Signs Your Body Is in Survival Mode (Even If You Feel “Fine”)

Most people think of “survival mode” as something dramatic – panic attacks, overwhelming stress, or a total emotional shutdown.

But the nervous system doesn’t always suddenly plunge into survival mode save for big stressful life events, sudden loss, etc. 

Very often, it happens slowly. Quietly.

So quietly that you may not even realize your body shifting towards overwhelm and survival while it is happening in real time.  

Many of my clients tell me, “I’m fine” or “good” when really they are not.  I am sure we can all relate to this as we all get asked “how are you?” from time to time and usually give the short answer to divert attention from what’s happening underneath.  

Oftentimes this diversion helps us avoid sharing intimate details of our life with others.  But I also find that it can be a diversion from really connecting to one’s self in an attempt to keep up the facade that everything is indeed “fine” rather than sit with what is really going on inside. 

If you’ve been feeling “off” without a clear reason, your body might be living in survival mode without you knowing it, and there is likely a story your body wants you to hear to get you back into regulation.

This can look like:

• fight (tension, irritability, overworking)

• flight (anxiety, restlessness, can’t slow down)

• freeze (numbness, disconnection, low energy)

• fawn (over-giving, people-pleasing)

These states are NORMAL functions of the nervous system and therefore a part of life.

The problem only arises when the body gets stuck in one of them.

You don’t have to feel overwhelmed to be dysregulated.

You just have to be holding more than your system knows what to do with.

Here Are the Common Signs Your Body Is in Survival Mode — Even If You Think You’re “Fine”

These are subtle, often overlooked, and surprisingly common.

1. You’re Carrying Tension That Never Fully Goes Away 

• Jaw tightness.
• Shoulders that live near your ears.
• A belly that never fully softens.
• A low back that pinches or aches when you’re stressed.

Chronic muscle tension is not just from “bad posture,” or working out hard.  

It’s a protective response — a way your body braces against overwhelm.

I see protective posturing everyday on my massage table.  Shoulders pulled high and tight, tired from carrying the weight of the world.  Psoas muscles holding onto the urge to run/flight.  Low backs bracing against instability, and the list goes on.

2. You Can Rest… but You Don’t Feel Rested

Maybe you sleep, but wake up tired.

Or you sit down to relax, and your mind stays busy.

Or you have to rely on sleeping aids or cannabis that actually interrupt your natural sleep cycles thus making the issue worse.

This isn’t a lack of discipline and nothing is “wrong” with you.

Your body simply doesn’t feel safe enough to downshift.

3. You’re Always “On”

This is one that I see most often, especially with today’s technology making us reachable at almost any moment.  

You’re functioning well — maybe even high functioning — but there’s a sense that you can’t let your guard down and even if you want to you can’t find the “off button.”

You might notice:

• multitasking constantly

• difficulty feeling present

• a quick startle response

• overthinking or scanning your environment

This is your nervous system staying hyperaware so you don’t miss anything that could be “dangerous,” even if there is no actual danger.  This is no different to your nervous system than walking through the jungle worried that every movement is a jaguar ready to pounce and kill you. 

4. You Have a Hard Time Feeling Your Emotions (or They Hit You All at Once)

Your two survival response options are to dissociate from emotions and pretend your physiological responses are coincidence, or keep building the dam higher in an attempt to hold them back until it inevitably breaks down letting in the flood:

• Numbing: emotions muted, disconnected, hard to identify

• Flooding: emotions come in waves that feel overwhelming

Neither means you’re doing something wrong.

It just means your system is holding more than you realize.

5. You’re Irritated or Overwhelmed by Small Things

Your logical mind says, “It’s not a big deal.” But your body reacts like it is.

That’s because survival mode makes your window of tolerance smaller, so everyday stressors feel bigger than they should.  Think of a toddler who literally does not have the ability to fully regulate their nervous system on their own yet.  You may tell them it is time to put on pants and they completely throw a fit and melt down… over pants.  Seems like an unreasonably inflated reaction to something so benign, but when the nervous system is overloaded your normal regulated response becomes dramatic.  

6. Your Breathing Is Shallow Most of the Day

The breath is one of the first places we see dysregulation.  Think about how you would be breathing if you were meditating vs running for your life.  Slow deep breaths vs fast erratic gasps.  Breath coincidentally is one of the best tools to help us return to regulation.  Think of times when you have been overwhelmed and stressed and you take a big breath and let out an exaggerated sigh.  

Survival mode creates:

• upper chest breathing

• tight ribs

• holding the breath

• sighing constantly

Your body is preparing to act — not to rest.

7. You Have Trouble Digesting, Sleeping, or Feeling Calm

When the nervous system is in protection mode, the body diverts blood and energy away from your digestive processes, reproductive organs, healing and repair functions pause, and even your deep sleep is interrupted/unreachable.  If the body thinks there is a threat that you will soon need to fight or run from it is going to send all of the blood and energy it can to the muscles to get you out of whatever situation you are in.  But what if you are literally sitting at your desk at work.  Then you are not digesting your lunch, your body is holding tension that is giving you chronic pain and you are not a calm connecting presence in the office and work becomes a hellscape that you cannot wait to escape from.   The body however will not return to normal function until it feels safe and has time to regulate.  

Why This Matters: Survival Mode Changes How You Heal

When your body is in survival mode, it prioritizes protection over transformation and if it is holding a strain pattern as a survival response it is not going to let that go easily.

This is why:

• stretching doesn’t stick

• massage relief doesn’t last

• tension rebuilds overnight

• emotions stay trapped in the body

• pain keeps cycling

Your nervous system is doing its job, keeping you safe, but it doesn’t always know how to come out of the pattern on its own. This is where somatic work becomes so powerful in helping your system shift from fight/flight to rest/digest.

How Somatic + Therapeutic Bodywork Helps You Shift Out of Survival Mode

In my work, I don’t force the body to change.  When a client comes in declaring that they “need deep tissue” or “you can’t go deep enough” I will often tell them that I am a “recovering deep tissue therapist” a joke I stole from my Craniosacral Therapy mentor.  The reality is, your body is a self healing miracle, it just needs the right conditions to do so.  This is why I create the conditions in a session that allow your body and nervous system to relax enough to reorganize itself and return to it’s “default mode” of self healing. 

I help your nervous system feel supported, grounded, and seen, and when the body feels safe, it naturally begins to:

• soften

• unwind tension

• release emotional charge

• breathe more fully

• return to clarity and calm

This is the moment your innate healing intelligence turns back on and it is something YOU allow, not something that I “do to you.”

If You Recognize Yourself in These Signs… You’re Not Alone

You’re not broken.

You’re not dramatic.

You’re not “too sensitive.”

Your body is communicating.  When you are ready to listen, healing becomes much more natural, effortless, and sustainable.

If you’re curious about shifting out of survival mode and back into yourself, you can explore my work or book a session through the link in my bio.  

Your body is ready.

It just needs the right kind of support.