The Polyvagal Method for Actors: A Holistic Approach

Contemporary text analysis for actors often focuses on "actions"—what characters do or try to do to achieve their desires. Many actors I've collaborated with have expressed that relying solely on action-based methods can feel insufficient or even contradictory to their understanding of human nature. In reality, our decisions and behaviors stem from a combination of our conscious 'thoughts' and innate 'feelings.' Interestingly, both are often sidestepped in modern training, considered ‘unplayable’. This poses a challenge: how can actors align their genuine human experiences with the methodologies they're taught?

Polyvagal mapping offers actors a way to explore their character’s somatic “feelings” without sacrificing aliveness to impulse or connection to their scene partners. Based on the work of neurobiologist Steven Porges and trauma clinician Deb Dana, polyvagal theory is a framework for understanding the intricacies of the nervous system. Through polyvagal training, actors can identify and convey three primary autonomic “states”— the safety and connectivity of ventral-vagal; the urgency of fight or flight in sympathetic; and the protective shutdown in dorsal-vagal. This method offers actors a physical vocabulary for embodying characters with depth and authenticity.

The Polyvagal Method consists of three steps:

• Character Mapping: Actors construct a detailed map of their character's nervous system and how each of their three autonomic states manifest.

• Text Analysis: Through careful examination, actors track their character's shifting autonomic states throughout a scene.

• Touchstone Work: Through embodied exploration, actors develop a somatic shorthand for those autonomic states, allowing actors to safely and effectively simulate their character’s somatic experience while remaining regulated and present. 

This method serves a dual purpose: first, it provides an intuitive, embodied route for character analysis, and secondly, it establishes a sustainable mode of self-regulation for the actor. Through the Polyvagal Method, actors can achieve a deeper connection to the roles they play and to one another while remaining emotionally and physically regulated, onstage and off. 

If you are interested in learning more about this method and its curricula, please contact me HERE.