Thank you for taking the Stress Personality Quiz. I am so glad you have taken the first step towards operating from your Center; allowing health, peace and transformation to come into your life. This quiz is based on the 4 responses of our nervous system. The other types include the Dog (fawn), Horse, (flight), Lion (fight).
This quiz is unique in that it highlights how you respond to various stressful situations. Some responses are healthy but others are not and can work against your best interest. Understanding your stress patterns is the first step in learning how to create new responses so you can stay calm, protect your energy and thrive in social and work environments. We all have this capability and I believe, being calm, empowered and resilient is our natural state. I refer to this state as our Center.
When we are Centered, we are at peace, in flow and have access to the best aspects of ourselves. We get taken off-center for many reasons. Our autonomic nervous system (ANS) responds to a threat in an instant with the goal to keep us safe and alive. It remembers everything so responds to the level of danger or challenge based on the past. These responses may be appropriate at times, but sometimes the body reacts to a threat that isn’t there. Or you miss cues of safety because your system gets stuck in protect/defend mode. When our system gets stuck, these normal nervous system responses can become habits or personality patterns
The Turtle is also known as the Freeze response. This pattern formed when you were a child. No-one gets out of childhood and adolescence without experiencing some kind of trauma or stressful event. This reactive part of you likely didn’t get the safety, love and reassurance he/she needed at times.
The great news is that love and safety are within you. You access it from your Center. And with practice, this habitual stress pattern can shift so you operate more and more from your Center. The Healthy Freeze response happens when the nervous system decides the danger is too great to run from or fight. Some scientists believe the freeze response is always the first response to danger. Pausing gives our systems time to assess the next move or stay immobile. A normal freeze response happens when we get sudden news or are in an accident or disaster.
The TURTLE: At your best you
You are probably highly sensitive and get overwhelmed easily. This is also a trauma response. You may have experiences from childhood that overwhelmed your ability to run or fight. Without these options, you learned to shut down or disassociate. This can show up in patterns of isolation, hiding, becoming disconnected from yourself and others. Maybe you space out when you are with people or spend a lot of time binging TV, social media or get lost in books. You love to daydream and have an active fantasy life or rely on the spiritual world more than your real world. Sometimes it is hard to get motivated and stay productive with your “why bother?” attitude.
If Turtle is your first response and you have a history of trauma, it is important to find a qualified trauma therapist or practitioner. Please schedule a consult with me to see if working together is a good fit or I can refer you to someone else.
A word about Burnout: The freeze response also kicks in when your fight/flight/fawn responses get exhausted and you burnout. The body shuts down to prevent further stress and try to restore energy.
Core False Belief:
I’m not safe with other people or in challenging situations
Biggest Fear:
Abandonment, pain, hurt
The first step to shifting your stress pattern so you can respond appropriately to your life is awareness. The second step is compassion. These two core practices are known as tending and befriending. Acknowledging and witnessing your patterns with compassion allows you to move from auto-pilot reactions to responding from your Center.
Sensory based awareness practice will help you connect to your body and your feelings. Mindful walking practice is a wonderful way to ground in your body and connect to the Earth activating your life force energy. Allow your senses to come alive on your walk by focusing on one sense at a time.
Recharge in your “safe place” whether an imagined place or actual space. Energize your system by coming out of your shell with movement. Walk, dance, shake, lift weights. Call a friend to join you for added benefit!
Place a hand on your heart as you breath in for 4, out for 6. Focus on the heart to discover your Divine Source within and access your natural intuitive abilities. Connect with and embrace younger aspects of yourself so you never feel abandoned again.
Are you ready to transform your stress patterns and reclaim your health, energy and purpose?
Let’s work together to free you of your old patterns, heal the trauma and emotional wounds and recover the natural happy and healthy you at the Center.
Schedule a free 20 minute consult to make sure working together is a good fit. I look forward to connecting with you.
