Polyvagal Theory & the Brain-Gut Axis Course: An Intro to Neuro-Integrative Medicine at Polyvagal Institute - Join The Waitlist
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The Brain Gut Movement™ Certificate
By BG Mancini, AP, MHSc · Professional Training in Brain-Gut-Sensory Axis
NeuroIntegrative Practice
Brain Gut Movement teaches the Brain–Gut–Sensory Axis and the MicroResets™ model.
How small, targeted physiological shifts change the way the nervous system responds to stress, sensory load, and daily life. Whether you're here to understand your own nervous system or to bring this framework into clinical practice, there's a track that fits where you're starting from.
Most clinical training teaches one system at a time. The nervous system. The gut. The brain. Behavior. Sensory processing. Each in its own lane.
The problem is that none of these systems operate in isolation. What loads the nervous system affects the gut. What the gut signals shapes autonomic state. What the body carries as accumulated MicroTrauma changes what feels safe, what feels possible, and how much capacity is available on any given day.
The Brain-Gut MovementTM Certificate is a professional training built around a different organizing principle: the Brain-Gut-Sensory Axis. It gives clinicians, practitioners, therapists, and educators a unified physiological framework for understanding how the body takes in load, responds to it, builds reserves, and changes over time — and what to actually do about it.
NEXT COHORT NOW AVAILABLE
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Five spots remaining. We recommend a brief conversation before registering to confirm this cohort is the right fit for your practice and goals.​​
CONTACT US TO APPLY
This Certificate Is For
Practitioners who want a framework that works with the whole system.
Clinicians and Acupuncture Physicians
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A physiologically grounded lens that integrates brain-gut physiology, autonomic function, and sensory processing into clinical reasoning and treatment.
Therapists and Mental Health Practitioners
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A body-first framework that bridges physiology
and psychological experience — grounding
emotional and behavioral patterns in their
biological underpinnings.
Educators and School-Based Professionals
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A practical, science-informed approach to
understanding why capacity, regulation, and
learning shift — and what can change the
trajectory.
Occupational Therapists and Sensory
Practitioners
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A framework that places sensory processing
inside the full metabolic and autonomic context — expanding both assessment and intervention.
Coaches and Wellness Practitioners
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A rigorous, evidence-informed foundation for
supporting nervous system health, gut physiology,
and sustainable capacity across populations.
Five Modules. One Integrated Framework.
Each module builds on the one before it. By the end, you have a clinical map that connects what the body is carrying, how it's responding, and how to shift it.
Module 1
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The Brain-Gut-Sensory Axis
The foundational architecture of the framework. How the brain, gut, and sensory system operate as a
single integrated system — not three separate ones. How gut signaling shapes autonomic state, how
autonomic state shapes perception and behavior, and how sensory input loads or supports the whole
axis simultaneously.
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This module also introduces the nine sensory channels — the classic five plus vestibular,
proprioceptive, interoceptive, and neuroceptive — and how each one contributes to or draws from
available metabolic reserves.
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✓ You'll walk away understanding why addressing any one system in isolation so often produces
limited results — and what a whole-system lens changes in clinical practice.
Module 2
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MicroTraumas and the Load on the System
MicroTraumas are the internal and external stressors that accumulate across time, narrowing
physiological capacity before they become visible in symptoms, behavior, or diagnosis. They include
sensory overload, gut dysregulation, immune burden, relational stress, environmental exposures —
including heavy metals, mold, PFAS, and water contaminants — sleep disruption, and the sustained
cost of compensation.
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This module maps how MicroTraumas load the system through Frequency, Intensity, and Duration —
and why cumulative load, not single events, is most often what drives dysregulation. No single input
needs to be extreme. Repetition, stacking, and sustained exposure are what push the system beyond
its available resources.
✓ You'll walk away with a clinical framework for identifying which MicroTraumas are at play for
each individual — and why the same input affects different people so differently depending on their
available metabolic reserves.
Module 3
​The Metabolic Window of Tolerance
The Metabolic Window of Tolerance is a proprietary official teaching framework developed by BG
Mancini within the Brain-Gut Movement ecosystem. It provides a physiologically grounded model for
understanding capacity — where the system is living, how wide the window is, and what is narrowing it.
This module introduces the four-layer architecture: mapping what's coming in (Input FID),
understanding how the system is responding (Response FID), building reserves through
Brain-Gut-Sensory MicroResets , and measuring real change through Adaptive FID over time.
✓ You'll walk away with the Metabolic Window of Tolerance as a clinical organizing tool you can
apply immediately — across autism, mental health, physical health, trauma, and dysautonomia
presentations.
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Module 4
Brain-Gut-Sensory MicroResets
MicroResets are small, intentional physiological interventions that shift the system from threat
physiology toward regulation and recovery. They work through the FIDOT process — Focus, Inhale,
Digest, Open, Thrive — targeting the gut-brain axis, autonomic nervous system, and sensory channels
simultaneously.
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This module teaches the clinical application of MicroResets : how to select, sequence, and prescribe
them based on each person's current window, load profile, and available reserves. It also covers why
small, repeated, low-cost interventions often outperform intensive single-session approaches in shifting
the trajectory over time.
✓ You'll walk away with a practical, evidence-informed repertoire of body-first interventions
grounded in mechanism — and a clear clinical rationale for why they work.
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Module 5
Measuring Change— Adaptive FID Over Time
Progress is not the absence of symptoms. This is one of the most important clinical reframes the
framework offers — and one of the most freeing for both practitioners and the people they support.
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Adaptive FID provides a precise measure of whether the window is widening: the same input, tracked
over time, becoming less frequent in its activation, less intense in its response, and shorter in its
recovery. That is the shift. That is how you know the system is changing.
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This module covers clinical tracking, how to communicate progress accurately to clients and families,
how to adjust interventions based on FID data, and how the Brain-Gut-Sensory Axis continues to
update as accumulated load decreases and capacity rebuilds.
✓ You'll walk away with a measurement framework that replaces vague wellbeing language with
specific, observable, physiologically grounded evidence of change.
What This Certificate Gives You
✓ A complete understanding of the Brain-Gut-Sensory Axis as a unified clinical framework — not three
separate systems.
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✓ A working knowledge of MicroTraumas: how they accumulate, how they narrow capacity, and how to
identify which ones are most relevant for each individual.
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✓ The Metabolic Window of Tolerance as a clinical organizing tool across all four layers: input
mapping, response FID, MicroReset prescription, and adaptive change measurement.
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✓ A practical repertoire of Brain-Gut-Sensory MicroResets grounded in mechanism and applicable
across clinical populations.
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✓ A physiologically precise language for discussing capacity, load, regulation, and progress with
clients, families, and colleagues.
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✓ A certificate of completion as Level 1 of the Brain-Gut Movement professional training pathway.
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One Certificate. Multiple Clinical Lenses.
Autism · Sensory, autonomic, immune, metabolic, developmental, and family-system application.
Mental Health · Physiology, perception, state,
behavior, and capacity access.
Physical Health · Inflammation, pain, sleep,
dysautonomia, energy, and reserves.
PTSD and Trauma · Neuroception, threat
physiology, adaptations, triggers, and embodied
capacity.
Dysautonomia and POTS · Autonomic instability, metabolic cost, energy reserves, and capacity rebuilding.
Corporate Wellbeing · Burnout, borrowed
capacity, sustainable performance, and
organizational nervous system.
Choose Your Track
Brain Gut Movement Certificate (BGMC)™
For individuals curious about their own health, their families and kids, plus health coaches, clinicians, mental health therapists, and functional medicine providers who want to see through a broader lens.
​No license or clinical background required.
Your entry point into the Brain–Gut–Sensory Axis Framework and the MicroResets™ model.
This track is for anyone who wants to understand how sensory load, stress, the microbiome, movement, and the nervous system work together, whether you're exploring this for yourself, your family, or the people you support.
You'll learn how small, targeted physiological shifts can change the way the nervous system responds to stress, sensory input, and daily life, and how to begin applying that understanding right away.
Brain Gut Movement Certified Professional (BGMCP)™
For licensed practitioners ready to integrate the Brain–Gut–Sensory framework and MicroResets™ model into their own practice, with the credential to back it.
Eligibility: a current professional license (MD, DC, DO, PT, ND, LAc, NP, RD, RN, PA, and similar) permitted to assess, diagnose, and treat within their scope of practice.
The professional track for licensed practitioners ready to integrate the Brain–Gut–Sensory Axis Framework and the MicroResets™ model into clinical practice.
It includes everything in the Certificate, plus a deeper clinical dive, case studies, and ongoing mentorship, designed specifically for licensed professionals bringing this work to their patients and clients.
On completion, you receive the Brain Gut Movement Professional credential, recognizing your training to apply this framework in clinical practice.
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Inside The Course
Foundational Knowledge
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Brain-Gut Connection: Understand the basic relationship between the brain and gut.
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Vagus Nerve: Learn the role of the vagus nerve in connecting the brain and gut.
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Polyvagal Theory
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Framework: Understand Polyvagal Theory's framework for understanding mental, emotional, and physical health.
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Applications: Apply Polyvagal Theory to improve overall well-being.
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Modifying the Microbiome
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Strategies: Learn strategies to alter the microbiome through diet, movement, supplements, vagal nerve stimulation, and more.
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Benefits: Understand the benefits of a healthy microbiome for brain and gut health.
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Therapeutic Interventions
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Somatic Interventions: Explore somatic interventions like the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model to improve quality of life.
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Breathing Techniques: Learn breathing techniques to regulate the nervous system and impact the brain-gut axis.
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Reducing Microtraumas
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Identification: Identify internal and external stressors (microtraumas) that impact safety.
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Mitigation: Learn strategies to reduce microtraumas and improve overall well-being.
