Polyvagal Practices

This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to discover how to "befriend" your nervous system. The author emphasizes it is not "one and done" process, but rather one that is continuously refined. From the very beginning of the book, I found myself pausing and reflecting on the current state of my nervous system and noticing my predominant state most of the time. The author's insightful questions help the reader navigate their nervous system and encourages him/her/they/them to create a personalized map and language for it. This book provides valuable tools to access the ventral vagal state, where optimal connection and attunement can be experienced. Everyone should read this book. In addition, it's worth mentioning that the text in the paperback edition is quite small. I would encourage the publisher to consider increasing the book's size and print for future publications.

I enjoyed this book. I will reread it.

Once again Deb Dana hits it out of the park. This book is not only a great review of PVT but gives you immediate tools and knowledge to help you learn to calm your nervous system. As a psychotherapist who teaches PVT often this tool is for me personally and has helped me manage multiple projects better, focus on self-care more and be aware of how and when each circuit in my ANS is operating and how to quickly adjust to Ventral. Small and portable size is a plus! Thank you again Deb Dana!!

As a therapist trained in several body-centered modalities, I think the author has condensed (neither reduced nor simplified) Stephen Porges work into an elegant, concise methodology. Just enough theory to establish the infrastructure to then contain focused, targeted, intentional impacts upon the nervous system that heal what talk therapy may take years to resolve. Easy to add to existing approaches, e.g. Sensorimotor Psychothery, parts work, Hakomi, Psychodrama, or clinically adjacent disciples. It is an absolute gem!

Deb Dana does an excellent job of translating polyvagal theory into more accessible language, and this book is a good introduction to this approach. The content will be useful for both clinicians and laypersons. I am very frustrated, however, by the small size of the book -- 4.5 inches by 7.25 inches -- and the small font size. The font in the body copy is bad enough, but there are charts and graphics with minuscule type. To make matters worse, there is a colored screen behind the type on most of the pages. This reduces the contrast between the type and the background, and for those of us who have issues with vision, this can make the type more difficult to read. There seems to be a trend in publishing to make books smaller and to use a small font size, and/or a typeface that shows up very lightly on the page. (New Harbinger, a publisher of numerous psychology books, is one of the worst offenders; this book is published by Norton). In order to make this book usable, I enlarged the pages on a copier and will read it that way. Readers shouldn't have to do that!

Working with trauma clients, this little book is a must have! I love it. It is a great companion to The Body Keeps the Score.

The print could be bigger, the content is worthwhile.

this book is an excellent map to connect yourself to the things that may be blocking you. Deb Dana lays out a comfortable and safe way to process these blocks. I absolutely highly recommend this book. it is highly thoughtful and intelligently done.

The item arrived quickly. Very helpful and I recommend it to anyone doing psychotherapy.

Resourceful in understanding our build-up against critical moments.

The book is a good qualityand come in time, is easy to manipulate. Interesting exercises.

Brilliant little detailed book for the nervous system and how to support.

Excellent book but with such a small font that it makes it very difficult to read