Smiling on the outside. Silently struggling inside.
I Didn’t Realise I Was Living in Survival Mode. (Spoiler: Most people don’t.)
A client once told me:
“I thought I was permanently broken. I’d done therapy, I understood my patterns, but I was still spinning in anxiety, panic, overthinking, and dread. Now I see that my body didn’t feel safe.”
That’s survival mode. And most people are living in it without even realising.
It doesn’t always look like a panic attack. Sometimes it looks like:
Cancelling plans because it’s all too much
Flatness, disconnection, avoidance, no energy for life
Overthinking everything: conversations, decisions, what-if spirals
Feeling numb but anxious, wired but tired
Feeling like you’re “too sensitive” or “too much”
Having done years of therapy and modalities, but still feeling stuck
Another client shared:
“I kept chasing healing, thinking if I just did more, I’d finally feel better. But I was still in my head, pushing myself, and never actually landing in peace.”
💡 What’s really going on?
Survival mode is a chronic stress state where your nervous system gets stuck on high alert.
It happens when your body doesn’t feel truly safe, because the stress, trauma, and overwhelm from the past haven’t been fully processed.
So we carry this heavy, limiting, exhausting ‘emotional baggage’ around everywhere.
It can look different in different people:
🧠 For some, it’s anxiety, restlessness, panic, insomnia, a noisy mind —
a body stuck in fight or flight mode.
😶🌫️ For others, it’s fatigue, low mood, disconnection, bed rotting, depression —
a system stuck in freeze or shutdown.
And often, it’s not showing up across the board.
Maybe you’re thriving in your career, but when it comes to relationships, you freeze, avoid, or shut down.
You want connection, but it feels overwhelming, uncomfortable, or just “too much.”
Maybe you’re confident in some areas, but certain people or situations trigger anxiety, doubt, or shutdown.
This is how survival mode can quietly hold us back.
It’s often the reason you can’t move forward with plans, goals, ambitions, or dreams. Not because you’re unmotivated or unworthy, but because your body believes it is protecting you.
Even when your rational mind knows you’re safe, another part of you, a younger part, a protective part, doesn’t feel that way yet.
That part needs to be met, guided, and gently ushered back into safety and resolution.
Either way, it’s not a mindset issue.
It’s an old nervous system response that hasn’t properly resolved, and it can be rewired.
“It was like I was living with the invisible weight of everything I’d ever held in. I thought I was failing. It turns out, my body was just trying to protect me.” — client
👋 So what helps? 🙊 This is where somatic therapy comes in.
Embodied Processing works directly with the mind, body, and nervous system to:
Gently, safely resolve stored emotional and survival stress
Re-regulate your system so it can return to balance and stay flexible
Help you feel safe, steady, strong, capable, grounded, centred, confident, empowered
You don’t have to push, force, analyse, talk, or "figure it all out." Your body already knows the way. It just needs the right conditions and support to heal.
“I can go to social events now without panic. I’m not spinning in my head. I feel present. I feel safe in myself.” — client
If you're nodding along, this work might be the healing piece — or peace — you've been searching for.
💛 Justine Lloyd
Somatic Therapy | Embodied Processing Practitioner
Book a 1:1 online session with Justine