Many people have strong emotional reactions, yet do not know why. Friends and family might describe them as oversensitive, and their response is unhelpful. It highlights something’s wrong, though. Sensitivity is not an offence. But being prone to emotional outbursts, including rages and crying sessions, shows an issue is at hand. If the scenario is familiar, you might be in the grip of survival mode, and believe me, I have been there.
What is survival mode?
Survival mode, also known as stress mode or fight-or-flight, helps in an emergency. If a knife-wielding gangster threatens you, you want your survival setting to switch on. It boosts your physical prowess to help you handle dangerous events.
Most threats to your life are short-lived. Continual stress is often a problem for the human fight-or-flight system. The need for hypervigilance causes your survival switch to stay on for long periods until it sticks. The pressure stops, yet you stay in survival mode.
If the description fits, you might not recognise your plight. People can become so used to being in fight-or-flight it seems normal. You will, nonetheless, experience an emotional charge.
How to know you are in survival mode
When you are in survival mode, you consider worst-case scenarios. You are alert like an animal spooked by a storm and look for problems. Occasionally, you may find some when they don’t exist because your perception is off-kilter.
If you’re stuck, you may also be prone to emotional eruptions. Tears or anger stream easily, and it’s hard for you to reason during stressful conversations and events. Your energy flows to fleeing or fighting rather than helping you apply logic to challenging circumstances.
How to turn off survival mode
When your psyche and body get the message you are safe, time and time again, you’ll leave survival mode. Repetition is necessary for the idea everything’s okay to reach your core. These practices can help:
RTT
RTT works on your subconscious mind, through a mixture of modalities rolled into one which was created by the fabulous Marisa Peer. While the below are tools to help on an ongoing basis, this one method will help get to the root cause rapidly, easily, and create a massive positive shift and healing with extraordinary lifelong results. I believe this is the basic therapy needed to bring about the shift and to encompass the learnings from below.
Breathing exercises
Take deep, slow breaths to engage your parasympathetic system and instil calm. Medium-length inhales through the nose and long exhales via the mouth will help you handle your emotions and reduce anxiety when stress rises.
Mindful meditation
Mindful meditation can teach you to detach from stress and witness critical self-talk. Sit in a quiet place, get comfy, and follow your breath with your awareness. Notice it travelling through your body, and be aware of the temperature of the air. Pay attention only to the act of sitting and breathing, returning your thoughts to the exercise when they stray.
Body scans
You often don’t notice your feelings, physical or emotional, until anxiety strikes when in survival mode. Body scans can help you get in touch with how you feel in the moment, so stress doesn’t get the chance to build.
Carry out regular slow mental body scans, beginning at your toes and working up to the top of your head. Pour attention into each body part, noting comfort or discomfort. Recognise emotions that rise and fall too. Let them come and go like waves on the ocean.
Qigong
Qigong is a terrific mindful form of exercise to help you recognise energy in your system. It combines breath work with slow movements that reduce anxiety. After regular practice sessions, you’ll notice inner details like increased blood flow, mental ease, and lightness.
Leaving fight-or-flight won’t be simple, but persevere, and you will get there. You’ll shift out of survival mode by engaging in regular practices that connect you with your emotions and physical responses.
If you can relate to this or some of these symptoms, please get in touch to see how I can help you