The five states

Everything in Gentleward reads from one small map: five autonomic states, the plain-language version of polyvagal theory.

• Safe & Social (ventral vagal) — calm, connected, curious, present. What it needs: maintenance — savor it, do meaningful work.
• Flow (ventral + sympathetic blend) — energized but safe; hyperfocus that feels good. What it needs: protection — fewer interruptions.
• Mobilized (sympathetic) — anxious, driven, overwhelmed, “too much”. What it needs: discharge — movement first, then down-regulation.
• Stillness (ventral + dorsal blend) — restful, intimate, safe to be still. What it needs: permission — rest without guilt.
• Shutdown (dorsal vagal) — numb, foggy, flat, “not enough”. What it needs: gentle re-engagement — warmth and tiny steps.

Why it’s here. Naming a state is the difference between being swept along by it and seeing it. The two blends matter most: flow is the regulated face of mobilization, stillness the regulated face of shutdown. The app’s core value is helping you tell rest apart from collapse and flow apart from panic — they can feel similar from the inside.

The psychology. This is interoception and co-regulation, the body-up view of the nervous system. You don’t think your way to safety; you notice your state and give it what it actually needs, which is rarely “try harder”.

A contemplative thread. The Buddhist word sati — mindfulness — points at exactly this: bare attention to what is present, before any story about it. The states are a vocabulary for that attention.