To Startle or Not to Startle? Moro is the Question
If you’ve ever been scolded for startling the baby then chances are you’ve witnessed the Moro reflex at work. The infant’s arms, legs, fingers and toes will shoot out in all directions and then everything will curl back in towards their bellybutton. This reflex helps in the development of core muscles, gravity awareness, breathing, protection from falls, attacks and regulating strong emotion. A mature startle reflex is easy to re-regulate but a poorly integrated Moro means re-regulation is a daily challenge.
A hyper-active Moro is ever vigilant, leading to stress, adrenal fatigue, anxiety, panic attacks, it contributes to a pattern of responses for ADHD and manic behaviors.
A hypo-Moro response can lead to low reactivity, depression, detachment or emotional attachment issues. This reflex also ties into the fight, flight, or freeze cycle of responses which are survival mechanisms but when on all the time they become a strong contributor to anxiety and depression.
Envision the brain as always running on high alert waiting for the next “attack” to take place and how exhausting that must be. It is an inefficient use of our brain’s bandwidth which contributes to a constant sense of low-level unease, anxiety that fosters depression and poor self-esteem. So when the fire alarm goes off we will either be peeling you off the ceiling then spend an hour calming you down or we’ll be prodding you out the door while pointing out the emotional upheaval going on around you.
Signs of a persistent Moro reflex:
Hyper-Active Moro:
Startles to touch, sound, light, sudden movement, someone else’s expectations of them
Trouble calming or self-regulating emotional responses
Easily panicked, clingy, find transitions traumatic
Lashes out emotionally or physically
Large involuntary responses when startled both physically and/or verbally
Stomach and intestinal issues, pain
Racing thoughts, impulsivity and tendencies to speed responses
Hypo-active Moro:
Tends to be withdrawn into oneself, will withdraw for self-protection
May appear depressed, slow or delayed emotional responses
May demonstrate slow reaction time to sensory or environmental stimuli
Lack of energy, no push energy
Slowed thinking, decisions are difficult
Constipation, slow digestion, sluggish intestinal track, poor lymphatic circulation
Most of us have known someone who had a large “over the top” response when a loud noise or unexpected touch has taken them by surprised. Did they throw their no matter arms into the air, jump out of their seats maybe even yelled a profanity or two? Were they still upset and unable to let go of the incident even 30 minutes later? This would be a classic example of an involuntary, bodily driven Moro response. Overcoming this response isn’t a simple exercise in will power or mind over matter because your automatic reflex is the matter! Only when the reflex is integrated into the lower brain by using movement-based activities it will the upper brain finally have a choice in how you respond.
Here’s my favorite example for the Moro response: If the reflex is persistent when you get startled the involuntary bodily response is: “It’s a BEAR! We are going to die run, fight or freeze!”. But after working to integrate the Moro your upper brain is in control and logic can be applied to your response. Now it’s: “Oh a spider. I can squish it, take it outside or ignore it” because now you have a choice.
One more thing to know about the Moro is that it can be well integrated until you have a trauma which will then cause a slip back into a persistent, involuntary state. Keep in mind that a trauma isn’t necessarily a huge car accident or emotional upheaval but whatever your individual system deems a trauma. The good news is once you recognize the responses ramping up pulling out your home program and doing your activities will bring integration back again. Then once again you can ignore the bear and choose what to do with your spider!
As always if you have any questions please reach out. Stay safe and remember:
Every body should be a comfortable place to live in
