Your Body Remembers — And Therapy Can Help
Ever have those days where your body just hurts for no clear reason? Maybe your shoulders tighten, your stomach drops when you get bad news, or your jaw clenches without you even realizing it. All of these quiet things your body does are signs of remembering.
I spend a lot of time in sessions talking about this idea that our brains and bodies are deeply connected. Trauma and stress are part of this: they don’t just live in your mind — they show up in your body too.
This is where somatic therapy can come in. It’s a way to help the body process what talking alone cannot.
What Somatic Therapy Is (and Isn’t)
Our world is full of things that activate our nervous systems — the system responsible for fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses. Add the weight of living through something traumatic, and it can leave the body stuck in survival mode long after the event has passed.
Somatic therapy seeks to help for this very reason. It’s a body-based approach to healing that focuses on noticing sensations, movement, and breath as much as thoughts and words. It’s not hypnosis, and it’s not about re-living every detail of your past. Instead, it helps you gently teach your body that it’s safe again.
Research backs this up: trauma doesn’t just stay in our minds — it leaves an imprint on the body and nervous system. Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, in The Body Keeps the Score, describes how unresolved trauma can show up as muscle tension, chronic pain, or even a racing heart. Polyvagal theory helps explain how the nervous system sometimes gets stuck in “threat mode,” even when the danger is long gone. Studies on somatic therapies, like Somatic Experiencing, have found they can reduce PTSD symptoms and help regulate the nervous system. In other words, somatic therapy gives the body a way to relearn safety through regulation.
Somatic Techniques That Can Help
So basically: our nervous systems may become dysregulated, and we’re trying to find ways to help them realize it is safe again. Here are some things you can try:
Square Breathing — Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4, and repeat.
Butterfly Hug — Cross your arms over your chest, gently alternating taps on your upper arms or collarbone while taking slow, deep breaths.
Slow Movement — Gently stretch or move your body, paying attention to what feels tight or stiff.
Grounding with the Senses — Name things you can smell, touch, taste, see, and hear.
These may sound simple, but they go a long way in helping your brain and body soothe and reconnect.
Why This Matters for Healing Trauma
A big part of trauma treatment is about creating safety. Think of it this way: when your body gets “stuck” in a heightened mode, it’s reacting as though danger is still present. By using somatic techniques, we’re helping the body remember safety.
Over time, this creates a felt sense of calm and resilience. The body learns that it doesn’t have to stay on high alert forever.
Finding Safety Again
Your body remembers pain — but it can also remember safety and calm. I often tell my clients, “Your brain’s job is not to keep you happy, it’s to keep you safe.” If you’ve lived through trauma or chronic stress, your brain and body may do everything possible to avoid it happening again. That’s how we get stuck.
Somatic therapies and trauma treatment can help your body remember that it can be safe again, which opens the door to so much more. Therapy is a space where you can do this — with support, and at your own pace.
References
van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton.
Rauch, S. L., van der Kolk, B. A., Fisler, R. E., Alpert, N. M., Orr, S. P., Savage, C. R., Fischman, A. J., Jenike, M. A., & Pitman, R. K. (1996). A symptom provocation study of posttraumatic stress disorder using positron emission tomography and script-driven imagery. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53(5), 380–387.
Brom, D., Stokar, Y., Lawi, C., Nuriel-Porat, V., Ziv, Y., Lerner, K., & Ross, G. (2017). Somatic Experiencing for posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled outcome study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(3), 304–312.