When you Experience Body Freeze but You Know You Need to Move

Your throat clutches.
You feel like you can’t speak.
Your head pounds and you can’t seem to think.

You know you have to move this time — that body freeze isn’t going to stop this cycle.

That lump in your throat isn’t because what you’re about to do is wrong.
It is a trauma response.
An instinct that says, “If I break the pattern, I’m not safe.”

The problem with these types of strategies is that you aren’t thinking and are usually dissociated when it’s occurring.

Furthermore, your conscious mind — the left brain, cognitive, thinking mode — is dedicated to maintaining the status quo. It thinks:

• I have to plan things out.

• Think things through.

• The devil I know is better than the devil I don’t.

Change requires you getting outside yo

ur comfort zone.

One of my favorite quotes is from Fritz Perls:
“Fear is excitement without the breath.”

See how that works?

If you aren’t breathing, it is in service to:

• an increase in blood pressure

• fear

• the beginning of what might be a panic attack

If you breathe, stay grounded, and continue to fuel your brain with oxygen, you can choose differently.
Your story starts to change.
You get unstuck.

Easier said than done, I know that.

However, when we get triggered in life or in the therapy room, it gives us a way to step back and say:

I know I feel this, but it isn’t logical, and I want to choose myself this time.

This is how we start to feel like we can be safely grounded in our bodies and in relationship with others.

Here’s a guided grounding exercise to get you started:  https://youtu.be/_y6xSRd2mnw

The Energy of Change that Breaks Free of Body Freeze

A lot of the work I do with my clients helps them suss out what the increase in energy they have — whether it be:

• anxiety

• panic

• grief

—is trying to get them to do or look at.

We need an excess of energy to make big changes.
Like falling in love — we make big changes then, right?

I do a lot of guided imagery and grounding exercises with my clients that they use in between sessions. You can access some of them here on my YouTube channel.

Listening With the Body and Intuition

I’m also paying attention to:

• posture changes

• breathing patterns

• voice inflections

• moods

• how my own body and intuition respond

Sometimes an image or idea pops in my head that is relevant to the conversation, even if I can’t fully know how it is relevant yet.

We learn to trust our intuitions and our bodies together in sessions.
It can be reassuring.
Supportive.
And enlightening.

When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough

I talk to people all the time who say they have done a lot of therapy, but:

• their previous therapist took them as far as they could go

• something was missing in the relationship

• it was a good conversation, but they needed something more

• EMDR required being able to connect with a conscious thought, memory or image for processing.  Many people with childhood trauma and complex PTSD don’t have memories of their past.
• They understood why they experience body freeze, but they don’t know how to change it.  Intellectual understanding is not enough.

I know for me, I went through several therapists who weren’t helping much before I got into Jungian analysis. They said I was coping enough. I was smart. I had resources. I could figure it out.

I knew I still had work to do.

I’m glad I’m still doing the work in my training analysis as I continue to train at the CG Jung Institute Zürich.

Why Jungian Depth Work Feels Different

Jungian analysis doesn’t just work with talking and thinking.It uses all the functions:

• sensing — externally and internally

• emotion and affect

• intuition

• body-felt sense

That’s why art therapy and sandplay are s

o helpful with Jungian work and part of why I love integrating them into my practice.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’re noticing these freeze responses or cycles in your own life, you don’t have to navigate them alone.

You can explore more grounding exercises and guided imagery on my YouTube channel, or reach out if you’re looking for deeper one-on-one work.

Change doesn’t happen by force.
It happens by awareness, breath, and support.

Maggi Colwell

Maggi is a licensed art therapist at Columbus Art Therapy who assists their clients to discover more of themselves through dream analysis, art therapy, shadow work, and depth psychotherapy. They specialize in working with grief and loss as well as c-PTSD. Click the button to sign up for Maggi's newsletter to get notifications about new blogs and upcoming events including workshops, groups, rituals, and art.