Green Light Reflex vs. Red Light Reflex

The Red Light reflex is a response to distressful events. It is a protective response to negative events that threaten us, from vague apprehensions to gnawing anxieties, to overt dangers.

The Green Light reflex is the opposite of the Red Light reflex, as both a muscular activity and an adaptation function. The Red Light reflex contracts the anterior flexor muscles, curling the body forward; the Green Light reflex contracts the posterior extensor muscles, lifting and arching the back in the opposite direction.

Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health by Thomas Hanna