04/02/2026
TLDR: A special guest writer from Dubai; transit chart analysis of fight-or-flight response; Aries online group hypnosis offer on April 5th
Thank you to my client, guest writer Alex, for giving permission to share her story below. This article was originally published on Alex's Substack (https://alexzashtitin.substack.com/p/a-conscious-passenger-to-flight-response?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=5q2xo5&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) account. Be sure to subscribe for more articles from Alex!
I investigated Alex's chart at the moment she experienced this magical response in the body. You can read more about what I found in her chart below.
A Conscious Passenger to Flight Response
The Experience of pure, unadulterated survival mechanics without the psychological overlay of panic.
Something extraordinary just happened—a fleeting, invisible phenomenon we all possess but rarely ever stop to witness.
For what felt like the very first time in my existence, I became a fully conscious passenger to the ancient, electric machinery of my own survival: the flight response. And I have to confess, despite the body dysregulation, it was a magnificent experience to behold.
Somewhere around day eighteen of this relentless regional conflict—though the days have long since blurred together—a profound dissociation had set in. Mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion had wrapped around me, and I found myself feeling indifferent about everything.
It simply takes too much energy to stay tethered to the random drumbeat of missile interceptions. My psyche had quietly, unconsciously, packed up and checked out. I was, like everyone else, just getting on with life and living.
There I was, cocooned in the fragile quiet of my flat, penning down quiet thoughts on the first principle of Anatomy of the Spirit, when my building suddenly vibrated following a huge bang that sounded way too close to my flat.
My reaction astounds me.
Instantly, my body reacts, and I experience the whole process as though I am in a futuristic, ultimate-reality simulation. I am aware of everything inside my body, and it seems like I feel and watch it all happen in slow motion.
I vault upward—a pure, unadulterated, biologically inherited reflex firing off before a single thought can even form. Human beings are born with an inherent fear of loud noises, and I become so incredibly aware of that inherited reflex in a fraction of a millisecond. I feel my whole body surge with energy. Every ounce of my awareness is violently yanked into the present, hyper-focused on my inner state and on what I can see outside my window. I feel the very floor of the building shuddering beneath and around me. The eerie, frantic rattling of the windows and doors fills the room. Outside looks like a perfect, sunny, normal day; there is nothing that can be seen to explain what I just heard and felt.
But before my conscious mind can even stitch together the letters to spell “fear,” my heart seizes the centre stage. I become acutely, breathtakingly aware of the heavy drumbeat inside my chest. The tempo starts to rise, growing relentlessly louder, but it is the texture of the heartbeat that mesmerises me. The contraction of the muscle—that split-second pause between the lub and the dub—seems to stretch out, defying the laws of time. It feels as though the heart is squeezing with such fierce, magnificent power that it takes a prolonged, deliberate moment just to release. For what feels like an eternity, I am a silent spectator in the cavern of my own chest, simply listening to and feeling my heart contract, relax, and accelerate.
Then, the rhythm climbs upward. I begin to feel a heavy, rhythmic thrumming deep within my ears, and I am struck by the sheer elegance of the design. The drum in my chest and the pulse in my head are locked in a flawless, synchronised symphony.
I am swimming in conscious awareness, utterly marvelling at the formidable sophistication of the human body. Think about it: a loud bang echoes, the floorboards vibrate, and before my brain has formed a single thought or drawn a single conclusion, my body has already armed itself for survival. My mind hasn’t even begun to process the threat, creating this surreal, almost euphoric state of observation. It is a brilliant incongruence—a total, wild divergence between the physical and the mental. My mind is devoid of fearful thoughts, yet my physical vessel is redlining at a 10/10 state of absolute readiness.
How miraculous is that?
And the magic doesn’t stop there. After basking in the synchronised rhythm of my pulse, I feel the sudden, torrential rush of blood flooding into my muscles. It hits my elbows first in a hot wave, then cascades down my back, skips the back of my legs and pools into my calves, and finally ignites my quads.
It is a sensation that defies ordinary language, mostly because we are never taught to tune into this specific, primal frequency. It feels like an immense, building pressure deep within the muscle fibres—akin to a post-workout “pump,” but with a crucial, spectacular difference. Where a gym pump leaves your limbs feeling heavy, aching, and depleted, this pressure is an infusion of pure, liquid vitality. It doesn’t shut the muscles down; it makes them feel invincible.
Across my arms and legs, my skin begins to pull tight. It’s reminiscent of that phantom shiver you get when you imagine a painful scrape or a sting, sending every hair standing rigidly on end to emphasise the contraction. But again, for lack of better words, I want to emphasise that it is only similar to that feeling. While the shiver of imagined pain is deeply uncomfortable, this sensation is overwhelmingly, strangely comforting. It feels like my skin has grown ears and can hear the air flowing around me. It feels like biological armour locking into place. It makes me feel safe.
Once again, I find myself swept away—admiring, enjoying, and sitting in awe of my own biology. The raw sensations, the lightning-fast reactions, the flawless synchronicity of it all. The new sensations and the new feelings that accompany them. And the most beautiful part of this entire cinematic experience? My conscious mind is still sitting quietly in the audience, unbothered, simply watching the masterpiece of body instinct unfold.
Then, a sudden internal furnace ignites. I become acutely aware of a fierce, radiating warmth pouring off my skin. I have transformed into a living, breathing radiator, emanating a spontaneous heat like a cast-iron stove in the dead of a bitter winter night. The blood rushes to my farthest edges, flooding my hands and feet with a sudden, vital tide. They swell with the surge, feeling full and engorged, but not heavy. When I curl my fingers inward to make a fist, the skin pulls incredibly taut, as if it has suddenly shrunk. My palms become vibrant red, and I am captivated by the sheer, staggering volume of heat baking off my own flesh.
The inferno travels upward, flushing my ears with the same fiery warmth. A faint, delicate ringing begins to hum in the background—but this isn’t the lingering echo of the deafening bang. No, this is the rushing, pressurised symphony of my own blood surging through my veins at maximum capacity.
And then, the true magic of survival kicks in: my senses recalibrate. My hearing sharpens to a razor’s edge, casting a wide, hyper-vigilant net over the outside world. Right in front of me, my phone vibrates frantically against the table with incoming messages, yet the sound is filtered out—rendered irrelevant by my primal brain. Instead, my ears bypass the immediate room and tune into the distance. I can vividly hear the muffled, frantic footfalls of children sprinting down the corridor somewhere outside my front door. I can decipher the low, distant rumble of car tyres rolling across the pavement far below my building.
Once again, I am struck by a wave of pure astonishment. I am sitting in the presence of my own biology, awestruck. How? How is this perfectly orchestrated, microscopic miracle unfolding inside me with such precision? Has this magnificent, fiery transformation happened every single time the flight response has been triggered? How on earth have I walked through my entire life without ever stopping to witness this masterpiece of human survival before?
This whole cascade plays out in mere seconds—two, maximum five—yet to me it feels much longer. In that warped sliver of existence, thoughts and emotions stand backstage, silent and non-existent, while my whole body choreographs a perfect biological drama.
A smile lifts the corners of my mouth before any thought lands. And then, finally, the first rippling thought reaches my consciousness: “I need to go back to my friend’s house.”
This thought is the cherry on top of the entire spectacle, making me aware beyond a single ounce of doubt: I am riding the FLIGHT response, fully awake, utterly present, and startlingly alive.
I am still grappling with the magnitude of this realisation—that I am not just my mind, and my body is a brilliant, autonomous machine that protects me at all costs. It changes everything about how I view fear, healing, and what it means to be truly alive.
What is the most miraculous thing you’ve ever noticed your body do on autopilot? Drop a comment below ~ I read every single one. And if you aren’t already subscribed, join me here as we continue to unravel the anatomy of the human spirit.
About Alex...
I am Alexandra Zashtitin—a chiropractor, an introverted knowledge seeker, and a writer dedicated to bridging the tangible science of the human body with the esoteric wisdom of the soul.
My journey didn't begin in a clinic, but in a life that demanded resilience. Born in Ukraine at the close of the Soviet era, I spent my childhood in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While my early years were marked by what many would call poverty, to me, it was simply the norm—a grounding, humbling foundation. After moving to the UK at age 11 without speaking the language, and stepping into total independence by the age of 16, I initially turned to deep-dive research and studying as a survival mechanism. Over time, this introverted defence evolved into my greatest superpower and a lifelong passion.
My professional path started at the very bottom, working minimum-wage jobs before discovering a profound love for human anatomy. I devoured every course I could find—from sports science to holistic massage—eventually graduating from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic. After graduation, I relocated to Dubai, where my true holistic awakening began. Realising I had my own life journey to unpack, I began my personal healing journey. Guided by incredible mentors in psychology, theta-healing, Chinese medicine, astrology, neumerology and the profound teachings of plant medicine, I discovered the deep, undeniable link between our physical vessels and our energetic bodies. And now I am looking for a way to bridge this knowledge and find the right way to put it out into the world.
Today, learning is not just my hobby; it is my lifestyle. My writing is the space where I weave all these threads together. I explore the intersections of clinical science (anatomy, kinesiology, biochemistry, and neuroscience) with emotional health and esoteric wisdom (the Chakra system, Human Design, Gene Keys, and the Tao). Currently, I am also embarking on a passionate new exploration into the holistic realms of female health.
I am writing to share this integrated knowledge, offering a space where science meets spirituality.
I am so thrilled to connect with you here and share this journey of unlearning, discovering, and healing together.
Analysis of Alex's Chart at the Moment of Experience
Note: The below text is heavy on technical astrology language.
Cliff Notes: The Moon, Mars and Neptune were involved in Alex's experience.
Alex's experience completely blew me away when I read about it! For a moment, she became the 'awareness' behind our embodied Earthly experience. This 'awareness' is spoken extensively about in the Advaita Vedanta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta) spiritual traditions, among others.
When discussing the body's "fight-or-flight" response, we would look at the planet Mars in a chart. Mars' energy is raw fuel, pure energy and our inherent survival instinct.
Alex was born with Mars in the sign of Gemini, which is a sign linked to over-thinking. Mars rules over Alex's Sun Sign in Aries. Aries are known to make impulsive and aggressive decisions. However, Alex's Mars placement would help her stop and think before she takes actions on certain matters.
At the moment she experienced her enhanced fight-or-flight response, the Moon, which was traveling through Pisces, was exactly squaring her natal Mars. This means the Moon by transit was exactly 90° (3 signs away) from her natal Mars placement. Pisces is the sign linked to 'oceanic consciousness' and flow states. A 'square' aspect in a chart indicates high tension. This tension typically pushes us to grow and evolve, often uncomfortably.
Additionally, Alex was born under a very rare Neptune station. This means that the day that she was born, Neptune was ending a long retrograde period. A 'station' means that a planet appears to be standing still for a day or two (from our perspective on Earth). Not only this, Neptune is exactly conjunct her Ascendant (aka her Rising Sign degree)! This means that the planet Neptune was rising over the horizon at the exact moment that Alex was born. Neptune is the planet linked to 'oceanic consciousness' and flow states while Pisces is the sign linked to these themes. Both of these cosmic energies were activated in Alex's birth chart at the moment she had the above experience.
At the moment she experienced her enhanced flight-or-flight response, the planet Mars was also traveling through Pisces. Mars was forming an exact sextile with Alex's natal Neptune, conjunct her Ascendant. This means that Mars was exactly 60° (2 signs away) from her natal Neptune. While a 'square' in astrology indicates high tension, a 'sextile' symbolizes harmony, support and is often called a "gateway of opportunity."
The current conflict (Mars) in her area of the world has activated her connection to high spirituality (Neptune) while she continues her personal Hero's journey, symbolized by her Aries Sun!
Sending Peace,
Astrologer Meredith
Upcoming Cosmic Events
NOW THRU MAY 7th - ALL PLANETS DIRECT (NO RETROGRADE)
April 15-17 - Record Breaking Planetary Line-Up in Aries (7 PLANETS)
April 16 - Sun/Chiron conjunction in Aries
April 17 - New Moon in Aries
April 20 - Mercury/Mars conjunction in Aries
April 25 - Uranus enters Gemini until 2033
Aries Past Life Group Hypnosis!
(Online Event)
KNOW THYSELF
ONLINE GROUP HYPNOSIS EVENT
(~~Will be Recorded~~)
April 5, 2026 | 6-8pm Central | $45
*Sales Close at 12pm Central on April 5th*
I am very excited to announce another collaboration with Julie at Soul Seeker Hypnosis (https://www.soulseekerhypnosis.com/) ! Julie is creating a group past life online hypnosis around the themes of Aries energy.
This journey will focus on the themes of Aries, the 1st house of the birth chart and the energy of Mars. Please read below about the specific chart signatures this hypnosis is being designed for. However, this journey is open to everyone as we all have Aries and Mars in our birth charts. Aries is the energy that sprung us all to life in a human vessel! It is the sign of the SELF.
I will start the evening by discussing the key points of the sign of Aries and past lives associated with Aries themes. If you feel like you are searching to know yourself on a deeper level, this event is for you.
Julie will then guide you through a 45 minute past life healing journey designed to help you gently release identity wounds that Aries can accumulate. Through a grounded and supportive regression, you’ll explore a past lifetime (or your present life) connected to Aries wounding signatures — aggression, anger, resentment, physical abuse and/or losing yourself by following others' ideas of who you are supposed to be. In the positive, Aries energy is associated with bravery, confidence, leadership, fearlessness and enthusiasm. Aries is pure fuel! This regression could help 'tune' your body to embody more personal confidence and move through life more fearlessly.
Intention: To explore a past life experience that reveals deeper truths about your identity, personal strength, and instinctual nature — helping you reconnect with your inner courage and move forward with greater confidence and self-trust.
Suggested (not required) Birth Chart Signatures: Aries Sun, Moon, South/North Node, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Mars; 1st House Sun/Moon Sign; prominent 1st House; 1st house stellium; prominent Mars (conjunct or square Sun/Moon, Mercury, Venus, ASC, MC, IC, DSC, South/North Node).
This hypnosis will also be excellent for any individual looking to know themselves on a deeper level and release fear programming.
What You’ll Need:
• A quiet, comfortable space free from distractions
• Headphones or earbuds for the best experience
• A cozy setup (blanket, pillow, eye mask, or anything that helps you relax)
• A journal or notebook for reflections
• Water, tea, or a light snack for grounding afterward
• A device charger nearby (optional but helpful)
• An open mind and a willingness to simply notice whatever unfolds
This is a great event for experienced hypnosis subjects as well as first timers!
Book an Astrology Reading
Emily Frederick has officially joined the Earthling Astrology team! Emily is knowledgeable, kind, empathetic and has the 'spark' required to practice astrology! Emily offers evening appointments.
Meredith's online calendar is open for booking! Her calendar opens three months in advance. Expedited Readings are still available, but are not bookable online. To book an expedited session, please send an email to meredith@earthlingastrology.com.
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