Conveying the experience of living through a dorsal vagus lens to someone who has never felt it is profoundly difficult.

Having experienced life through both a dorsal and ventral lens, it’s clear that the difficulty goes both ways. Just as it’s nearly impossible to convey the weight of dorsal to someone who hasn’t lived it, it’s equally challenging to fully remember or relate to it when you’re in a ventral state.

In dorsal, your mind is consumed by a sense of impending threat and looming danger, imagining the worst in every situation. Words feel insufficient to bridge the gap between these states. The harder you try to explain, the further away you seem to get from being understood. You sense the other person pulling away — not out of malice, but out of incomprehension — yet it feels like rejection, deepening the isolation. The feelings are within you, but they appear to be coming from those we interact with – there reactions are often confusing and disorientating through the distorted lens of dorsal, that we are completely unaware of. We imagine it is them as opposed to us.  The gaze of professionals can be just as disorienting. Their well-meaning expressions spark a quiet panic in your soul, signalling not understanding but judgment — mirroring the relentless self-criticism already at play within you.

The following exercise aims to bridge the gap.
Visualise two buffet tables in front of you:

​•​The Table of Abundance (Ventral State) — a luxurious delicious, nutritious, banquet

​•​The Table of Lack (Dorsal State) — a table with a murky grey tablecloth,  less than appetising,  although similar in appearance to the untrained eye

Each table is filled with “food” — but this food is not physical. It represents thoughts.

Here’s how it works:

​1.​The Luxurious Table (Ventral: Abundance) contains thoughts of joy, love, gratitude, possibility, and hope.

​2.​The Grey Table (Dorsal: Lack) contains thoughts of scarcity, fear, hopelessness, and isolation.

The choice of which table you “eat” from determines your internal experience. Remember this simple process:

Thought → Feeling → Action

If you select “joy” from the ventral table, what does joy feel like in your body? Heart, Soul?
You begin to feel joy within, which shapes your actions and, in turn, your lived experience.

If you select “lack of joy” from the dorsal table, you feel its absence, leading to experiences of isolation, scarcity, and limitation. True for every choice you make

Something you may be unaware of is, your starting point is always your last choice. Your point of power is NOW…

Every choice is a fresh opportunity to decide which table you will eat from next. But here’s the challenge:

When we experience trauma, it’s like being locked in a room with only the ‘lack of’ table. The luxurious ‘ventral’  table is there, but is feels unreachable, out of bounds, unavailable to the ‘likes of you’.  We observe as others select the juicy fruits of love, joy, wellbeing and abundance, but its off limits – no obvious access – which feels like exclusion. You may believe there’s no other option but to consume from the Table of Lack. The more we observe others enjoying the table of abundance, the more we gorge on a diet of  ‘a lack of’, internalising misery.  This is the experience of a “dorsal state” — the shutdown, numbness, and disconnection that often follow overwhelm or trauma.

The Way Out – The gift of inclusion..

Here’s the secret: You use your imagination to “transform” the ‘dorsal’ lack of table into the ventral table of abundance. We don’t realise this from the dorsal perspective, someone needs to guide us. It’s challenging, but it’s entirely achievable with the right support in the right space, with reassurance understanding and without criticism or judgment.

Instead of trying to fight your way out of the dorsal state, which only serves to keep you trapped in there, you come to see abundance where you currently see lack. By “tricking” your brain, you shift perception from scarcity to abundance.

Someone from the table of abundance has to open the door for you, authentically welcoming you in… guide you to take your rightful place at the table of abundance,  helping you to choose what to eat.. they do so – as an equal, you are not a guest .. reminding you how you have always belonged here, even though you may not feel like you should be there.
Your invite to dine at the table of an abundance has to be constantly renewed and communicated to you until you feel you belong. It has to be okay when you forget your manners, spill on your clothes, forget to use your cutlery. You are welcomed and guided back to the table until you are able to approach and consume from the table alone – once you feel safe, confident and comfortable to do so.

There is a buffer of time between the thoughts we consume and the experiences they create. Unsure? What is your current state? Which table have you been feasting from? Your current state is not fixed — it is simply the result of past choices, and a new choice can redirect your experience.

Beliefs are the thoughts we persistently hold. Since thoughts are malleable, we have the power to alter our beliefs by consciously selecting different thoughts.

5 Take-aways…

  • ​You are always choosing which table to eat from.
  • ​Trauma makes you feel trapped with the Table of Lack, but it is only an illusion.
  • ​​Your power is now. The table you choose today shapes the feelings and actions you experience tomorrow.
  • ​You can shift states by changing your perspective — see the possibility, love, or joy hidden within the present moment.
  • We are here to support and guide you through.. Get In Touch

(Food for Thought; The Two Tables of the Mind – by Deborah J Crozier/2024).