Beneath the Surface of "Thought": Uncovering Your Innate Capacity for Seeing and Being Seen

Somatic Science® is a highly effective neurocognitive & nondual wisdom approach. It supports our nervous system to become regulated, relaxed and harmonized with itself & the external environment. This helps us to develop a basic capacity for self-attunement and self-regulation, which are essential for satisfying relationships with our self and others. This approach fills the void left by Science and Spirituality yet embraces both, which ignore the great importance of Nervous System Regulation in our lives.

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Becoming aware that others recognize my existence can provoke a surprising sense of vulnerability. For some, this awareness is so deeply linked to past experiences of danger, judgment, or rejection that simply feeling "seen" by others becomes dysregulating. The result: even the basic experience of knowing that "I exist" can be perceived as threatening to us.

To even feel this difficulty, one must first develop the capacity for a subtle awareness of self. This is not inherently difficult—but for many, it is. That challenge is not a flaw; it is an imprint of survival.

From a biological perspective, our capacity to regulate and feel safe in connection with others is mediated by a deeply evolved system: the autonomic nervous system, particularly the vagus nerve. This system is part of our evolutionary inheritance and is involved in responding to cues of safety or danger in our environment.

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The vagus nerve has two major branches:

1. The dorsal vagal complex, associated with immobilization, shutdown, and freeze responses—often activated under conditions of extreme or prolonged threat.

2. The ventral vagal complex, associated with social engagement, facial expression, prosody, heart rate regulation, and a sense of safety in connection with others.

These two systems are coordinated by neural structures such as the dorsal motor nucleus and the nucleus ambiguus, which mediate parasympathetic responses. When the maladaptive threat response cycle (mTRC) is activated—always due to perceived psychological threat—our nervous system shifts away from ventral vagal functioning. This shift weakens the neural integration between key parts of the body, especially between the heart and face.

This weakening has profound effects. When the TRC is dominant:

• The facial muscles flatten, reducing our capacity to express or recognize emotion.

• The heart becomes less flexible, leading to reduced heart rate variability—a key indicator of nervous system resilience.

• Our ability to feel how we feel (interoception) and to attune to others' feelings (empathy) is impaired.

• We lose access to the ventral vagal network, which is essential for self-regulation and co-regulation—the ability to soothe ourselves and stay connected in relationship.

In short, the very system that enables us to feel safe in our existence becomes compromised. When this state is repeated over time, the neural pathways supporting threat and isolation are reinforced, creating a self-perpetuating loop of dysregulation.

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However, our capacity for neuroplasticity is resilient, so we are not stuck here. Our nervous system is capable of change. While it is true that long-standing patterns of threat response may have been conditioned by early or repeated experiences, these patterns are not fixed. We can train new neural pathways through intentional attention, gentle exploration, and relationship.

This is the invitation: to shift emphasis toward new patterns of regulation—first, by acknowledging that we are here, and that we exist. And not just that we exist, but that it is good to exist. That we can coexist, regulate one another, and feel safe in that connection.

This shift is not forced or fabricated. It must be discovered through experience. For example, we might gently bring awareness to our face, to our breath, to our heart. W might notice what happens in our nervous system. Does it tense? Does it soften? Can we feel others? Can we allow them to feel us?

These micro-experiments are grounded in embodied observation, not belief. This is not science in the academic sense—with peer-reviewed data and control groups—but it is empirical in a personal, somatic sense. You form a hypothesis: “I can feel safe while being seen.” Then you test it. If the result is increased tension or fear, you take note. If there’s a shift toward openness or calm, that too is informative.

In practice, most people find that with repeated, gentle attention to ventral vagal cues—such as tone of voice, facial expression, breath, warmth, eye contact—something softens. A reconnection occurs. One begins to feel not only safe, but emotionally reachable. This is co-regulation in action.

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We cannot eliminate the threat response altogether—it is essential for survival. But we can learn to recognize its maladaptive version when it is active, and slowly, safely, guide ourselves toward more balanced states. Over time, this rewires our nervous system. The neural connections between the heart and face, once weakened by chronic threat, can be restored, allowing for richer emotional experience and connection.

This is the essence of self-regulation and co-regulation. It is not about escaping pain but about building the capacity to stay present, to be with, and to choose new ways of relating to ourselves and others.

The question remains: not whether science can prove this yet, but whether we can observe it directly, in your own experience. Please join us for a two-day experimental workshop where we can learn discover and experience this together.