From Shutdown to Self-Aware: Crossing into Articulation

Somatic Science® is a neurobiologically grounded, 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 can result in a great depth and breadth of self-discovery, presence, joy and peace- the aim of all genuine Wisdom traditions.

The aim of our approach is to enjoy life with happiness; no more and no less. It is not to focus on diagnoses, understanding our problems or spending many years analyzing them. When we are happy, we are simply BEING the present moment, where psychological problems do not exist. There might be challenges, and in being presence, we can resolve them with responsibility and care. Happiness is simply the absence of suffering, and for our nervous system, suffering means that a threat response cycle (TRC) is active regardless of present-moment safety. This has fundamental repercussions on our capacity for feeling alive, safe and open to novelty in our world.

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Crossing the Bridge of Self-Forgetfulness

Have you ever felt like you were “checking out” emotionally, cognitively—but somehow noticed it as it was happening and were able to "come back"?

Maybe you were sitting in a conversation, and a wave of sleepiness, heaviness, or fog rolled onto your experience of your self. You didn’t leave, but it seemed as though something within started to shut down or became distant or even mushy. And then—somehow—you noticed it. Perhaps you even laughed. Maybe it softened. Something shifted.

That moment of noticing what was starting to happen—even if you didn’t fully understand it—is what Somatic Science® describes as the articulation phase in the transformation of fixations. These fixations form an amalgam that we call the maladaptive threat response cycle (mTRC). In the articulation phase, we make the fixations explicit or available to metacognition using different dialectical and neurobiological constructs. Since our nervous system is behind the scenes managing our metabolic energy, we can engage distinct aspects that will allow it to release the energy previously associated with perceived threats. It's possible that at some point in the flow of conversation, it appears more personally challenging (threatening) to relate to and/or respond to the other. Our nervous system solves this by causing us to dissociate, becoming introspective or leaving outright. Everyone experiences this, regardless of age, origin, beliefs or social background.

What Is the Articulation Phase?

The articulation phase as described in Somatic Science® is a transitional moment when a previously unconscious or automatic internal response becomes re-cognizable to us in awareness or metacognition. It’s like if a fish were to notice the water it’s been swimming in.

This isn’t about intellectual understanding. It’s something more immediate: a felt sense that something is moving, changing, or surfacing—just enough to be noticed. The three fixations are ways in which our nervous system has learned to adapt to the threats that it has been conditioned to perceive. It uses three main strategies to conserve the excess metabolic energy connected to these perceived threats:

• Autonomic Fixations: the Autonomic nervous system binds energy via constriction of the viscera, fascia and/or muscles. These take the form of chronic pains and tensions.

• Behavioral Fixations: the Autonomic nervous system binds energy by forcing us into a limited and rote repertoire of small yet insidious habits (such as smoking or drinking).

• Cognitive fixations: the Autonomic nervous system binds energy by causing a patterned set of neural pathways to be constantly energized. This takes the form of intrusive imagery, flashbacks, worrisome "what-ifs" and ultimately, generates implicit beliefs about who we are or how we see ourselves. The latter usually take the form of existential shame.

In the language of the nervous system, this moment of the felt-sense marks a shift from implicit (dorsal) states—like collapse, withdrawal, or numbness—toward explicit (ventral) awareness, where we begin to feel, name, or relate to our experience beyond the 3 fixations. It is in the articulation phase that we identify the three distinct fixations that force our nervous system to use dorsal (non-relational) pathways. These fixations are the axes on which the mTRC relies for its pre-programmed (conditioned) rotations.

The dorsal vagal complex is akin to an antiquated dial-up connection—slow, primitive (yet effective), and evolved for survival, often triggering shutdown in moments of overwhelm. In contrast, the ventral vagal complex functions like a swift and sophisticated fiber-optic network—efficient, finely tuned, and essential for fostering connection, engagement, and emotional presence.

Dorsal vs. Ventral: A Quick Primer

Our autonomic nervous system has different branches that handle different states of biological function:

• Dorsal vagal states are about survival through withdrawal. Think freezing, shutting down, going numb, or disappearing. These states conserve energy and keep us safe when life feels overwhelming.

• Ventral vagal states are about connection and engagement. Here, we feel safe enough to relate—to others, to ourselves, and to our environment.

The articulation phase is where these systems begin to talk to each other - different nervous system pathways begin to carry the metabolic energy in a way that is managed relationally. The part that wants to shut down meets the part that can stay. And that’s when something new can emerge. This meeting requires that the threads of awareness (metacognition) begin to re-assemble or sew back together different patches of our experience in non-conceptual real-time: exteroception, interoception, cognition and behaviors. When these fabrics are sewn into one another seamlessly, we begin to experience our original condition: We are alive, we are safe, we are open to novelty, curiosity and play. We are happy to simply BE.

Can We Really Observe Shutdown While It’s Happening?

Yes—and it might be more common than we think.

Scientists like Stephen Porges (creator of Polyvagal Theory) and researchers like Antonio Damasio and Alan Fogel have helped us understand how our nervous systems communicate with our conscious awareness. These moments of awareness often happen when ventral circuits (which support presence and safety) are just active enough to witness what the more defensive, hidden parts of the system are doing.

You might notice:

• A clenched jaw or tight chest

• A sudden feeling of emotional heaviness

• A desire to cry, but a voice inside saying “don’t”

• A kind of “fading” or fogginess

None of these signs are problems. They’re just signals that something inside is trying to be seen. If we can stay with the noticing, even for a few seconds, something in the system starts to reorganize.

Why Some Calm People Still Don’t Feel Fully Aware

Here’s an interesting twist: just because someone looks calm or socially engaged doesn’t mean they’re deeply self-aware.

In fact, many people who function well in the world are doing so from a kind of ventral auto-pilot—they’re outwardly regulated, but not necessarily tuned in to what’s happening internally.

This means we can be:

• Kind and relational, but still avoid our own feelings

• Energetically present, but emotionally disconnected

• In our “window of tolerance,” but without deep reflection

The articulation phase invites us to bridge that gap—not by effort, but by relating to whatever shows up inside, even resistance or numbness.

If at this very moment we are experiencing unease that can be located as a sensation of tightness or intensity anywhere in the body, it means that our ANS is attempting to update itself to the current conditions. It is entering the articulation phase.

What Helps Us Articulate?

Here are a few conditions that tend to support this transitional phase:

1. Curiosity without judgment Can we say, “Oh, this is happening,” instead of, “Something’s wrong with me”?

2. Interoceptive awareness That’s a fancy term for tuning into body signals: breath, pressure, warmth, tension.

3. Relational safety Feeling co-regulated with someone else—or recalling that sense—helps the body not panic when discomfort arises.

4. Naming or laughing Even a soft “Oh wow” or spontaneous laughter can open up the circuit of observation.

Evolutionarily, the articulation phase allows the redirection of energy that would otherwise support defensive states—such as fight, flight, or freeze—into prosocial motor behaviors like crying or even moaning. These behaviors are, in effect, a way of metabolizing arousal into connection.

From Survival to Presence

When we begin to notice our shutdown patterns without getting swallowed by them, we’re not fixing ourselves. We’re growing the capacity to stay with what’s real. And that’s a quiet form of transformation.

Whether through spontaneous laughter, a bodily shiver, or a sentence like “I think I’m going away right now,” we step into a deeper kind of intelligence—one that lives in the space between collapse and clarity.

This is what the articulation phase offers: a glimpse of ourselves as we’re unfolding—not after the fact, not in theory, but right now, in real time.

And often, that glimpse is enough to change everything.

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References

* Porges, S. (2009). *The Polyvagal Theory: New insights into adaptive reactions of the autonomic nervous system.*

* Panksepp, J. (1998). *Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions.*

* Vingerhoets, A. (2013). *Why Only Humans Weep: Unravelling the Mysteries of Tears.*

* Gross, J. J., & Levenson, R. W. (1997). *Emotional regulation: The autonomic consequences of sadness and anger.*

* Feldman, R. (2017). *The neurobiology of human attachments.*

* Keltner, D., & Bonanno, G. A. (1997). A study of laughter and crying in response to emotion-inducing films.