Wired for Connection: A Polyvagal Podcast
Wired for Connection: A Polyvagal Podcast
Podcast Description
Wired for Connection is a podcast devoted to sharing information about Polyvagal Theory and the vagus nerve, in service of our mission to optimize the human experience by creating a safe and connected world.We highlight guests who share more information on the role the vagus nerve plays in our mental and physical health, alongside stories about their experience with their nervous systems in navigating relatable human experiences.This podcast is hosted by Polyvagal Institute, an international non-profit organization. Learn more about PVI on our website at www.polyvagalinstitute.org.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on Polyvagal Theory, including mental and physical health, co-regulation, and the impact of the vagus nerve on our lives, with episodes highlighting topics like the evolution of trauma therapy and community insights from the Polyvagal family, offering actionable strategies for personal and professional integration.
Wired for Connection is a podcast devoted to sharing information about Polyvagal Theory and the vagus nerve, in service of our mission to optimize the human experience by creating a safe and connected world.
We highlight guests who share more information on the role the vagus nerve plays in our mental and physical health, alongside stories about their experience with their nervous systems in navigating relatable human experiences.
This podcast is hosted by Polyvagal Institute, an international non-profit organization. Learn more about PVI on our website at www.polyvagalinstitute.org.
In this episode of Wired for Connection, we chat with Dr. Keira Barr about skin health, stress, inflammation, and the nervous system. Dr. Barr is a dermatologist whose work lives at the intersection of psychodermatology, mind-body medicine, Polyvagal Theory, and skin healing. She shares how her own experience with early melanoma, gut issues, hormone issues, and burnout changed the way she understood dermatology and helped her see that the skin is not simply a problem to fix, but a messenger speaking through the body.
We explore how the nervous system and skin are in constant communication, including the nervous, immune, cutaneous, and endocrine pathways that shape inflammation, stress responses, and chronic flare cycles. Dr. Barr explains why your skin can generate cortisol, adrenaline, and inflammatory messengers, making it both a target and a source of the stress response. This helps explain why stress can show up as acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, hives, hair loss, and other inflammatory skin conditions.
Dr. Barr also unpacks how Polyvagal Theory gives language to what many people with chronic skin issues already feel: “I’m not broken. My body is trying to tell me something.”
Dr. Barr also shares practical tips on sleep, food, environment, social media, self-touch, breath, and skincare rituals can become nervous system supports. She explains why the skin is the first site of attachment, how touch communicates safety, and how applying skincare with intention can become a regulation practice instead of another self-improvement chore from the $500 billion beauty-industrial circus.
If you struggle with chronic skin flares, acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, hives, stress-related breakouts, or skin shame, this episode offers a compassionate and science-informed way to understand your skin through the lens of safety, inflammation, and nervous system regulation.
Dr. Barr will be presenting at the 2026 PVI International Gathering in Sitges, Spain. Both in-person and virtual tickets are available now.
CONNECT WITH Polyvagal Institute:
WEB: www.polyvagalinstitute.org
Instagram: @polyvagalinstitute
LinkedIn: polyvagal-institute
Email: [email protected]
CONNECT WITH Travis Goodman:
Web: travisgoodmanlmft.com
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