Following our last podcast episode which has been exceedingly popular, we decided to delve further into stress and the polyvagal system. The focus of our session today in on connection with other people. When we are feeling stressed we struggle with being close to other people. Being connected to others on the other hand can help us with managing stress. Polyvagal Theory offers us a good overview of the three different states that our nervous system can be in: we can feel connected others and feel safe; we can feel threatened and fight back or avoid a situation by running away from it or we can be completely overwhelmed and shut down, playing dead so to speak. Other people can help us to co-regulate our emotions, in other words, if I am feeling stressed a friend, partner or colleague can help me to manage my feelings around being stressed better. People who are very isolated often struggle with regulating their emotions because they can't co-regulate with others. Often this goes hand in hand with being in a state of frozenness, helplessness and low self-esteem. The signals that are sent out to others often sadly indicate that this person does not seek connection. Some people manage stress much better than others. What is their secret? We explore how you can manage stress in a way that helps you to calm your nervous system and to be able to build connection with others.