If you feel like you can’t do any of the tasks on your to do list and don’t feel rested after hours of rest, you could be experiencing a nervous system response called functional freeze.
I invite you to join me in this blog post as I explain what this means, symptoms you might face, and dive into ways you can explore yoga for functional freeze.
What Is Functional Freeze?
You may be familiar with the freeze response when you’re experiencing danger. It’s your body’s way of protecting against a threat by limiting your movement. Many think of a deer in headlights when they think of the freeze response.
Functional freeze is different because you can still operate in day-to-day life, but you’re still experiencing the effects of this freeze response.
The important piece to remember is it’s not your fault if you’re stuck in a freeze response. Your body decided on the best course of action for you. To learn more about your nervous system and other survival responses after trauma, I invite you to explore my Guide to Nervous System Regulation after trauma.
Symptoms Of Functional Freeze
Here are a few symptoms you may experience while in a functional freeze state. You may experience all some, or none of these symptoms.
Emotional Symptoms
Psychology Today explores common symptoms of someone in a freeze state:
- Panic attacks
- Obsessive compulsive behaviors
- Anxiety
Here are other symptoms you may experience:
- Avoidance behaviors (especially social situations or difficult tasks)
- Procrastination
- Perfectionism. This is a form of procrastination because nothing will ever be 100% perfect, causing you to put off certain tasks.
- Feeling disconnected or “empty”
Physical Symptoms
Here are a few physical symptoms sourced from PubMed Central:
- Muscle tension
- Shallow breathing
- Feeling stuck or unable to move
What To Do If You’re In Functional Freeze
I understand how difficult it can be to view your symptoms as something your body decides as helpful. It doesn’t understand daily life, work, stress, and other obligations. While in a freeze response, one of the most supportive things you can give yourself is grace and compassion.
While there are several techniques to ease yourself out of this state, Harvard Health Publishing names yoga as a supportive practice for countering our body’s stress response.
For additional support and resources, you might choose to explore my Survivor Support Page.
Yoga For Functional Freeze: 4 Quick Techniques
Yoga is a mindfulness-based practice, meaning it focuses on returning to the present. This is important because when you become stuck in a nervous system response, it’s because your body feels there is danger.
If there isn’t any danger, but a reminder of one, your body will still react as if there is a threat. In order to communicate safety to your body, you can use techniques that signal safety and presence.
Yoga is especially beneficial for those who feel they can’t “logic” their way into feeling safe. This could mean saying to yourself, “I’m safe,” but you still feel the symptoms listed earlier.
Working with your body removes the need to use logic, and instead, you focus on feeling.
Techniques For Functional Freeze:
Grounding
Grounding is an accessible way to root into your center and become present. Yoga incorporates grounding into many of its practices, including yoga poses. Here are a few that are especially grounding:
- Child’s pose
- Legs up the wall
- Savasana
I welcome you to explore Trauma-Informed Child’s Pose and Trauma-Informed Savasana for creating the most comfort in each of these poses.
Breathwork
Breathwork, or pranayama, are specific exercises using your breath. There are many styles and techniques, but one of the simplest exercises to begin with is diaphragmatic breathing.
Diaphragmatic Breath Exercise:
- Begin in any shape that brings you comfort
- As you’re ready, I invite you to inhale through your nose or mouth, and send your breath into your belly. You’ll know you’re breathing into this area because your belly will rise more than your shoulders.
- When it feels right for you, gently exhale through your nose or mouth. You might draw your navel to your spine to exhale more air.
- Repeat this as much as you choose.
Tip: Long and slow breaths promote rest and safety to your body, while short and quick promotes energy. I recommend using slow breaths for this practice.
Many people in functional freeze may also be trauma survivors, and many breathwork exercises ask you to hold your breath. Trauma-informed yoga typically excludes breath retention exercises because it may be more activating than soothing. I welcome you to learn more about the Fundamentals of Trauma-Informed Yoga and if this would be a supportive fit for you.
You might also wish to explore my 7-Minute Breathwork Practice For Overwhelm, and you’re welcome to include diaphragmatic breathing for more support in this class.
Gentle Movement And Poses For Tension Release
It’s beneficial to incorporate some type of movement to ease out of functional freeze. You don’t need to do anything too strenuous, and these yoga poses are a perfect start:
- Cat/cow
- Forward folds
- Twists
Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness practices bring you into the present moment. If your mind is racing, or you’re stuck in overwhelm, mindfulness is what clears your mind and brings inner peace. Below is an example of a mindfulness practice:
Sun Meditation
I invite you to find a comfortable seat outside and in the sun. With your eyes open or closed, I invite you to imagine the sun on your skin “thawing” any parts of you that may need love, care, or support. Remain here as long as you choose.
Important: Some of these practices (like meditation and savasana) are typically taught by reminding you to be still. This type of stillness may not be beneficial for easing out of a freeze response. I welcome you to fidget as much as you choose, and you can end your practice any time you choose.
For an additional meditation, I welcome you to explore my free trauma-informed Healing Light Meditation Transcript. You can also learn more about Trauma-Informed Meditation and ways to explore these practices without needing to be still.
Functional Freeze Support
If you’d like to ease out of functional freeze with a supportive trauma-informed practice, I invite you to join me below.
This is a is a 5 minute practice designed to support your nervous system when you’re experiencing a freeze response. We’ll explore slow, grounding movements to gently reconnect you to your body without overwhelm or too much energy. This is supportive as its own practice or even before or after other practices if you’re craving more grounding and presence. I invite you to join me below for 5 minutes of gentle movement and to tend to your nervous system during moments of freeze.
