When we think about trauma, we often associate it with emotional pain, flashbacks, or mental distress. While these are indeed hallmarks of trauma, there’s another critical aspect often overlooked: the way trauma embeds itself in the body. Trauma doesn’t just live in the mind—it takes up residence in our muscles, tissues, and nervous systems, manifesting as physical symptoms that can persist for years.
Understanding the connection between trauma and the body is essential for holistic healing. Let’s explore how trauma is stored in the body, why this happens, and how somatic practices can help release it.
Trauma and the Body’s Response
Trauma, at its core, is an overwhelming experience that surpasses the body’s ability to cope. Whether the trauma is ‘big’ or ‘small’, physical, emotional, or psychological, the body reacts instinctively to protect itself. This reaction typically involves the fight, flight, or freeze, fawn response, mediated by the nervous system.
Fight or flight: Your body becomes hyper-aroused, flooded with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, preparing to confront or escape the perceived threat.
Freeze or fawn: If neither fight nor flight feels possible, the body may shut down, entering a state of immobility or numbness i.e. freeze, surrender or supplication.
While these responses are adaptive in the moment, they can leave a lasting imprint on the body if the trauma remains unresolved.
How Trauma Manifests in the Body
The body has a remarkable memory, often holding onto trauma even when the conscious mind tries to forget. This can lead to physical symptoms that seem disconnected from any specific cause, such as:
Chronic pain (e.g., backaches, headaches, joint pain)
Tension or tightness in muscles
Fatigue or exhaustion that doesn’t improve with rest
Digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome
Difficulty breathing or a sense of constriction in the chest
Unexplained sensations, such as tingling, numbness, or heat
These symptoms are often the body’s way of signalling unresolved trauma. Instead of seeing these sensations as problems to “fix,” it’s helpful to view them as messengers—clues about what the body is holding.
The Concept of “Frozen Energy”
Peter Levine, a leading figure in somatic trauma therapy and author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, describes trauma as “frozen energy”. This concept refers to the incomplete fight, flight, or freeze, fawn response that remains trapped in the body after the traumatic event.
For example, if someone experiences a car accident, their body may instinctively prepare to escape or shield itself. But if the shock of the event prevents them from completing these movements, the energy generated by the survival response can stay locked in the nervous system. Over time, this “frozen” energy can manifest as physical symptoms, emotional distress, or both.
The body holds onto this energy not out of malice but out of an effort to keep us safe. However, this survival strategy can backfire, leaving the individual stuck in a state of hypervigilance (always “on edge”) or shutdown (feeling numb or disconnected).
The Role of the Nervous System
To fully understand trauma’s impact on the body, it’s helpful to look at the nervous system, specifically the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS regulates involuntary bodily functions like heart rate, digestion, and breathing. It has two main branches:
Sympathetic nervous system (SNS): Activates the fight-or-flight response during stress or danger.
Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS): Calms the body, restoring balance after a threat has passed.
In people with unresolved trauma, the nervous system can become dysregulated. This means the SNS might stay overactive, leading to hypervigilance, or the PNS might dominate, causing feelings of shutdown or dissociation.
Healing trauma requires helping the nervous system find balance again. This is where somatic practices come into play.
Somatic Practices: Releasing Frozen Energy
Somatic approaches to trauma healing focus on reconnecting with the body and allowing the release of stored energy in a safe, controlled way. Rather than trying to think your way out of trauma, somatic practices encourage you to feel your way through it, trusting the body’s natural capacity to heal.
How Somatic Practices Help:
Tuning into sensations: By paying attention to physical cues like tension, heat, or tingling, you can begin to uncover where trauma is held.
Completing survival responses: Somatic therapy often involves gentle movements or visualizations to “complete” the fight, flight, or freeze, fawn responses that were interrupted during the traumatic event.
Creating safety: Guided somatic exercises can help calm the nervous system, activating the parasympathetic response and fostering a sense of safety.
Somatic sensing, for instance, provides a nonjudgmental framework for exploring sensations and emotions in the body. It invites you to observe physical discomfort with curiosity and compassion, transforming these sensations from sources of fear into opportunities for healing. There are many suggestions/exercises in other articles in this section.
Healing Through Integration
The ultimate goal of somatic trauma work is integration—helping the mind and body reconnect so they can work together in harmony. When trauma is resolved, the body no longer needs to hold onto the “frozen energy” or remain in a heightened state of alertness.
This process takes time, patience, and often the guidance of a skilled practitioner. However, the results can be transformative:
Greater emotional resilience
Relief from chronic pain and tension
Improved physical and mental health
A renewed sense of connection to the self
Listening to the Body’s Wisdom
Trauma may silence your voice, but it speaks volumes through your body. By learning to listen to your body’s messages, you can uncover profound insights and begin the journey toward healing. Somatic practices like body awareness, breathwork, and mindful movement provide tools to decode these messages and release what no longer serves you.
Trauma is not your fault, but healing is your birthright. And your body—no matter how burdened it may feel—is a partner in this process, always seeking balance and restoration.
Moving Forward
If you’re ready to explore the connection between trauma and the body, you don’t have to do it alone. I offer a compassionate, holistic approach to trauma healing, incorporating Jungian Psychotherapy, Somatic Awareness, Intuitive Coaching, and Spiritual Healing to support your unique journey.
Call me for a supportive chat so you can see if I am the right fit for your needs. Together, we can begin the process of releasing frozen energy and restoring wholeness to your mind, body, and spirit.