The Freeze Response, Holding Patterns, Resistance and Suffering

When we are faced with trauma or drama we initially freeze. This is called the “freeze response”. When this happens, our neuroendocrine system releases a tremendous amount of energy that will enable us to fight or flee. When we are over stimulated, threatened or pushed over our threshold we can run away; the danger is gone and we can move on. When we fight, we face our fears or conflicts and someone wins or loses and the event is over.

In our modern society, however, fight or flight is not a viable option. Let’s say, for example, you nearly collide on the freeway with another vehicle. You are unable to fight or flee. You are unable to dissipate this energy. Or let’s say you have a co-worker that plucks your nerves and it really wouldn’t be feasible for you to punch them in the face, because you could lose your job and have legal consequences for this action.

If your nervous system is resilient, and you have a high stress threshold, then the body is able to dissipate this energy and you are not traumatized. We all have a threshold for what we can handle before we start to resist what is going on. When we are pushed over our threshold, and resist, this creates suffering in the body. The reason that this happens is because the energy is not allowed to flow through the body. It is held in a holding pattern because we freeze or brace against it. This bioelectric energy is stored in our tissues and layers upon itself as we face more traumatic events; layer upon layer, this holding pattern becomes what is known as body memory. Body memory is energy from past events that is stored in our connective tissue. Accidents, injuries, negative emotional states, holding the same position for long periods of time are all ways the body creates body memory. Even when the danger has passed, the holding pattern remains because this stored energy changes the viscosity of the tissue. This can create adhesions, fascial binding and fascial restrictions. This leads to inflammation, diminished range of motion and a host of other problems.

Any time you are feeling pain, discomfort, or suffering in your body, it is because you are resisting something or someone being the way they are. Sometimes you have the ability to change them and sometimes you don’t. When this happens you have two choices. One, you can relax and let it be okay that things are the way they are, or two, you can resist what is going on. When you have something going on and you allow it to be okay, then you are going to be at peace with it. If you resist, you will create suffering. And this is a choice. All discomfort comes from resistance, either consciously or unconsciously. There are no exceptions. Sometimes we have control over things that happen to us and sometimes we do not. When we resist what is going on, it creates suffering. When the resistance stops, the suffering goes away.

When we don’t feel safe, we resist. Maybe growing up, it was not okay to express certain emotions, so we suppressed them. We alter the way that we react to things so that we feel safe. If we have a lot of trauma or drama, the more unsafe we feel the more coping mechanisms we have. The more we resist what is going on. When you resist something or someone, you feel this discomfort inside, it always seems like whatever it is you are resisting is causing the discomfort. What we don’t realize is that it is the resistance itself that creates discomfort. It is our reaction to events, not the event itself that creates our discomfort. Conscious resistance in the body creates holding patterns and tension. Although suffering decreases as resistance drops, the pain doesn’t necessarily go away. Sometimes it is necessary to feel pain because pain’s proper function is to serve as a warning or a motivator. Sometimes it is necessary to feel pain, but it is not necessary to suffer. Suffering drives and distorts. Mentally, the suffering that underlies some forms of compulsive behavior such as addictions can be caused by subtle subliminal pain that is subject to subconscious resistance.

When we can learn to relax into events and stressors in our life, letting go of resistance, controlling the things that we can, letting go of the things we can’t, the result is the energy wasted in fighting the things we have no control over, pain, for example, the energy that was being wasted in fighting the trauma or stress that we have can now be freed up to move towards recovery and to live our life despite the pain.

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