My Nervous System Protects Me: Somatic Inquiry

Our perception of threat and danger is unconscious and we don't choose our response. In this somatic mindfulness inquiry, we’re going beyond the obvious signs of being in a fight/ flight/ freeze/ fawn survival response in ourselves and others. Freeze is when we feel numb, disconnected, and hunkered down for safety. Sympathetic arousal includes fight - internal rants, inner criticism, or expressed outwardly and flight - escape physical, emotional, and mental.

Reviews

This was uncomfortable at times but insightful. It was helpful to have your calming guidance 👍🙏

Extremely interesting and informative. Looking forward to listening to your other content. Thank you 💕

Ty for making peace with my fight, flight, freeze or fawn response.

So helpful — I gained new insight and compassion for my experiences and feel more integrated and calm. Many thanks!! ❤️‍🩹

Very insightful. Thank you for emphasizing that we do not choose our response, and non-judgement towards this is helpful. 🤍

Gently guided and shared wisdom to tap into your own knowing. With gratitude. 🙏🏼

Thank you so much for this meditation . It helped me understand my body and my nervous system better. 🥰❤️

Lots of good questions about my nervous system response to contemplate. I was able to see some patterns I have carried since I was a small child. Thank you for this session.

Lovely meditation to help cultivate new ways to respond rather than react to stimuli. Thank you 💞

Very helpful explanation and practice. Thank you 🙏🏽

Thanks Liz, wasn’t a comfortable practice, I usually do a combination of flight and freeze, what does fawning mean, you mentioned people pleasing?

I found this very helpful. Clear, calm and reassuring, especially "it's not our fault" around our unconscious/ instinctual habitual patterns and responses. I have often added layers of judgement and shame to what are survival/trauma responses.

One thing: is fawning an "add on"? I'm reading more and more trauma specialists are holding it to be a primary response to social threat, perhaps particularly for those with less physical power e.g. women, youngers. It may partly explain the epidemic of depression and exhaustion in menopausal women e.g. a lifetime of anger turned inwards, and self abandonment through patterns of people pleasing.

I had never connected my Inner Critic with “fight” mode. Thank you for that insight, and for this practice. It’s helping me reframe things.