Your Nervous System Right Now

When you're on alert, when you shut down, and when you're in the calm zone (the “window of tolerance”)

The term “window of tolerance” (Dan Siegel) describes the range of intensity within which our nervous system can function — feel, think, connect — without being overwhelmed. When we go outside this window, we usually move in one of two directions: hyperarousal (the “alarm” system — anxiety, tension, worry) or hypoarousal (the “shutdown” system — numbness, disconnection, fatigue). The idea also draws on Stephen Porges' polyvagal theory, which describes how our autonomic nervous system moves between safety/connection, mobilization (fight/flight), and immobilization (freeze/shutdown). Important: this is not a standardized psychometric tool or a clinical scale — it is an original self-observation tool that shows a tendency at this point in time, not a fixed trait or a diagnosis.

These questionnaires are self-observation tools and are not a substitute for clinical diagnosis by a psychiatrist or another mental health professional.

When you're on alert, when you shut down, and when you're in the calm zone (the “window of tolerance”)

A self-observation tool, inspired by the “window of tolerance” and polyvagal theory: when you're on alert, when you shut down, and when you're in the zone where you can feel without being overwhelmed.

Instruction: How often has each of these happened to you in the last few weeks?

1/20

I feel my body on alert, as if something bad is about to happen.