Flight Fight Freeze Fawn Survival Responses

This course will help you recognize what threats activate your survival responses of fight/ flight/ freeze/ fawn

We all move up and down the polyvagal ladder when we feel unsafe - from freeze, to sympathetic arousal (fight/flight) and sometimes we find ourselves in the social strategy of people pleasing, compliance or fawning

You learn the basics of how your nervous system with its negativity bias assesses threat

You will recognize the signs in your body and your thoughts that you are dysregulated and moving into a survival response

Each topic has 5 to 7 minutes of information and practical tools to come out of a survival response and back into emotional regulation

Each topic has a 10 to 15 minute somatic mindfulness inquiry to explore the origins of this response and deeper healing

Lección 1: Up the Polyvagal Ladder: Dorsal or Freeze Response

We begin our exploration of our survival strategies with dorsal vagal or freeze. Freeze can look like numb, disconnected, and hunkered down for safety. Freeze takes the edge off of painful, overwhelming experiences.

It’s hard to connect with someone encased in layers of numbness so our relationships aren’t as deep. We miss the signs of danger when we’re in freeze, and don’t protect ourselves or others in our care. To come out of freeze, we need to come up the polyvagal ladder into the sympathetic arousal of fight or flight.

Lección 2: Somatic Inquiry: Freeze Response

We use grounding tools to stay present as we explore what it feels like to be in a freeze response. In a freeze response, we're disconnected from our body and relationships. To come out of freeze, we need to feel, and that can feel scary or like it's too much effort.

Lección 3: Up the Polyvagal Ladder: Fight Response

A fight response is an unconscious strategy to deal with danger or threat. It can be hot, fiery and feel out of control. It can give us a sense of agency, which we prefer over feeling powerless. A fight response scares us and it is very different from feeling and expressing anger.

Lección 4: Somatic Inquiry: Fight Response

In this somatic inquiry we focus on what it feels like to remember being in a fight response, and the different way it feels to be angry. As we recall the feelings, we use grounding tools to stay self-regulated so we can feel anger without it stimulating a fight response. We practice connecting with attuned empathy to our younger self who wasn't allowed to be angry.

Lección 5: Up the Polyvagal Ladder: Flight Response

Most of our threats now are social and relational. We flee when we can't afford to see and feel what's here. We might move physically, and more often we escape into screens and other avoidance strategies or addictions. Flight energy makes us feel edgy and restless. It's hard to relax and enjoy being still and present.

Lección 6: Somatic Inquiry: Flight Response

This somatic inquiry is a slow motion walk through a social situation that is difficult for us. We begin with more accurate neuroception to notice people who are supportive of us, and using our senses to notice cues of safety. We use our breath and grounding tools as we slowly move through each part, coming back to regulation each time, then moving to the next step.

Lección 7: Fawning and People Pleasing

Our neuroception detects a social threat and sometimes we go into people-pleasing. We go along and don't act in our own best interest. Fawning and submission are social survival strategies that are not respected in our culture, and we often shame ourselves for it.

Lección 8: Somatic Inquiry: Shaming, Fawning and People Pleasing

This inquiry gives support to recognize when you are people pleasing and let go of shaming yourself for fawning. People pleasing is a conditioned behavior and it helps to look at our history with it. As adults, we have more agency and choices. In the inquiry, we use several grounding tools to self-regulate. We practice not going along, and using helpful phrases we could say when we're being coerced.

Lección 9: Suggested Nervous System Regulating Practices

There are many reliable ways to regulate our nervous system.

Join me on Insight Timer Live several days a week for guided practices

Go to my profile and try some of these or any of the resting and relaxation practices

Am I Safe In My Body Right Now?
Fear of Being Authentic
Grounding and Orienting My Body
Know and Support Yourself
My Nervous System Protects Me
Nervous System Regulating Practices
Supporting Our Young Nervous System

Reviews

So much information packed into this course. Very easy to understand and follow. It’s one I will do again as this is all new to me

Wow, after going through the course I wanted to know more

Gave me an accurate description of what all this means, and how I can work with it to help myself.

Very helpful with good advice.

Best course on insight timer. I learned so much. Simple. Impactful.

Short but powerful concepts. All in very calming and soothing voice

This was a very helpful course for me. Thank you immensely for your time and effort preparing this!

To break down these emergency nervous system responses was amazing for me. I had several big
ah-ha moments during these meditations … insights to my patterns and tools to help when I’m in one of the 4 responses. This was very helpful. Thank you