The Flight Trauma Response, Fear, and Your Nervous System Explained
Trauma Rewired
Understanding the Flight Response
This chapter explores how complex and structural trauma leads to chronic flight responses, shaping behaviors that prioritize action over emotional expression. It discusses the physiological implications of these responses, emphasizing the need for awareness of internal sensations to promote healing and emotional regulation. Additionally, it examines societal pressures that valorize constant productivity while undermining emotional attunement and personal well-being.
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The flight response is often misunderstood as weakness or avoidance, but it’s actually a deeply wired survival strategy shaped by fear and trauma. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we uncover how the nervous system uses constant motion, through overwork, hustle, and productivity, to escape from internal sensations and emotions that once felt unsafe.
You’ll learn how fear disguises itself as discipline, why rest feels threatening to high performers, and how chronic busyness creates a false sense of safety while eroding health and connection. From neuroscience to personal stories, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explain the mechanisms of the flight response, its roots in trauma, and the protective role it sometimes plays.
Most importantly, we share practical somatic tools to slow down, regulate the nervous system, and reclaim fear as a signal for presence and alignment, not something to outrun.
00:00 – Running from internal sensations, not others 00:24 – Busyness and productivity as avoidance 00:43 – Slowing down in somatic therapy 01:33 – Hustler identity and chronic overdoing 02:25 – Flight tied to fear of stillness 03:11 – Welcome to Trauma Rewired 04:15 – Flight patterns: urgency, overscheduling, avoidance 05:13 – When flight signals misalignment 07:46 – Flight as protection against overstimulation 09:31 – Brain-body mechanics of flight 11:50 – Fear bypassed as weakness 13:10 – Trauma and structural reinforcement of flight 15:36 – Movement replacing emotion 17:35 – Somatic healing requires slowing down 18:32 – Signs of inward-directed flight 19:55 – Disconnection from body cues (hunger, fatigue) 23:39 – Somatic regulation steps and tools 25:53 – Fear as primal protective signal 28:12 – Regulation tools to create space between sensation and action 31:24 – Stillness and vulnerability as safety 32:16 – Somatic release of fear: frozen shoulder story 33:28 – Reclaiming emotions as growth tools 34:36 – Fear, intuition, and aligned action
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
- The difference between healthy fear and chronic flight
- How trauma conditions the nervous system to stay in motion
- The neuroscience of the flight response: amygdala, hypothalamus, PAG, prefrontal cortex
- Why productivity and hustle are often survival strategies
- Signs of chronic flight in relationships and work
- The hidden cost of avoiding emotions through busyness
- Somatic tools for slowing down and processing fear
- Rewiring chronic flight through neuroplasticity and body-based healing
- The role of cultural and systemic trauma in reinforcing flight
- How to reclaim fear as a clarifying signal for safety and presence
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Trauma Rewired podcast is intended to educate and inform but does not constitute medical, psychological or other professional advice or services. Always consult a qualified medical professional about your specific circumstances before making any decisions based on what you hear. We share our experiences, explore trauma, physical reactions, mental health and disease. If you become distressed by our content, please stop listening and seek professional support when needed. Do not continue to listen if the conversations are having a negative impact on your health and well-being. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, or in mental health crisis and you are in the United States you can 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If someone’s life is in danger, immediately call 911.
We do our best to stay current in research, but older episodes are always available. We don’t warrant or guarantee that this podcast contains complete, accurate or up-to-date information. It’s very important to talk to a medical professional about your individual needs, as we aren’t responsible for any actions you take based on the information you hear in this podcast.
We invite guests onto the podcast. Please note that we don’t verify the accuracy of their statements. Our organization does not endorse third-party content and the views of our guests do not necessarily represent the views of our organization. We talk about general neuro-science and nervous system health, but you are unique. These are conversations for a wide audience. They are general recommendations and you are always advised to seek personal care for your unique outputs, trauma and needs.
We are not doctors or licensed medical professionals. We are certified neuro-somatic practitioners and nervous system health/embodiment coaches. We are not your doctor or medical professional and do not know you and your unique nervous system. This podcast is not a replacement for working with a professional. The BrainBased.com site and Rewiretrail.com is a membership site for general nervous system health, somatic processing and stress processing. It is not a substitute for medical care or the appropriate solution for anyone in mental health crisis.
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