect to learn why your nervous system is in a state of fight or flight all of the time, what the Polyvagal Theory is and how to attain a calmer state of mind, why dogs calm humans so effectively, what the biggest myth about anxiety is and the role of metabolic support for the nervous system, how the gut, inflammation and chronic stress play in nervous system regulation and much more...
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Timestamps:
(0:00) What is Polyvagal Theory?
(5:54) Why It’s So Important to Focus On How We Feel
(12:04) How the Nervous System Adapted Over Time
(18:08) Is Safety Our #1 Goal?
(19:59) What Feeling “Safe” Really Means
(21:28) The Most Powerful Signals of Safety
(23:31) Can You Ever Truly Feel Safe?
(25:21) Why Safety Feels Different for Everyone
(30:05) What Stephen’s Work Means to Chris
(39:20) What Causes Nervous System Dysregulation?
(44:00) Are Humans on the Same Frequency As Animals?
(50:49 Don’t Hack Your Nervous System, Challenge It
(54:05 Does Resonance Breathing Actually Work?
(57:15) How Does the Safe and Sound Protocol Work?
(59:43) What Your Body Language Reveals About You
(01:04:11) The Biggest Myth About Anxiety
(01:05:06) What Unlocks Your Full Capacity?
(01:10:28) Low vs High Tolerance: Understanding Your Nervous System
(01:12:31) How to Build a Sense of Safety
(01:16:59) How Important is Metabolic Support?
(01:19:49) What Causes Shifts Between Shutdown and Overdrive?
(01:23:07) Why Tinnitus Can Signal Nervous System Issues
(01:27:21) The Link Between the Vagus Nerve and the Gut
(01:29:47) Are Male and Female Nervous Systems Different?
(01:34:44) Why We Need More Humility and Compassion
(01:41:13) Do Stellate Ganglion Blocks Actually Work?
(01:44:50) The Strongest Criticisms of Polyvagal Theory
(01:49:54) Can Your Nervous System Be “Too Safe”?
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Previous Episode
Annie Jacobsen is a journalist, investigative reporter and an author.
For decades, nuclear war has been humanity’s greatest existential fear. But the next global catastrophe may not arrive with a mushroom cloud—it could begin inside a laboratory. What would a biological attack actually look like, how quickly would it spread, and could humanity survive it?
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Nuclear vs Biological War: Which Is Worse? (01:08) Why No One Is Talking About Bioweapons (04:23) Is Genetic Engineering a Good Thing? (07:14) What COVID Really Taught Us (13:25) Who Created the First Biological Weapon? (21:25) What Makes the Perfect Biological Weapon? (26:44) The Soviet Bioweapons Ambition (27:50) How the Soviet Program Was Exposed (34:38) How Many Bioweapons Are Man-Made? (37:30) The Biggest Mistakes in Bioweapons History (45:04) What Happens in the First 24 Hours of a Leak? (56:02) Bacteria vs Virus: Which Is More Dangerous? (57:19) Does Dose Responsiveness Determine Survival? (59:21) Are Incubation Time and Lethality Correlated? (01:02:19) How the Soviets Created a Euphoric Plague (01:08:39) Six Days: From Outbreak to Anarchy (01:23:37) How Close COVID Came to Social Breakdown (01:36:24) Where to Find Annie
Extra Stuff:
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Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
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Next Episode
Dr Darby Saxbe is a clinical psychologist, professor at USC, and author.
Do dads get postpartum depression? Mothers face enormous physical and emotional changes after childbirth, but fathers can struggle too, often in silence. So what happens to men when they become dads, why does it affect some so deeply, and how can they adapt to a new life that nature has thrust upon them?
Expect to learn what actually happens to dads after moms give birth, the physiological changes that happen to dads after birth, which behaviors create the effect known as “dad brain”, the biggest upsides and downsides of fatherhood for men, why postpartum depression in fathers goes unrecognized, the worst advice dads get, and much more...
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Timestamps:
(0:19) What is Dad Brain?
(2:18) How Fatherhood Has Changed Over Time
(8:18) What Happens to Men During Pregnancy?
(12:57) Should Fathers Be in the Delivery Room?
(13:47) Are Sympathetic Pregnancies Real?
(15:17) What Couples Should Focus on During Pregnancy
(17:56) The Real Cause of Dad Brain
(24:18) The Top Behaviours That Trigger Dad Brain
(31:31) Biology or Choice: What Makes a “Hands-On” Dad?
(33:48) The Truth Behind the Deadbeat Dad Narrative
(36:44) Can Fathers Bond at Any Age?
(38:50) How Fatherhood Changes Male Hormones
(46:44) Why Becoming a Father Is the Ultimate Masculine Role
(50:25) Does Dad Brain Get Worse With More Kids?
(53:19) How Daughters Change Fathers
(1:00:48) Does Housework Ruin Cortisol Recovery?
(1:03:43) Do Dads Experience Postpartum Depression?
(1:15:29) Why Postpartum Depression Happens in Women
(1:18:55) How to Support a Partner Through Postpartum Depression
(1:31:09) The Worst Advice New Dads Hear
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
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Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
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