28 WHAT EVERY BODY IS SAYING
BOX 8: THE NIGHT THE HANDS STOPPED MOVINGI was at my mother’s house a few weeks ago watching television and eat-
ing ice cream with members of the family. It was late at night and some-
one rang the doorbell (something that is very unusual in her neighborhood).
Suddenly, in the midst of eating, everyone’s hands froze—adults and
children alike—as if choreographed. It was amazing to see how we all
reacted with “hands flash frozen” at precisely the same moment. It turned
out that the visitor was my sister who had forgotten her keys. But of
course we didn’t know it was her ringing the bell. It was a beautiful ex-
ample of the hardwired communal response to perceived danger, and of
the first limbic reaction, which is to freeze.
Soldiers in combat react the same way. When the “point man” freezes,
everyone freezes; nothing needs to be said.with the palm of his hand, before turning around and heading back to
his apartment to turn off the stove. That momentary stop is enough for
the brain to do some quick assessing, whether the threat comes in the
form of a predator or of a thought remembered. Either way, the psyche
must deal with a potentially dangerous situation (Navarro, 2007, 141–
163).
We not only freeze when confronted by physical and visual threats,
but as in the example of the late-night doorbell, threats from things we
hear (aural threats) can also alert the limbic system. For instance, when
being chastised, most people hold very still. The same behavior is ob-
served when an individual is being questioned about matters that he or
she perceives could get them into trouble. The person will freeze in his
chair as if in an “ejector seat” (Gregory, 1999).
A similar manifestation of the limbic freeze occurs during interviews
when people hold their breath or their breathing becomes very shallow.
Again, this is a very ancient response to a threat. It is not noticed by the
interviewee and yet it is quite observable to anyone watching for it. I have