[ intro ].

Hi everyone! I’ve been looking for Squeaks all morning.

I know he’s around here somewhere, but I can’t find him. Squeaks? Where are you, buddy?

Oh, it’s only you, Squeaks. You scared me. [Squeaks apologizes]. Apology accepted, Squeaks.

I know you were only trying to surprise me. For a second there, when you scared me, I felt myself want to run away really quickly! Then, when I realized it was you, that feeling went away.

You must have triggered my fight or flight response. [Squeaks asks what that is]. That’s something that happens when animals like us get scared, because we want to get to safety as quickly as possible. It’s okay to feel scared sometimes.

It happens to everyone, even grown-ups! If we’re scared, and our brains decide we need to get somewhere safe quickly, there are two main things that can happen. Sometimes, our brains will decide on the fight option, so that we can scare away whatever is scaring /us/.

Without really meaning to, we might suddenly feel angry, and even try to fight whatever scared us. Other times, our brains will decide on the flight option. [Squeaks asks if this means Jessi can fly]. Good guess, but it doesn’t mean we can fly!

Flight is another way to say “running away”. If our brains choose flight, we might feel even more scared than before, and want to run away from whatever scared us as fast as we can. For either fight or flight, we don’t really make the choice ourselves; our brains and bodies just react without us thinking about it. [Squeaks asks for elaboration].

It might sound strange, but our brains are trying to get us to safety quickly, so it doesn’t give us time to really think about what we want to do. Fight or flight is an instinct: something our brains and bodies do naturally, without us thinking about it. It’s the brain’s way of protecting us.

When we get scared, our brains sends signals all over our bodies, preparing for action. It makes our heart and lungs work faster to get energy to our muscles, so that we can run really quickly, or fight really hard. It even makes our eyes focus better, so we can see things moving more easily.

Our bodies will stay ready to fight or flee, until we’re safe. [Jessi stretches/yawns] [Squeaks squeaks a concern]. I am a bit tired now, Squeaks. The fight or flight response put my body into overdrive, with so many muscles and organs getting ready to leap into action.

Now I can start to feel how much energy went into that response. If your brain goes into fight or flight mode, you may not notice what’s going on to your body very well. But once you realize everything’s okay, your brain allows you to think clearly again, and you might notice that you’re really tired, hungry, or thirsty.

Whew. I sure am glad that it was only you trying to surprise me, Squeaks, and not something really scary. I’m glad that I didn’t run away too far! [Squeaks squeaks a suggestion].

That’s a good idea, Squeaks! Squeaks says that when we feel ourselves getting scared, it might help to take a deep breath in, and then a deep breath out really slowly, like this. [Jessi demonstrates]. This can help our brains stay out of fight or flight mode, so we don’t feel as scared.

Let’s try it. Ready? [Squeaks attempts to scare Jessi, and Jessi takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.] That worked pretty well! I felt scared for a moment, but my breathing gave me enough time to realize that it was only you, and I felt better.

But just in case, let’s go play something less scary, like chess! [Squeaks agrees]. Thanks for joining us! If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and don’t forget to check us out on the YouTube Kids app.

We’ll see you next time, here at the Fort!