The Flight Response in Somatic Experiencing
Completing the Flight Response in Somatic Experiencing Trauma Healing : What It Is, What It Looks Like, and How to Finally Let It Go
Have you ever felt that deep inner urge to escape, to flee a conversation, a situation, or even your own skin—this is the flight response.
Common Symptoms of Trapped Flight Energy are:
Constant restlessness or difficulty sitting still
Racing thoughts, overthinking, or obsessive planning
A deep desire to escape social situations or emotional intimacy
Feeling like you're “on edge” or need to get away
Fast, shallow breathing or chronic tension in the legs and feet
Panic attacks or a persistent undercurrent of anxiety
Avoidant behavior (emotional or physical)
In Somatic Experiencing® (SE), the flight response is seen as one of our body’s primal, biological survival strategies. It’s an attempt by the nervous system to get us to safety. But what happens when that impulse to flee never gets to finish? It can stay trapped in the body, leading to chronic tension, restlessness, and anxiety.
The good news? You can complete that response—with compassion, slowness, and support. And when you do, a new kind of calm becomes possible.
✈️ What Is the Flight Response?
The flight response is one of the core defensive reactions of the sympathetic nervous system, alongside fight and freeze. It’s your body’s way of saying, “I need to get out of here—now.”
For animals in the wild, this looks like running from a predator. For humans, it might show up as suddenly needing to leave a room, avoid eye contact, or make an escape plan in your head—even if you’re just sitting in a meeting.
If, in a past situation, running or escaping wasn’t possible (like in childhood, or during a traumatic event), the urge to flee gets trapped in the body. This can result in nervous system dysregulation and the feeling that your foot is always hovering above the gas pedal.
🌀 Why the Flight Response Gets Stuck
If you were in a situation where fleeing was impossible—emotionally, physically, or socially—your body may have revved up to run but never got to complete the motion.
Instead of discharging that energy, your system had to hold it.
Over time, this stored sympathetic charge can lead to symptoms that look like anxiety, restlessness, chronic fatigue, or even burnout.
🌱 How Somatic Experiencing Helps Release the Flight Response
Somatic Experiencing doesn’t force anything. We don’t re-live trauma—we create the conditions for the body to do what it wanted to do back then but couldn’t.
Here's how it works:
1. Establishing Safety First
Before touching any flight energy, we build a sense of internal and external safety.
We create “anchors” in the body and environment—through grounding, resourcing, and orienting—so you know you have places to come back to when intensity arises.
2. Tracking the Flight Activation
We slowly bring awareness to signs of activation:
Tingling or buzzing in the legs or feet
An impulse to move or run
Fast breathing or pressure in the chest
Feeling overwhelmed by stillness
We let the body speak through sensation—without judgment or interpretation.
3. Following the Impulse to Move
Sometimes, the body spontaneously shows you what it wanted to do.
Clients often experience:
The urge to move their feet or legs
Subtle rocking or swaying
Imagining running or turning away
Wanting to crawl, pace, or shake something off
We don’t act it out dramatically—we follow it slowly and with curiosity. Tiny movements, even in the imagination, can help complete the motor pattern. This gives the nervous system the experience it never had: escaping and surviving.
4. Discharging the Energy
As the body completes the motion, you might feel:
✨ Shaking
✨ Heat or a wave of emotion
✨ Deep breath or sigh
✨ Sudden stillness or softening
✨ A sense of distance from the old memory or story
This is the body letting go. The stored energy finally gets to finish its cycle.
5. Integration: Life After Flight
When flight energy is released, the body no longer needs to keep running.
Clients often report:
Feeling calmer and more present
Less anxiety or racing thoughts
Greater ability to stay in connection with others
More energy and less exhaustion
A sense of clarity and empowerment
This doesn’t mean all discomfort disappears—but your system no longer feels stuck in a loop of escape.
❤️ You’re Not Broken—Your Body Just Needs Completion
If you’ve ever felt like you’re “too sensitive,” “too anxious,” or like you’re always running from something—know this: your body was trying to protect you. And it’s still trying.
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle way to help your body remember that the threat has passed. And once it knows that? You get to rest. You get to stay. You get to be here.
