I'm new to the forum but had to chime in on this thread... I remember the learning curve well. My first (and so far only) tumble due to clipless was also a slo mo - I had just got the pedals (and the bike) and was out for my first long ride. I was slowly navigating around some cow gates on a bridge and failed to remember that there was a steep uphill right after the gates. I didn't have enough momentum to get up the hill and I could feel the bike getting slower and slower and mentally resigning myself to the fact that I was going to go over. Fortunately I mostly hit the grass and suffered little more than a scraped knee and a persistent and annoying chirp on my bike.

The only thing that will make the pedals easier and alleviate that trapped feeling is practice, practice, practice. I solved the issue by sticking SPDs on my commuter too so I had no choice but to use them all the time and since I commute on my bike in an urban environment I did a lot of stopping and starting. At first I unclipped ages before the corner and coasted in but eventually my confidence increased and I now unclip only when necessary.

Just bought my first mountain bike so I expect the learning curve is going to start all over again now

Mel