Educational purposes only. This column provides advice on personal safety habits and is not a substitute for professional security or legal services.
Ask Sensei: “Why did I feel unsafe for no reason?”
Field Dispatch: March 20, 2026
Sensei,
I was walking to my car last night and saw a man standing near the exit. I immediately felt a cold chill and my stomach tightened. I didn’t see a weapon and he wasn’t doing anything wrong, so I told myself I was being silly and kept walking. As soon as I got close, he started asking me strange questions and wouldn’t let me pass. I eventually got away, but I feel like I ignored a warning. Why did I feel that way before he even spoke?
— Trusting the Chill
The Hidden Speed of Safety
Dear Trusting,
You were not being silly. You were experiencing a rapid data-processing event. Most people think of intuition as a lucky guess, but it is actually your brain recognizing a pattern of danger before your conscious mind can find the words to describe it. Your body reacted to “red flags” like his posture, where he was standing, or the way he was watching the area.
That cold chill and tight stomach you felt are what we call “somatic markers.” These are physical alarms your body uses to get your attention. Because your survival systems work up to 100 times faster than your logical mind, you will often feel the danger in your gut long before you see it with your eyes. In your case, your brain saw the threat, sent the alarm to your stomach, and waited for you to act.
Deep Dive: Intuition
Learn how to identify and vet your body’s internal alarm system: The Intuition Glossary Page
The reason you kept walking is that we are taught to be polite and rational. We wait for “proof” before we allow ourselves to leave a situation. But in personal safety, waiting for proof often means waiting until it is too late. If your body generates a warning, it has already seen something that doesn’t fit the normal baseline of the environment.
Next time you feel that physical shift, don’t look for a logical reason to stay. Use that energy to change your path or leave the area immediately. You can always use logic later to figure out why you felt that way, but in the moment, your body’s alarm is your best tool for staying safe.