How Trauma Lives in the Body—And How to Release It
Learn how trauma gets stored in the body—and how somatic therapy helps release it. Explore the nervous system, chronic stress responses, and body-based recovery strategies for CPTSD, abuse, and addiction.
Understanding Trauma: It’s Not All in Your Head
Trauma doesn’t just live in your memories—it lives in your muscles, your breath, your posture, and your nervous system. For many survivors of Complex PTSD (CPTSD), narcissistic abuse, codependency, or long-term emotional neglect, traditional talk therapy may offer insight, but not relief.
That’s because trauma is more than a psychological event. It’s a physiological imprint—one that changes how your body reacts to safety, threat, and connection. And to truly heal, you need to address trauma where it lives: in the body.
How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body
When you experience trauma — especially developmental or relational trauma—your body enters a survival state: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. These responses are governed by your autonomic nervous system, which decides in milliseconds how to respond to perceived danger (Porges, 2011).
If you weren’t able to escape, fight, or find safety, that energy gets trapped. You may not consciously remember the trauma, but your body does.
You may notice:
- Chronic muscle tension or pain
- Shallow breathing or breath-holding
- Digestive issues or hormonal imbalances
- Panic attacks or dissociation
- A persistent feeling of being “on edge”
Over time, this unresolved stress leads to a nervous system that is dysregulated—easily triggered, easily overwhelmed, and often disconnected from feelings of safety and connection (Levine, 2010).
Somatic Signs of Unprocessed Trauma
While trauma looks different for everyone, common physical manifestations include:
- Hyperarousal: racing heart, tight jaw, clenched fists, insomnia
- Hypoarousal: numbness, fatigue, brain fog, disconnection
- Somatic flashbacks: your body reacts as if the trauma is happening again
- Shame posturing: collapsed posture, downward gaze, tension in the diaphragm
- Startle response: easily startled or reactive to small stimuli
These aren’t random symptoms—they’re adaptive survival strategies. Your body is doing what it learned to do in order to protect you.
How Somatic Therapy Helps Release Trauma
Somatic trauma therapy offers a gentle, non-invasive way to help the body complete the responses it never had the chance to finish. It focuses on body awareness, movement, and nervous system regulation—not just cognitive processing.
Here’s how it works:
- Tracking sensations: Learning to notice and name internal bodily states
- Titration: Processing trauma slowly to avoid overwhelm
- Resourcing: Cultivating internal or external feelings of safety
- Discharge: Releasing stuck survival energy through subtle movement or breath
- Co-regulation: Practicing safety in the presence of another
According to Ogden, Minton, & Pain (2006), trauma must be addressed at the level of the body in order to create real change. Insight alone is not enough to rewire the nervous system.
The Nervous System: Your Inner Compass
The Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, explains why trauma healing requires more than just logic or willpower. Your autonomic nervous system constantly scans for cues of danger or safety.
In trauma survivors, this system often gets stuck in:
- Sympathetic dominance (anxiety, panic, agitation)
- Dorsal vagal collapse (shutdown, numbness, withdrawal)
Somatic therapy helps bring the nervous system back to ventral vagal regulation—a state of calm, connection, and social engagement (Porges, 2011).
What Releasing Trauma Looks Like
Releasing trauma doesn’t mean reliving it. In somatic therapy, release often shows up subtly, such as:
- A spontaneous deep breath
- A tingling or warming sensation in the limbs
- A tremor or shiver (the body completing the stress cycle)
- A shift in posture or voice
- A new sense of clarity or calm
These changes reflect the nervous system moving out of survival mode and into regulation.
Is Somatic-Based Healing Right for You?
If you’ve been feeling stuck—whether in therapy, in recovery, or in your body—somatic work may offer the missing piece. This approach is particularly helpful for:
- Survivors of narcissistic abuse or toxic relationships
- Individuals healing from CPTSD and early attachment wounds
- People in second-stage addiction recovery
- Highly sensitive and neurodivergent individuals
- Anyone feeling disconnected from their body or inner sense of safety
At Diverse Paths Wellness, I offer somatic-based recovery coaching and trauma-informed support to help you reconnect with your body, rebuild resilience, and reclaim your life.
Book Your Next Step Toward Healing
Your body holds the story of your survival.
It also holds the possibility of your recovery.
Book a free consult today and begin the process of releasing what no longer serves you:
https://diversepathswellness.ca/book-now
Explore somatic-based recovery coaching here:
https://diversepathswellness.ca/therapists
Read more articles on trauma recovery and resilience:
https://diversepathswellness.ca/diverse-paths-blog
References (APA Style)
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W.W. Norton.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W.W. Norton & Company.