Our bodies are so incredibly smart and know how to save us from ourselves sometimes. This week we look at the fight, flight, and freeze responses and how they serve us to save our energy and even our lives.
Episode Highlights
01:16 When something scary or bad happens, your brain starts firing neurotransmitters and your body automatically starts to move away from the bad thing.
01:25 It feels like wanting to punch someone in the face, feeling like you can’t sit still, or like you need to run. Everything in your body is calling you to MOVE!
01:30 If you can’t resolve the situation and you’ve been unable to punch, kick, run, or slink away, those neurons keep firing. Your body keeps producing the hormones that make you feel like fighting or escaping.
02:40 Your body will switch its strategy from fight and flight to freeze or faint when it notices that fighting or fleeing haven’t resolved your situation.
02:50 We experience this chemical overload as going numb to the situation, becoming indifferent, apathetic, or too exhausted to care anymore.
03:13 Rather than celebrating how brilliant our bodies are for helping us survive unbearable situations, we instead judge ourselves for not being engaged enough or “effective” enough to make a difference.
04:01 Something hasn’t gone wrong – it’s gone extraordinarily right. Your body is preserving your precious energy so you can use it effectively. Trust yourself in this.
04:50 Animals who have narrowly evaded death don’t suffer. They shake, they leap, they shiver – and then they eat.
06:00 Proactively participating in this release of energy and grounding through touch or eating can help you switch your brain chemistry as it realizes it’s safe now to rest and digest.
07:25 Moving toward pleasure and what we desire is also an innate response that has physical chemistry.
08:17 We can have a tendency to focus more on the negative things that are going on around us than the positive things we could move towards but there are ways to change that!
08:30 The key is to remember that you have something you want and make that real for yourself to get your brain firing the happy pleasure hormones.
08:38 Moving towards joy again is helped greatly by viscerally showing yourself that what you want is reachable and possible. Beginning with something small you already like, have, and appreciate is a great kick-start when your big desire seems impossible and out of reach.
09:00 The same activity, in theory, can be spurred by opposing drives – but one feels much better. Sometimes, we can choose, and choosing can be pleasant.
10:00 Making a list of things you love and that bring you joy can be a huge help when you need a boost to redirect your focus and get your body on board firing happier chemicals.
10:50 Don’t pick activities you do by default, choose thoughts and activities that bring a smile to your face and fill you with emotion.
12:50 Can I put some meaning into the struggle when I keep coming up against failure and resistance? What can I tie to this battle that is meaningful for me and brings me joy so that I have the energy and desire to move through this?
13:20 Can I celebrate very small wins, even if it’s only 1% closer to my goal?
14:20 I’ll keep getting smacked in the face by life because that’s what life does – it just keeps happening! Becoming OK with that
Welcome to the full Spectrum Feeling Podcast. I'm your host, Blaze Schwaller, life coach and former tattoo artist. I help people heal their past, speak their truth to those they love, and learn how to feel ALL their emotions, so that they can live lives they love no matter what comes up. Join me here every week for conversations on how to live an imperfect but fully engaged life that embraces all the feels, so you can stretch into your best life while enjoying the you that's here now.