Understanding Your Protector in Waji
What is the Protector?
In Waji, the Protector represents the part of you that
springs into action when you feel triggered, activated, or reminded of past
trauma. It’s not a physical entity but a metaphor for the emotional, physical,
and behavioral responses that emerge when your body and mind perceive a threat
or as a reminder of past trauma—even if the situation is safe today.
Instead of seeing these responses as “bad,” Waji encourages
you to view them as well-meaning but outdated mechanisms that were designed initially to keep you
safe.
Think of your Protector as:
A
well-intentioned friend who’s always on high alert, trying to shield you
in the best way it knows how.
A
barrier that shields you from discomfort but may also limit meaningful connections.
A
response mechanism that activates automatically, sometimes in ways that
feel overwhelming or out of proportion.
The Protector concept helps personify the effects of trauma
on your emotions, thoughts, and physical responses. It embodies the feelings,
beliefs, and reactions that arise when you’re in an “activated” state,
triggered by situations that remind your body of past trauma.
How Trauma Shapes the Protector
Trauma rewires your autonomic nervous system, leaving it in
a state of hyperarousal. This heightened alertness causes your internal
"alarm" to ring even in safe situations, as if danger is
ever-present. These alarms trigger emotional, physical, and behavioral
responses that were once vital for survival but may no longer serve you today.
The Protector develops in response to challenging or
traumatic experiences, often as a way to help you cope or survive. For example:
In
Childhood: If you grew up in a critical or chaotic environment, the
Protector might have emerged as an inner critic or hypervigilant voice to
help you navigate instability.
In
Repeated Adversity: If you faced ongoing harm or rejection, it might
have developed to avoid emotional risk or protect you from future pain.
Over time, however, these responses may become maladaptive,
continuing to react as if the past dangers are still present. This can lead to
patterns of behavior that make it difficult to engage fully in the present.
Recognizing When Your Protector Is Active
Your Protector’s presence often becomes apparent through the
emotional, physical, and behavioral responses it triggers. These reactions
might seem automatic and overwhelming, but they provide valuable clues about
what your Protector is trying to do.
Signs Your Protector Is Active:
Emotional
Responses:
Sudden
anxiety, anger, or fear.
Feelings
of shame, guilt, or sadness.
Physical
Sensations:
Tightness
in the chest or throat.
A
racing heart or tense muscles.
A
sense of physical agitation or hypervigilance.
Behavioral
Patterns:
Avoidance
of certain people, places, or activities.
Defensiveness
or snapping at others.
People-pleasing
or self-silencing to avoid conflict.
Negative
Beliefs:
A critical or worried inner voice,
saying things like:
These responses often feel automatic and beyond your control
because they are rooted in your nervous system’s learned behavior to protect
you. While their goal is to keep you safe, they can sometimes limit your
ability to fully engage with the present or form new, healthy connections.
An Example to Illustrate
Imagine you feel anxious when asked to speak up in a group.
Your heart races, your palms get sweaty, and your mind goes blank. Even though
you know sharing your ideas is important, you can't shake the fear that
something bad will happen if you do.
In this scenario:
Your
Protector Stepping in at Work: These anxious feelings and physical
reactions are signs of your Protector stepping in to shield you. It’s
trying to keep you safe based on past experiences—perhaps times when
speaking up led to criticism, rejection, or embarrassment.
By understanding that these responses stem from your
Protector, you can start to view them with compassion rather than frustration.
This shift in perspective allows you to work with your Protector during Waji
sessions, reassuring it that the current situation is safe and you’re capable
of handling it. Over time, this can help reduce the intensity of these
reactions and foster more confidence.
How the Protector Might Look During Waji Sessions
Your Protector could take on many forms, depending on how it
feels when it’s “active” in your life. Here are some examples of how people
often describe their Protector during the externalization stage:
A
Character or Figure
Some people imagine their Protector as a familiar figure, like Tinkerbell,
who flits around and tries to keep them safe by issuing overly cautious
warnings. Others picture it as a parental figure, a critic, or even a
stern teacher who’s always telling them what they “shouldn’t” do.
Example:
Tinkerbell might step in when someone is on a date, warning them, “Don’t
trust too easily,” based on past experiences of hurt or betrayal.
An
Abstract Object or Force
The Protector might feel like a shield, a bubble, or a fog that separates
you from others or weighs you down.
A
Physical Sensation
Your Protector might manifest as tension in your body, like a tight chest,
a churning stomach, or clenched shoulders.
An
Animal or Instinct
Others might describe their Protector as an animal, like a barking dog
warning of danger or a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
- Example:
Someone who feels hypervigilant might picture their Protector as a wolf,
always on guard, scanning for threats.

Why This Matters
By giving your Protector a form that resonates with you, you
can interact with it as a separate part of yourself, not something that
controls or defines you. This step is crucial in learning to balance your
Protector’s influence, reassure it, and eventually guide it toward healthier,
more adaptive behaviors.
Why the Protector Matters in Waji
The Protector isn’t inherently bad or harmful—it’s trying to
help, often in ways shaped by past experiences where survival was paramount.
However, its overactive nature may hinder your ability to thrive in the
present.
Understanding and engaging with the Protector is a
cornerstone of Waji because it allows you to:
Recognize
and externalize these automatic responses, seeing them as a part of
you—not the whole of you.
Build
self-awareness around how these responses affect your thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors.
- Begin
to reshape these survival strategies into healthier patterns that align
with your current reality.
Moving Forward: Working with Your Protector
In Waji, the Protector concept becomes a practical tool to
help you engage in the therapeutic process. By recognizing and working with
this metaphorical part of yourself, you connect past experiences to present
responses, providing a framework to understand why you react the way you do and
offering a fresh perspective.This understanding allows you to reduce the
intensity of emotional and physical reactions, increase self-awareness, and
develop healthier patterns of behavior. It fosters self-compassion, enabling
you to see these responses not as flaws, but as well-intentioned survival
strategies that can be reshaped to better serve your current life.

Key Point
In Waji, we refer to this hyperaroused version of your autonomic
nervous system as "Your Protector." When you feel activated, the
symptoms, emotions, and behaviors that arise are signs of your Protector
springing into action. These reactions often stem from past trauma, even if the
triggers aren't obvious in the moment—they make you respond as if the trauma
were actively happening.
Your Protector is your defense mechanism. Its job
is to shield you from the pain, hurt, or danger of past experiences. While its
intentions are protective, it can sometimes overreact, interpreting harmless
situations as threats. In Waji, we help you interact with your Protector and
work toward shifting its focus— transforming it from a reactive defense into a
regulated response that's grounded in the present, rather than the past.