Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn — Understanding Your Stress Responses
18m | Sep 5, 2026Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn: Understanding Why You React the Way You Do
Have you ever snapped at someone and later wondered, “Why did I react like that?”
Maybe you avoid difficult conversations. Maybe you completely shut down when you're overwhelmed. Maybe you constantly keep yourself busy so you don't have to sit with how you're feeling. Or maybe you're always saying yes, keeping everyone happy and putting yourself last.
These behaviours can sometimes connect back to four common stress responses:
Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn.
In this episode, we break down what each response can look like in everyday life — because they don't always look the way you think they do.
We dive into:
- Why your body can react before your logical brain catches up
- How fight can show up as defensiveness, anger or needing control
- Why constantly staying busy can sometimes be a form of flight
- The difference between being “lazy” and feeling completely frozen or overwhelmed
- How fawning can show up through people-pleasing and struggling to say no
- Why different situations can bring out different responses
- How these patterns can show up in relationships, work, training and your health journey
- The importance of recognising your triggers instead of immediately judging your reaction
- How to create more space between trigger → reaction so you can start responding with more awareness
This isn't about putting yourself into a box or trying to never experience stress again.
It's about getting curious about your own patterns and asking:
“What am I actually trying to protect myself from?”
Because once you start understanding why you react the way you do, you can start creating space to choose how you want to respond.
