Your body naturally moves in and out of 3 distinct neurobiological states throughout the day via the autonomic nervous system. This movement is automatic, below conscious awareness, and survival oriented. Think of a ladder (Dana, 2018) with those 3 main body states being at different points on the ladder. Top, middle and bottom. All movements up and down the ladder are in service of your body's survival.

The autonomic nervous system also regulates the digestive system and is involved in controlling the cardiovascular, respiratory, immune and endocrine systems. Therefore, as you traverse these different points on your ladder your physiology changes accordingly.

At the top of your ladder, you are most likely to feel safe and sound. You feel like you can engage with life - live, laugh, love, learn. This doesn't mean you are always calm or happy, but it does mean that you respond to a situation in a way that fits with the context. The world feels friendly enough and you can therefore take more risks and you might feel reasonably open-minded and adaptable. People might notice this in your behaviour and demeanour. This is known as your Ventral Vagal State.

When you start to drop down your ladder you enter into a Sympathetic State (or fight or flight) within your body. You might find yourself more easily agitated, anxious, panicky or fearful. It's harder to concentrate, be friendly or patient, learn, sleep, take a risk or adapt to change from within this state. The world somehow feels a bit more unfriendly or even dangerous. Again, people around you will probably notice this in your actions and in your demeanour. Because these states are neurobiological, there are changes within your body as you move down your ladder. Your breathing gets shallower, your heart rate quickens, your digestive system speeds up to lighten the load and ready you for fight or flight.

If you drop down your ladder even further, your body enters into a parasympathetic Dorsal Vagal State. Here you might start to withdraw or disconnect from yourself or the world. You might feel quiet, low, depressed, shut down or numb. Some people have dissociative responses when they are in this bodily state. The world around them feels less real, or they feel less real. You might feel more sleepy, more lethargic and you are more likely to turn down social invitations or are less likely to turn up for your favourite activities. Your digestive system slows down to conserve energy, you might feel nauseas. Your breathing and heart rate are slower.

Your body is designed to travel up and down this ladder all day every day, so that experiencing low or more withdrawn moods or some level of stress and anxiety is entirely natural. If you've experienced trauma or distress in life, and particularly if it has been chronic, your ladder might feel more like a rollercoaster. This can feel overwhelming and exhausting. Holding down a job, parenting, being in relationships, studying, managing chores - all these things can feel impossible and you might be feeling very powerless and/or hopeless.

Combining EMDR and trauma psychotherapy is one way to start putting brakes on the rollercoaster. Working with a trauma trained therapist can help you to start understanding your body's rhythms, crazy as they might seem to you, and begin to find ways to shift states when you need to. There are also things you can do yourself. See below for some ideas.