Decoding The Neurobiology of Connection: Understanding Autonomic State & Vagus Nerve Health | Natureza Gabriel

Natureza Gabriel is an ancestral neuroscience pioneer, developer of Autonomics, and founder of Hearth Science — an organization and community offering tools, trainings, and practices that help people cultivate nervous system fluency and deepen their experience of wellbeing. At the heart of his work is Autonomics, an animist cartography of living autonomic physiology shaped by over three decades of collaboration with more than one hundred mentors and advisors across 25 healing traditions and 24 cultures, many indigenous. It is considered one of the first accurate maps of the living autonomic nervous system in modernity. His Autonomics trainings have been sought out by the United Nations, a division of NATO, global social and ecological movements, and elite firms in executive coaching and leadership development. He is the author of many books including "Restorative Practices of Well-Being," "Finding Home in Your Nervous System," "Autonomic Triage," and "The Neurobiology of Connection."In this conversation, we explore the origins of Gabriel's autonomic model and how it diverged from Polyvagal Theory, and the 13 autonomic states that make up his framework.We get into neuroception, neurology, and neurochemistry, what constitutes a healthy autonomic nervous system, and the limits of HRV and the future of autonomic diagnostics.We also explore the importance of restorative practices, how to rebalance a hyperactivated nervous system, how to rebalance a shut-down nervous system, and the importance of community in healing and processing grief.We close on the limitations of modernity, how modernity disconnected us from the Earth, the challenges of running a company in a culture of domination, how to bridge power and wisdom by becoming a mycelium network, the disconnection underlying the techno-optimist worldview, and pathways towards civilizational wellness.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗Gabriel's personal site Gabriel's autonomic trainings Gabriel's clinic Restorative practices portal The Neurobiology of Connection — Natureza Gabriel Ground: How Modernity Disconnected from the Earth — Natureza Gabriel Finding Home in Your Nervous System — Natureza Gabriel Awakening Human Connection — Natureza Gabriel Stephen Porges Somatic Experiencing Dr. Vincent Felitti Malidoma Patrice Somé Sobonfu Somé on grief Tiokasin Ghosthorse Scott Galloway podcast What is Circling? — Artem Zen Carri Munn🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Introduction3:52 - The origins of Autonomics — bridging neuroscience and autonomic physiology7:53 - Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory, and moving beyond a two-system autonomics21:44 - The 13 autonomic states31:31 - Neuroception, neurology, and neurochemistry34:55 - What is a healthy autonomic nervous system?42:39 - The limits of HRV and the future of autonomic diagnostics49:17 - The importance of restorative practices52:00 - How to rebalance a hyperactivated nervous system1:01:09 - How to rebalance a shut-down nervous system1:05:47 - The importance of community in healing and processing grief1:11:45 - The limitations of modernity1:14:55 - Ground — how modernity disconnected us from the Earth1:24:10 - The challenges of running a company in a culture of domination1:33:52 - How do we bridge power and wisdom? Becoming a mycelium network1:45:10 - The disconnection that underlies the techno-optimist worldview1:48:33 - Pathways towards civilizational wellness*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get the latest podcast episodes, in-depth articles, and community practice sessions delivered straight to your inbox