Have you ever wondered how your body holds trauma long after a difficult experience has passed? You might notice your chest tightening when you walk into a familiar room or feel your stomach drop without understanding why. Your body might be remembering something your mind hasn't fully processed yet.
Trauma doesn't just live in our thoughts and memories. It settles into our muscles and our nervous systems. To move past stored stress, we must first learn to listen to the messages held within the body itself.
When Protection Becomes Pain
When something overwhelming happens, your brain and body work together to help you survive. Your nervous system kicks into high gear, flooding you with stress hormones and preparing you to fight, flee, or freeze. If that survival energy doesn't get fully released in the moment, it can stay trapped in your body long after the danger has passed.
This isn't just a metaphor. Research shows that traumatic experiences create lasting changes in how our bodies function. Your nervous system remains on high alert, scanning for threats even when you're safe. Your muscles might hold tension patterns that formed during the original trauma.
Think of it like this: your body developed these responses to protect you. They worked in that moment. But now they're firing off in situations that don't actually threaten you, creating symptoms that feel confusing and overwhelming.
Reading the Body's Signals
How your body holds trauma shows up in countless ways. For example, you might experience the following:
Chronic pain in areas that tense up during stress.
Digestive issues that arise because trauma disrupts the gut–brain connection.
Sleep problems that emerge when your nervous system can't settle into a state of rest.
Some people notice they startle easily at sudden sounds or movements. Others find themselves feeling numb or disconnected from physical sensations. Headaches, muscle tension, and fatigue become constant companions. These are signs your body is communicating that it's still carrying the weight of past experiences.
Rewiring Internal Alarms
Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches. The sympathetic system is your accelerator, activating when you need to take action. The parasympathetic system is your brake, helping you rest and recover. When trauma occurs, this system can get stuck in overdrive or shut down completely.
You might find yourself constantly revved up, unable to relax even in peaceful moments. Or you might feel disconnected and foggy, as if you're watching life from behind a thick pane of glass.
Release
How your body holds trauma also reveals its capacity for healing. Your body's ability to store these experiences means it can also participate in releasing them. Somatic approaches to trauma therapy work directly with these physical patterns, helping your nervous system learn that the danger has passed and it's safe to release the stored energy.
Through therapies like EMDR and somatic experiencing, you can process trauma not just mentally but physically. These approaches help you develop awareness of how trauma lives in your body and provide tools to gradually release it.
Movement practices, breathwork, and mindfulness can also support your recovery. When you reconnect with physical sensations in a safe, supported way, you're giving your body permission to complete the responses it couldn't finish during the trauma.
The Process of Embodied Change
Healing from trauma isn't as simple as forgetting it. It's about creating space for your body to tell its story and supporting it as it finds new patterns of safety.
Ready to learn more about how your body holds trauma and rediscover who you are? Get in touch with us to explore trauma therapy options that address the whole you. Your body has been working hard to protect you. With the right support, it can also be your partner in healing.