The Fight response— “The Grinch” and what we can think of as the Protector Mode. When faced with stress or discomfort, your nervous system activates a need for control and power to protect you. This natural response helps you feel safe by managing perceived threats head-on.

Understanding Your Fight Response: Power in Protection

In the fight state, areas of the brain like the amygdala and sympathetic nervous system activate, preparing your body to respond directly to threats. Here’s how this response might show up for you:

• Seeking control over your environment, relationships, or routines
• Strong need to be “right” to feel safe and validated
• Physical tension, like clenching muscles, often in the jaw or fists
• Emotional reactivity, with quick surges of frustration or anger

This response is a way of signaling that safety might be lacking, so by “fighting” perceived threats, you’re actively regaining a sense of control and self-assurance.

When the fight response is activated, your body needs movement.

When you’re feeling tense, on edge, or overwhelmed, the Goddess Breath (within your tutorial) can shift you from fight mode into calm. This breath technique activates the vagus nerve, which tells your nervous system it’s safe to relax, helping you feel grounded and balanced.

Practice the Goddess Breath:

1. Get Comfortable: Sit or assume a wide leg squat stance
2. Inhale Deeply: Inhale through your nose as you reach your arms overhead
3. Exhale through your mouth: Drive your elbows into your side as you exhale forcefully through your mouth and throat.
4. Tempo: Slowly build your tempo as you go through 5-10 reps
5. Repeat for 5-10 reps: Let each breath cycle bring you deeper into relaxation.
6. Lengthen Last Exhale: Your last rep, lengthen and extend your exhale. This longer exhale activates your vagus nerve, helping the body shift from a fight state into calm.

Additional ways to support the Fight response:

✔️ Create Structure & Plans – Uncertainty can heighten the fight response, leading to control-seeking behaviors. Establishing a clear roadmap with steps, outcomes, and timelines can help reduce anxiety, creating a sense of predictability and security.

✔️ Embrace Your Need for Specifics– Gathering details and planning ahead can reinforce a sense of safety. When you understand the “why” and “how,” your brain registers this clarity as a safety cue. In relationships or activities, open communication about expectations can provide the reassurance your brain seeks.

✔️ Movement as a Release– Because the fight response often manifests physically, movement can be a powerful outlet. Try what I like to call a “rage walk”—walking with purpose while listening to music that syncs with your pace. This rhythmic, forward momentum can release pent-up tension and help you feel more grounded.

Here are some leaving reminders – Your fight response is a powerful, protective strength—a message from your brain signaling a need for safety through clarity, control, and even physical release. By understanding and honoring your natural tendencies—like setting plans, moving with purpose, and practicing Goddess breaths—you can channel your protector mode into a balanced state.

Embrace both your inner Grinch and the potential for softness. There’s power in your fight response, and there’s also power in allowing it to guide you towards calm.

Curious to learn more about the other three trauma responses? How we react to stress can change over time or depending on the situation. It’s helpful to understand how to support yourself and recognize when someone else is triggered. Feel free to visit this blog for a summary of each trauma response and practical ways to navigate them.