Ep 46: What is Functional Freeze?

What is functional freeze? Functional freeze is also known as freeze or the freeze state, and is a response of the autonomic nervous system that happens when you perceive a threat, but feel powerless to act.

Unlike the fight or flight response, which prompts action, functional freeze immobilizes the body causing a sense of paralysis or "stuckness." You might feel disconnected from your surroundings, have a reduced ability to make decisions, or feel numb both emotionally and physically. This response can be triggered by overwhelming stress or trauma.

And while it's intended to be protective, it can become problematic in non-threatening situations, leading to chronic issues in coping and functioning in your daily life. 

In this episode, I'll explain:

• what happens in functional freeze
• common causes that make you find yourself in this state
• ways to work through it
• some misconceptions about it, and 
• whether or not it's something you can address in your yoga classes. 

Transcript

Yeti Stereo Microphone-1: 0:00

What is functional freeze? Functional freeze is also known as freeze or the freeze state. And as a response of the autonomic nervous system that happens when you perceive a threat, but feel powerless to act. Unlike the fight or flight response, which prompts action, functional freeze, immobilizes the body. Causing a sense of paralysis or stuckness. People might feel disconnected from their surroundings, have a reduced ability to make decisions or feel numb both emotionally and physically. This response can be triggered by overwhelming stress or trauma. And while it's intended to be protective, it can become problematic in non-threatening situations, leading to chronic issues in coping and functioning. In daily life. In this episode, I'll explain what happens in functional freeze, common causes that make you find yourself in this state, ways to work through it, some misconceptions about it and how you might address it in your yoga classes.

1:12

Welcome to the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast with me. I'm Monica Bright, and I've been teaching yoga and running my yoga business for over a decade. This is the podcast for you if you're a yoga teacher, you're looking for support, you love to be in conversation, and you're a lifelong student. In this podcast, I'll share with you My life as a yoga teacher, the lessons I've learned, my process for building my business, and helpful ideas, tools, strategies, and systems I use and you can use so that your business thrives. We'll cover a diverse range of topics that will help you whether you're just starting out or you've got years under your belt and you want to dive deep and set yourself up for success. I'm so glad you're here. Listen, I don't take myself too seriously, so expect to hear some laughs along the way. Now, let's do this together.

Yeti Stereo Microphone-1: 2:21

Welcome back to this week's episode of the podcast. I'm glad you're here. This topic has become a truly interesting one for me to study, especially over the last few years where we as a collective have gone through a lot with the pandemic, a shift in our habits. Maybe even your social scene has changed or how you relate to people nowadays. I think it's safe to say that our nervous systems have been a bit upregulated for a longer period of time. Now, the question is, how do you climb out from this state and furthermore. What do you do when you find yourself in a state of functional freeze? So let's talk about it. Uh, functional freeze is a term that describes a state where the nervous system responds to perceived stress or threat. By essentially freezing the body's functions, this freeze response, one of the body's primary responses to danger fight flight freeze and fawn. Can lead to physical, emotional, and mental status. Where you might feel stuck. Unable to move forward or find difficulty in making decisions. Functional freeze as a survival mechanism that can become maladaptive causing you to adapt poorly to a situation when it occurs in non-threatening situations like social settings or during everyday tasks. So what happens in the body during functional freeze? First the autonomic nervous system activates when the brain detects potential danger, the sympathetic nervous system may initially prepare the body for fight or flight. If it assesses that these responses aren't viable, it may activate the parasympathetic nervous system, specifically the dorsal vagal complex to shut down or freeze. Next is hormonal changes. The brain releases stress hormones, like cortisol, which in freeze mode remain at sustained levels. Often this can lead to numbness, disassociation, or an overall sense of disconnect. The third is muscle tension and stiffness. Your muscles might hold tension or stiffness in a protective response, especially in the shoulders jaw and your abdomen. And then finally cognitive fog, your brain shifts away from higher cognitive processes resulting in difficulty making decisions or thinking clearly. Now I want you to think about any times in your life where you might have been stuck in a state of functional freeze. Have you found yourself getting tense and tight and it seems difficult to release. Have you disassociated during stressful situations? What about your decision-making? Has it at times felt really challenging. Okay. I don't want you to jump to a conclusion about being stuck in functional freeze. Instead, I would rather you take notice of how you responded to extremely stressful situations. How did you manage them I should note here that fluctuating through the various states of fight flight freeze and fawn are not always conscious decisions by you. You may be able to discern by how you respond. Whether you might be in a state of flight fight or freeze. So you may be wondering what are some common causes of functional freeze. Functional freeze often occurs in response to prolonged stress. Past trauma or situations that feel overwhelming, it's particularly common among those who have experienced chronic stress or trauma. That they couldn't escape or process fully leading to an overuse of the freeze response, even in situations where it isn't necessary. This is why it's so necessary to realize how you function in stressful situations, uncover your habits and work through past traumas that may be affecting your current life. As working through this can help you manage and recover. Full disclosure. I was adopted at the age of two, which meant for two years, I didn't have a solid home slash family life. It is through a deep and I mean really deep amount of work and discovery of how the first two years of my life, which are foundational years have affected me throughout my life, in my relationships. And also how I resolve stress. My mother was an amazing woman. She helped me find techniques to work through my feelings so that I didn't linger in them. And I was able to move through and feel regulated. now I didn't really know that she was doing this per se, but I could feel it for sure. Then when I started practicing and studying yogas benefits. It really started to come together and make sense. let's talk about some ways to work through functional freeze. Here are some strategies to work through it. And many of these can be implemented in both yoga practice and your everyday life. The first are grounding techniques. I engage in physical movements that are mindful and grounding. Examples can include walking barefoot on the ground, feeling textures or holding a heavy object to bring awareness back to the present. Next use somatic sensing. and focus on one body part at a time in your personal yoga practice. Try a body scan meditation. Focus on feeling your feet. On the mat. The moving up your legs and to your hips and so on. Visualization is very helpful. For some imagine roots extending from your body into the earth. This can help create a sensation of stability and support. Next is breath work. For example, 4, 7, 8 breathing inhale for a count of four hold for seven and exhale for eight. This engages the parasympathetic nervous system in a way that relaxes rather than freezes. You could use box breathing, inhale for four counts, hold for four. Exhale for four and hold for four. The steady rhythm can help regulate the nervous system and reduce the freeze response. If a four count is too long or too short. Use a different number. Maybe you count to five and that feels better for you. I love implementing gentle controlled movement, including somatic yoga Experimenting with slow, mindful movements like cat, cow, gentle spinal twists, or small controlled stretches, focus on sensing and feeling the movement internally rather than achieving any particular posture. Have you heard of shaking or tremoring? It is what it sounds like. Shake your arms out, shake your legs out. Or a full body shake to help release held tension. This helps to complete the freeze cycle by giving a body an outlet. For the pent up energy. One of my favorite strategies is to connect with safe people. Co-regulation is spending time with someone who can provide a sense of calm and safety. Simply being around a regulated person can help your nervous system move out of freeze. And guided support seek out and work with a therapist or a trained yoga teacher who understands trauma informed practices and can gently guide you back to sensation and movement without pressure. Try mindfulness and self-compassion practices such as body awareness meditation. Instead of trying to push yourself out of freeze, observe and acknowledge the sensations with a nonjudgmental attitude. This can gradually ease the body out of a frozen state. Or a loving kindness meditation. Repeating phrases like may I feel safe? May I feel at ease? May I feel at home can soften the self-critical feelings that may arise while you're in a freeze state. Another strategy that I've spoken on and other episodes on the podcast is Vegas. Nerve stimulation. Tri humming or chanting simple activities like humming and chanting own activate the vagus nerve, helping to shift the body from freeze to a more regulated state or try cold exposure, splashes of cold water on the face or cold showers or plunges stimulate the vagus nerve and can help reset your nervous system. Finally try emotional release and expression. Via expressive writing or art. Journal color or create art to express what you feeling as sometimes verbal expression can be challenging. In a free state. This can aid in releasing held emotions and encourage movement from freeze into flow. You can also try body-based emotions, work in a safe setting, Allow yourself to cry, scream into a pillow or engage in other expressive activities. This can complete the freeze cycle that was halted. I've never tried this method, but I've heard from a few people who have and say that it's extremely therapeutic. Let's talk about some misconceptions about functional freeze, functional freeze is often mistaken for laziness or a simple lack of motivation, especially when seen in contexts like work or social settings. However free is, is a biological and involuntary reaction. Not something someone can simply snap out of blaming people for their freeze response can do harm by adding shame and perpetuate the cycle. While Frieze is common in severe trauma. It can also occur in response to daily stressors, especially for people with a history of unresolved stress or trauma. So it's not true. That freeze only happens in extreme trauma. People might go into a minor freeze mode over things that seem small, like public speaking or approaching difficult conversations as their body MIS interprets these situations as a threat. Another misconception is that although frees may appear calm from the outside. Internally it's far from it. People experiencing freeze are often in a heightened state of stress with increased cortisol levels and internal conflict, unlike zoning out, which is often a choice to temporarily escape. Freeze is a reaction that can feel disempowering and difficult to break. It's false to think that you just need more willpower to overcome it. Some things functional freeze can be managed with willpower alone, but this approach usually worsens the situation. Free is requires a physiological reset often through nervous system regulation, techniques, guilt or self criticism can prolong the free state rather than alleviate it. And finally functional freeze can manifest subtly as cognitive fog, indecision, or even procrastination. So it's not always easy to notice. Many people don't realize they're experiencing freeze and might not connect it to the nervous system response, making it hard to identify and address effectively. So the question is, how might you address this while you're teaching a yoga class? First it's important to reiterate that you're probably won't be able to spot a student who is experiencing a nervous system shift. However, you can commit generally to incorporating supportive practices in your classes. Think about designing your sequences so that they gradually introduce movement. Think either slow and steady or slow with some pauses. Then ask yourself how you can incorporate breath work within. Or at least intentional breathing at the start or end of your classes. And finally grounding techniques can be a gentle way to support someone who experiences a nervous system shift. Can you use your language cues to help students connect to the sense of groundedness? Whether they're lying down supine or prone. Or whether they're sitting or standing. This grounding work can be very helpful as you teach. Your classes. Throughout class, continue to emphasize self-compassion. Allow brakes. And encourage students to honor their limits. I hope this was a helpful episode. And you understand what functional freeze is a little bit more. If you're interested in learning more about nervous system regulation, check out these resources. The first is the body keeps the score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. The next is heal your nervous system by Dr. Linnea Passover. And finally rewire your anxious brain by Nick Trenton. I love talking about ways to regulate your nervous system. In addition to yoga practices, there are so many ways that you can find nervous system balance or at least learn effective ways to regulate fight flight, freeze, and fun, and find your bridge to rest, digest and recover. I hope that this episode sparks some deeper thought around ideas you can incorporate into your life. To help you wind down. When you feel upregulated, I've added a link in the show notes for you to send me a quick text message about your thoughts on this episode or any other. I won't know your phone number. It's just a neat addition to the platform I use that allows for this new and super easy way for you to communicate with me. Once you click on it, it will take you to your messages. Don't delete the code. That's how your message will get to me. And I would love to know your thoughts on this topic. I love diving into these conversations because there are so many important discussions to be had in the teaching world. You know that my goal is for you to love the yoga teaching life and allow it to be fulfilling and rewarding. The ability to take care of yourself while you care for so many of your students is important as well. If you love this episode, let me know, subscribe to the podcast. So you're always in the know when a new episode drops and share it with another yoga teacher who you think would love to be in on these conversations. Thank you for helping to spread the word about this podcast. And if you've been taking notes in your journal, as you listen to these episodes, I'm so glad you are. And I'd love to hear about it. Don't forget to download the ebook sequencing for different injuries. The link is in the show notes below. I promise you, it will help to form a foundation for teaching students with injuries, and it will be a great resource for you to return to again and again. Finally, if you download the ebook, you'll be joining my newsletter. That's just for yoga teachers. I've got more exciting teachings coming soon. So I want to tell you all about them. The link is in the show notes below, and I would love for you to join it so we can always stay connected. All right. That's it for now. Bye.

19:46

Mhm.