Jesus and Polyvagal Theory?!

Jan 19 / Sharon Conley Cottingham
I have a fond affection for Jesus. Not the John Wayne American Jesus that so many of us find ourselves reacting against, but the Jesus I spent getting to know in my campus ministry days. That Jesus possessed eyes supernaturally capable of seeing the truth, yet a demeanor powerfully oriented to rigorous compassion. My students and I spent hours poring through the gospel accounts of Jesus, primarily in the book of Mark. Mark’s depiction of Jesus is that of a man on the move, deftly traveling from one curious community to another, spreading kind attention and healing in a way that transfixed those who had eyes to see. Yet, in all that motion, each Gospel account paints a portrait of Jesus as powerfully calm and at ease. Despite my years of intense questioning of the tenets of evangelicalism, I haven’t shaken that heart connection to this God-man who embodies much of what I long to be, particularly that calm and at-ease part. One of my favorite descriptions of Jesus comes from Dallas Willard. When asked to describe Jesus in a word, Willard said simply, “relaxed.”1  Jesus was relaxed, at ease in his identity and amid the tumult that regularly surrounded him.

Clearly, Jesus and his contemporaries didn’t have access to the stream of social media commentary on polyvagal theory that currently avails us. It appears, however, that Jesus did a stellar job of maintaining a calm central nervous system. How did he do it? He lived with myriad stressors—a traumatic birth, skepticism regarding his identity, political unrest, relational conflict, no apparent economic security, and relentless expectations of others. How, amidst all of this, did he present as one grounded in steady calm, focused on a reality larger than the immediate?

If you’ve missed the stream of information on polyvagal theory, it’s a fascinating teaching about the nervous system that reveals how the brain and body partner to respond to stressful situations. Initiated by Stephen Porges, PhD, polyvagal theory names safety, co-regulation, and connection as essential elements of well-being. The application of this theory invites a variety of exercises designed to regulate the nervous system and bring calm and desired focus. While Jesus may not have had access to Dr. Porges’ knowledge base, he aptly modeled the generation of safety, co-regulation, and human connection.

We truly don’t know how he did it, but if you’ll allow me some creative license to imagine, I’d guess that Jesus remained both keenly aware of a larger reality and fully connected to his physicality, his human being-ness, simultaneously. His awareness remained as spacious and open as the heavens while his feet remained rooted on the earth, aware of the sand in his toes and the sun on his face. Assurance of that larger reality confirmed his ultimate and immediate safety. Attentiveness to his somatic experience of the earth with its evident smells, tastes, sounds, sights, and sensations invited system regulation. His lifestyle of deep commitment to people—to their presence, their wounds, their potential—kept him connected. And I would imagine that this is how Jesus remained, as Dallas Willard points out, “relaxed.”

Christianity has a long history of a contentious dance between affirmations of Jesus’ humanity and Jesus’ divinity. Dualistic understandings of body and soul have led some to postpone all healing until heaven and others to insist on the viability of complete restoration here on earth. Jesus, it appears, could hold the tension of these apparent opposites in his being, and the result was a fully regulated nervous system. With heaven’s grandeur in his felt awareness and earth’s solidness beneath his feet, he lived relaxed.

I’m so grateful for the work of Stephen Porges and both the new awareness and guidelines for practice that polyvagal theory offers. And I understand why social media is flooded with invitations to explore our nervous systems and practice regulating them. We’re living in a season of systemic dysregulation—globally. I am one of many who are promoting regulation through breathwork, somatic grounding, and mindful exercise. Using these practices, though, to invite myself and others to a felt awareness of the spaciousness of heavenly reality is where I find the real healing magic. Any practice that invites rhythmic breath, mindful attention, sensory awareness, and rootedness in the present moment is worthwhile. These practices, coupled with an invitation to experience them as portals to divine reality, connection with the Holy, and attentiveness to a grander realm, offer a path to live as Jesus did, relaxed in a sea of dysregulation.

Try this Practice:
“Glimmers”, according to author Deb Dana, are “micro moments of regulation that foster feelings of well-being.” Glimmers are the opposite of triggers.2
Moments of glimmer can be quite simple—the feeling of the breeze on your face, that moment when your schedule aligns with the friend you’ve been itching to see, the warmth of the pup snuggled on your lap.
Mindful attention, the act of noticing, expands our capacity to recognize these simple joys that are available for noticing, in any circumstance.
● Take a moment to review the past few days.
● Note a moment that surfaces as a glimmer, a moment where you found yourself attentive to a simple joy, a gratitude, a delight.
● In what sense does this micro-experience expand your sense of the Holy?
Sharon Conley Cottingham
Sharon’s faith journey has been shaped by a love for expansive spaces. It’s a journey that has consistently taken her to new and surprising places. Rooted in the Christian tradition, her faith is energized by mindfulness-based compassion practices, breath and body work, and a contemplative way of being in the world.

She holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from Penn State University, an M.A. in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, B.C.), and both a Certificate and DMin in Spiritual Direction from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is also a graduate of Shalem’s Soul of Leadership program.

Sharon makes her home in Nashville, TN with spouse Stephen and two well-loved Maltipoos. She is also primary caregiver to her older sister, Janet, who lives just a mile away.

Find out more about Sharon on her website.
https://www.sharonconleycottingham.com/