Survival

She saw their eyes, felt their concentrated energy moving towards her.
Shaking. She sees her hand shaking. They must be a threat. Danger!
The thoughts come in…Should I run? Should I hide?

Is this…
1 – The opening of the new “Jurassic Park” movie?
2 – Public speaking?
Well, it could be both, couldn’t it? To the limbic system, one of the oldest parts of the brain, they’re one and the same.

Within the limbic system, the amygdala in particular processes fear and aggression. It plays a key role in triggering the sympathetic nervous system’s ‘flight-fright-freeze-fawn” response. When the amygdala perceives a threat, it initiates the release of adrenaline, which prepares the body for action by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. It’s there to help keep us alive, and it acts quickly, sometimes making us feel like our life is in danger when it is not.

So, what happens next to our beleaguered protagonist? Victim or heroine? Well, she proceeds simply with the business of sharing about neurodiversity and the sensory system in GYROTONIC® movement. What? No running, no hiding, no wolves about to get her? Nope. Just words read from a piece of paper held by a profusely shaking hand. And, yes, this story is about my presentation at the recent Gyrotonic Movement and Rehab Conference.

Standing up at the podium, I experienced a full-on adrenaline response and then, secondarily, felt the thoughts enter. At first, they were simple fear: run! hide! Followed by anxiety: What if the shaking continues for the whole 90-minute presentation? What if people think I’m awful, and I’m expelled from the Gyrotonic community forever? And other "helpful" ideas...

But wait! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Why, no, it’s a dash of higher consciousness to the rescue! Like the conductor of an orchestra/triage captain, an observer self was able to see what was happening and make choices in the moment about how to respond. For me, that meant thanking the thoughts for trying to protect me and gently asking them to step aside. It also meant compassionately holding the part that was like a scared animal, quivering in my arms. Making room for the professional to do what she’d prepared for 6 months and flown across the country for.

And then, a magic-feeling thing happened. By taking profound care of these aspects of myself, as I would for a client, my practitioner hat flew over and landed squarely on my head. Soon the audience felt less like 80+ staring eyes and more like one, albeit big, client. What a relief! It took the unfamiliar task of public speaking and “right-sized” it into something that I’ve done for years. Not only did the fear relax, I started to have a great time sharing about something that’s important to me with my co-presenter and the audience, which now seemed curious and friendly, rather than threatening.

It was profound for me to observe this self-agency happening in real-time, however, this is not a tale of: “wow, look at how great she is; wish I could do that!”. Because the truth of the matter is that I couldn’t have always made that shift, and in different circumstances, I might still not be able to. But this time, all my years of focused work, including 6 months of intent work on my fear of public speaking came through. Anyone can develop their self-compassion and ability to discern amongst the chorus of needs inside them to be able to engage in their meaningful activities (occupations) with more ease and joy, even if they’re scared at first. It creates room for something bigger to show up and come through us. This is something that I help people with at Ease Therapy and Movement, through Tensegrity Medicine, which includes IFS-inspired work, and related embodiment/somatic inquiry modalities. (see resources below for more info)

Before wrapping up this tale of transforming fear to ease, let’s return to the animal body, those amazing limbic and nervous systems that reacted with immediacy to save our protagonist from perceived threat. They did exactly what they were meant to do. Nothing was wrong, there was no malfunction. Yes, through investing previously in therapeutic processes, I had the self-agency to choose what to do with the information from my body. But the information was not wrong. My body had never had so many eyes staring at it before, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it responds the same way again. In another new, dangerous-feeling situation, it’s reaction could have been a life-saver. Let’s give our bodies some credit for all the ways they are constantly working to keep us alive. They deserve to be respected, cherished and cared for. If you need some help getting there, please reach out through the contact page.

References:

• Torrico TJ, Abdijadid S. Neuroanatomy, Limbic System (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538491/). 2023 Jul 17. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan. Accessed 6/22/25.
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U.S.). Brain Basics: Know Your Brain (https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/public-education/brain-basics/brain-basics-know-your-brain). Last reviewed 11/15/2023. Accessed 6/22/25.

• Oliver, M. (1986). Dream work. Atlantic Monthly Press

Resources:

• Tensegrity Medicine: https://kellyclancy.com/what-is-tensegrity-medicine/
• IFS (internal family systems): https://ifs-institute.com/

• Ease Therapy and Movement: https://www.JamienRose.com
• To purchase our presentation on Neurodiversity and the Sensory System in Gyrotonic Movement, please follow this link: https://elementscenter.gumroad.com/l/cwfbv

GYROTONIC®, GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® and GYROKINESIS® are registered trademarks of Gyrotonic Sales Corp & are used with permission.