The Secret to Optimizing Performance: A Nervous System Perspective

Peak Peformance

Optimizing performance is an attractive concept to us humans. We’re all interested in reaching our potential in life, regardless of the role we’re playing out day to day. Performance is broadly defined as “the action of performing a task or function,” and while we most associate the word with art and sport, we clearly are all performing everyday, whether in the office, at home, or wherever else we are.

Beneath optimal performance is a healthy, flexible nervous system (“NS”), which is a key component of overall health and wellbeing.

Yes… You caught me. I’m playing the game here, but I promise I have good intentions! The reality is that most of us are more intrigued by performance and potential than the hippy peace and happiness stuff. Performance feels more relevant and practical in our demanding, face-paced modern life. I get it, no judgement here.

In this piece, I’m going to expand on a few key concepts around optimal performance through the lens of the nervous system, specifically the Polyvagal Theory as developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. If you stick with me throughout, you’ll have a framework that can change the way you see the world/yourself/others and empower you to take a more active role in optimizing your performance and wellbeing!

On and off the court, at all times, at the foundation of all your experiences, is your nervous system. All the components of performance, including your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, attitudes, patterns, habits and the moment to moment actions you take are downstream from the source that resides in your nervous system. That source is your bodily state - the state of your autonomic nervous system.
- Michael Allison, Playzone Pro Training

Bodily State - Foundation of All Experience

When we refer to bodily state and the autonomic nervous system, we are referring to our physiology and the involuntary (unconscious) processes such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and digestion. Autonomic can be thought of as automatic (science made that one easy on us!).

Key concept - Shifts in NS state will either optimize or disrupt performance and all of its components.

There are 3 distinct nervous system states with associated behaviors that operate in a predictable, sequential hierarchy. We move up and down the hierarchy based on the amount of safety and threat perceived by our nervous system. They are broadly categorized as:

Safety (calm, connectedness)
Threat (fight or flight)
Overwhelming threat (shutdown)

When our nervous system perceives a threat, our first response is to mobilize resources towards taking action (fight/flight) to meet it. If fight/flight is unsuccessful, we move down the hierarchy to our next best (and last) option, immobilization and preserving resources.

These days the Fight or Flight state (or sympathetic state) has become quite mainstream, but the other two states as well as how fight/flight interacts with them, are less understood. While it’s not all or nothing in regards to which state we’re in (there’s always a subtle blending between states), the key point to emphasize today is the predictable pattern the NS follows (we’ll dig in more on blended states in the future).

Key concept - There are predictable behaviors, thoughts and feelings associated with each NS state.

Neuroception

“Perceived” is emphasized because it highlights a key NS functionality, our built-in alarm system: neuroception. Neuroception is a subconscious NS mechanism that is constantly (literally 24/7) scanning the environment for cues of safety or threat. Depending on what our neuroception perceives, we will either feel i) safety), ii) threat, iii) overwhelming threat, which corresponds directly with the NS state and behaviors indicated above.

Neuroception is scanning three environments:

Internal (cues from inside the body)
External (cues from environment)
Inter-relational (cues from other nervous systems)

Why is this concept of “perceiving” important? Because it’s subjective! Every nervous system is unique, with its own history and imprints. What your nervous system perceives as safe might not be the same for the nervous system of your coworker.

Key Concept - Safety is subjective.

The professional tennis player may maintain a feeling of calm and safety while performing at Wimbledon, yet feel intense anxiety while dancing at her wedding. The businessman may effortlessly present to thousands of employees, yet feel fear and intense insecurity on the golf course with just a few clients.

“If our nervous system detects safety, then it’s no longer defensive. When it’s no longer defensive, then the circuits of the autonomic nervous system support health, growth, and restoration.”
- Dr. Stephen Porges

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

How is your inner-critic? Do you speak more harshly to yourself than you would to a close friend? Unfortunately, the answer is yes for most of us, mainly because we haven’t created enough space to be able to objectively observe this chatter versus be overwhelmed/defined by it. We also lack a credible story that validates where these thoughts and behaviors come from. Luckily for us, the NS framework/story has just what we need to encourage that inner critic to stand down and let our higher, more compassionate self, take over.

Self-acceptance is the key to healing; we must embrace every part of ourselves, including our trauma, with love and compassion.
- Dr. Peter Levine

The NS framework helps calm our inner critic because we realize the NS has inherently good intentions - to protect us, and that it’s always giving its best effort. These uncomfortable feelings and thoughts are trying to show us that there’s something that needs our [loving] attention and that it is deeply supportive to learn how to be on our own side again. It’s amazing how easy it can be for us humans to be our own worst enemy (ok, maybe amazing isn’t the best word)…

In regards to NS functionality, a key issue that can arise based on our own life experiences (imprints from the past together with present stimuli) is when the NS starts to malfunction and lose its ability to appropriately detect threat. For many of us, our system becomes both biased and oversensitive towards cues of threat, and therefore less aware and able to access cues of safety.

Adding self-judgement and criticism compounds the problem by creating more threat and less safety to our system, and now we’re in a negative feedback loop. The solution offered by Polyvagal-informed interventions is to re-align our minds with our physiology by letting go of shame/judgement and learning how to deeply listen to and support the optimal functioning and innate healing capacities of the NS.

Key concept - The body/NS has an innate capacity to heal.

A NS chronically perceiving threat is what it feels like to live with chronic stress/anxiety - that feeling of not being able to let your guard down. No surprise here, but it’s metabolically taxing to live in a chronic stress state, and there is a limit to how long we can be there until we start shutting down (burnout and dissociation).

“Often we have been taught, as part of a strategy to manage our behavior, to reject the feedback that our body is telling us.”
- Dr. Stephen Porges

The Secret to Optimizing Performance

The Play Zone (state of optimal performance) refers to a body grounded in a state of safety and capable of play even in the face of challenging internal and external environments, by revving up and calming down, mobilizing and immobilizing, without shifting into a bodily state of defense.
- Michael Allison

The goal is a resilient and flexible nervous system. Let’s explore what that means:

1. Not being chronically locked into a particular state

This refers to moving between the different NS states in order to appropriately meet the present demands of life.
- Many think that we should be like a train that moves at the same speed regardless of the weather conditions, but this is inaccurate from the NS perspective.
Changing speeds is necessary in life, and NS health is about meeting life with appropriate levels of activation and relaxation dependent on the situation. An ability to flow between states, per se.

2. Able to safely mobilize

Mobilization is sending resources away from homeostasis (health, growth, restoration) and towards taking action, BUT the mobilization doesn’t have to be taken as a threat response and from a place of fear (fight/flight).
- This is the key point in Michael Allison’s PlayZone theory: the state of optimal performance is a mobilized state that remains grounded in a felt sense of safety.
Mobilization with safety (Playzone):
- When we get out of bed or off the couch and engage with life, we are mobilizing resources.
- We are all mobilizing in our day to day, the key question is from what NS state are we taking action - safety or defense?

3. Able to efficiently recover after losing control

Moments of losing control and going into a threat response are inevitable in life, but a healthy NS with the homeostatic safe state strongly established as the default is able to efficiently recover.

The secret skill the Champions master, whether they know it or not, is the ability to feel safe in their body when in environments and facing situations that trigger their opponents to shift into a bodily state of defense. Only a body in a state of safety supports performing at its highest potential.
- Michael Allison

In Conclusion

There you have it, the secret to optimal performance is now out to the MÁS Health community! But please don’t feel like you have to keep it hidden. Ideally all of us start to implement these concepts into our life and spread the message of safety through our understanding of this framework AND more importantly through the felt sense of safety in our bodies.

This work is so valuable because it is relatively simple to understand (even for an econ major like myself!) and highly practical. It gives us a framework that makes sense for our rational thinking minds and practical ways to integrate it into every day life. It helps us become more self compassionate as we understand the nervous system’s good intentions as well as empowered realizing we can transform it.

Key concept - the nervous system is malleable - It can change!

It means that…

We can learn how to consciously impact our nervous system and bring it back to the safe state of health, growth, and restoration.
We can heal our old imprints and restore the original default safe state that responds appropriately to the present (again).
We can optimize our performance towards the demands of life while simultaneously optimizing our overall quality of life…

To be EXTRA clear, this focus on performance is not just about sports, but directly correlates to office and family life (where the majority of my community lives). Our culture of competition, evaluation, and rapid unpredictable change at the office and home can produce threat responses in the NS just like being on a court with an opponent and thousands of spectators would. In a world with a lot to be stressed about in 2025, this framework is more relevant and practical than ever.

Call me crazy or biased, but this certainly feels like a big deal to me!

How to Start Taking Action Today?

Become aware of your resources: the activities, people and places that give you a felt sense of calm and safety. Because we now know neuroception is scanning internal, external and inter-relational cues for safety/threat, it’s useful to become more aware of what our resources are for each category. Below are some examples, but we can’t forget that resources are subjective and we are therefore required to listen to our own bodies and find those that are unique to us!

Internal Resources (what)
- ex. breathwork, grounding exercises
External Resources (where)
- ex. bedroom, library, yoga studio, beach
Inter-relational (who)
- ex. personal friends/family or professionals (coaches/therapists)

My Work and Final Thoughts

My Personal Develop Coaching touches everything in an individual’s life, which certainly includes NS health through developing awareness and tools to increase NS flexibility and resilience.

In addition, I am launching a new offering called Nervous System Mapping, a 4-session package entirely focused on the client’s unique NS. The Mapping offering is designed to help you connect more deeply with your nervous system and resources, and to start optimizing your personal performance and overall wellbeing through a deep dive into the theory and supporting practices. I will help you identify your resources and how to best use them both during and outside moments of stress.

As always, I’m very happy to hear from you all! Anything you find particularly interesting/useful, as well as any questions or confusion that has come up, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

This is just the beginning of our exploration into the nervous system framework as presented by Dr. Stephen Porges with his Polyvagal Theory and Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing body-based therapeutic model, my two biggest influences in this space. I’m excited to keep going deeper and provide accessible, high-value content!

Thank you all for being here. To MÁS nervous system flexibility, MÁS safety, and MÁS self-compassion for all!

Drew