THe SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL
THink, feel, and connect better through nervous system regulation.
Five hours of music. Long-lasting impact.
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a powerful listening therapy designed to help regulate the nervous system, so you can better connect with yourself, others and the world around you.
Discover the Science behind the Safe and Sound Protocol.
The autonomic nervous system is constantly scanning your environment, your body, and the people around you to answer one core question: “Am I safe?”
When it feels safe, the system stays calm, flexible, and responsive. When it doesn’t, it shifts into protection mode, which can show up as anxiety, rapid breathing, irritability, or feeling on edge.
If that sense of threat doesn’t resolve, the system may shift into shutdown. This can look like extreme fatigue, low motivation, digestive issues, or feeling emotionally flat. It’s the body’s way of conserving energy and staying protected.
Over time, repeated stress can train the nervous system to feel unsafe more easily, making these patterns harder to exit.
So what happens when the system gets stuck—and how do we help it return to balance?
What to expect from your SSP Experience
Benefits of nervous system regulation
Improved response to stress
When our nervous system is regulated, it’s easier to sleep, eat, digest, concentrate, communicate, and participate in meaningful relationships with others. We can better respond to difficult situations and move past them instead of reacting and getting “stuck” in them.
HOw ssp returns the nervous system to balance
Through the specially filtered music, the SSP sends cues of safety to your nervous system, building the foundation for awareness, embodiment and resilience. When you listen to the SSP, the music is working to interrupt this feedback loop, redirecting it with cues of safety to help regulate your nervous system.
Through nervous system regulation, you are then better equipped and more ready to respond more effectively to life's challenges, access higher learning and cognition, and build positive social relationships.
Your Role
MNDLab athletes most often use the Safe and Sound Protocol during natural recovery moments—first thing in the morning while getting ready, after demanding training sessions, or in the evening as they wind down for sleep. Many incorporate SSP between workouts, before practice, or as part of their evening recovery routine.
This flexibility allows athletes to stay consistent without disrupting their training rhythm. During each session, the focus is simple: listen to the music and notice how your body and mind respond. There is nothing to “perform” or optimize. Regulation happens naturally through awareness and consistency.
Many athletes also pair listening sessions with light, calming activities such as gentle stretching, breathing work, mobility work, or other low-effort movement. These activities support relaxation and help reinforce nervous system recovery.
The result is a structured, sustainable recovery tool that integrates seamlessly into high-performance routines.
Better emotional regulation and resilience
Become attuned to and more in control of emotions, so you can move through temporary setbacks with more flexibility and ease.
More social connection and deeper relationships
By activating the part of your brain that allows us to be more social, affectionate and connected, the SSP can help shift you into a state where you are more comfortable and at ease engaging with others, leading to deeper and more meaningful relationships.
LISTENING SAMPLEs
HEar IT FOR YOURSELF
BUILT FOR PERFORMANCE REGULATIONWhen regulation improves, everything improves.
Focus sharpens.
Sleep stabilizes.
Stress tolerance rises.
Pain sensitivity decreases.
Connection strengthens.The nervous system becomes more adaptable, more resilient, more performance-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The SSP is a powerful therapeutic intervention and is not available for use without the supervision of a trained professional. All SSP providers are required to complete an extensive training and certification course prior to delivering the SSP to ensure safe and effective delivery.
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A Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) listening session is designed to be simple, calm, and low effort. Find a comfortable spot — a cozy chair, couch, or take a slow walk if that feels better. Many people listen while doing light, soothing activities such as gentle movement, stretching, breathing exercises, drawing, coloring, puzzles, or tidying up.
High-intensity exercise, cognitively demanding tasks, video games, or computer work are generally not recommended during sessions.
You’ll play the filtered music through headphones and simply notice how your body responds. There’s nothing you need to “do” — just listen.
You can pause at any time to check in with your nervous system. If you notice tension, fatigue, or emotion coming up, take a few slow breaths, stretch, or use a simple regulating exercise before continuing.
The goal is awareness and regulation — paying attention to how you feel, without forcing anything.
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The music is divided into five hour-long sections. While you are not required to listen to a full hour each session, the filtration of the main SSP program is dynamic and progressive so it is important to listen in order and not repeat any sections without guidance from your SSP provider.
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Sympathetic Nervous System
You can think of the sympathetic nervous system as a mobilization system that would support our "fight-or-flight" responses.
It functions like a gas pedal, mobilizing internal resources in response to danger. When this happens, you might feel an increase in your heart rate, fast and shallow breathing, tension in your neck and shoulders, and anxiousness.
Parasympathetic Nervous System
The parasympathetic nervous system is classically called the "rest-and-digest" state, which helps us heal, recover and conserve energy when we feel safe.
(Keep in mind that your "fight-or-flight" state and your "rest-and-digest" state may look different from someone else's.)
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If you find yourself experiencing any of the symptoms below that have to do with dysregulation you might consider utilizing the SSP.
What does dysregulation look like?
The autonomic nervous system regulates many of our essential bodily functions. When the autonomic nervous system is challenged to access a "safe" state, you may notice one or more of the following symptoms:
Difficulty with digestion, eating or swallowing
Difficulty with falling and staying asleep, or sleeping too much
Rapid or shallow breathing, changes in heart rate and blood pressure
Challenges connecting with other people, feelings of isolation or loneliness, and anxiety
Trouble with concentrating, mental clarity, or creativity
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES +
MUSIC & THE Nervous system
1
WHAT IS the POlyvagal theory & why does it matter?
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Real world evidence of impact
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Why the ear is so important to the nervous system
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2026
Salt Lake City, Utah
“Physically I was cleared. Mentally I wasn’t. SSP helped me feel stable and confident again.”
- Marcus L. — Professional Boxing Athlete