Have you ever felt like your body is carrying something heavy, even when your mind is telling you you’re okay? Maybe you experience chronic pain, digestive issues, or fatigue that doctors can’t quite explain. What if these symptoms aren’t just physical, but a reflection of how trauma affects the body?

The body and mind are deeply connected, and trauma—whether from childhood experiences, loss, or overwhelming stress—doesn’t just live in the past. It gets stored in the nervous system, often showing up as physical symptoms long before we recognize the emotional root cause.

How Trauma Gets Trapped in the Body

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, explains that trauma isn’t just a memory—it’s an experience imprinted on the body. “The body keeps the score, and it always wins,” he writes. This means trauma can manifest physically, affecting our muscles, digestion, immune function, and even the way we breathe.

Dr. Gabor Maté, a leading expert on stress and disease, also emphasizes this mind-body link: “The body says no when we don’t,” meaning suppressed emotions and unresolved trauma can lead to chronic illness.

Signs That Trauma is Affecting Your Body

If you’ve experienced trauma, your body may be carrying its weight in ways you don’t realize. Here are some common physical symptoms:

• Chronic pain or tension – Persistent back, neck, or joint pain without a clear cause
• Digestive issues – IBS, nausea, bloating, or loss of appetite
• Unexplained fatigue – Feeling drained despite rest
• Frequent headaches or migraines – A sign of stress stored in the body
• Sleep disturbances – Insomnia, nightmares, or waking up feeling unrested
• Breathlessness or chest tightness – Anxiety and panic often manifest physically
• Autoimmune conditions – Research suggests a link between prolonged stress and immune system dysregulation. Some common autoimmune diseases linked to chronic stress and trauma include:
  • Rheumatoid arthritis – Chronic inflammation affecting joints
  • Lupus – An autoimmune disease that can impact the skin, joints, and organs
  • Hashimoto’s thyroiditis – An autoimmune condition affecting the thyroid
  • Psoriasis – An inflammatory skin condition
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS) – A disease that affects the central nervous system
  • Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis – Chronic inflammation of the digestive tract
  • Fibromyalgia (though not classified as an autoimmune disease, it often coexists with autoimmune conditions and has strong links to trauma)

Why Trauma Stays in the Body

When we experience trauma, the nervous system shifts into survival mode—fight, flight, or freeze. If we never fully process what happened, the body holds onto that tension, waiting for a signal that it’s safe to let go.

Over time, unprocessed trauma can lead to:

• Hypervigilance (feeling constantly on edge)
• Emotional numbness or dissociation
• Difficulty relaxing or trusting others
• Recurring stress-related illnesses

How to Release Trauma from the Body

Healing from trauma isn’t just about understanding it—it’s about actively working to release it from where it’s been stored in your body. Because trauma is deeply embedded in the nervous system, the best approaches often involve movement, breathwork, and therapeutic techniques that help the body let go of stored tension. Here are some effective ways to release trauma:

1. Somatic Therapy

Somatic experiencing and other body-based therapies focus on releasing trauma through physical sensations rather than just talking. These approaches help regulate the nervous system and allow the body to process past stress.

2. Talk Therapy

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy – This approach helps individuals connect with different ‘parts’ of themselves, especially wounded inner parts that hold trauma. By building a compassionate relationship with these parts, IFS allows for deep emotional healing and nervous system regulation.

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) – This evidence-based therapy helps reprocess traumatic memories by using bilateral stimulation (such as guided eye movements). EMDR allows the brain to process stuck trauma, reducing its emotional charge and helping individuals feel more at ease in their bodies.

2. Movement and Exercise

Trauma is energy that gets trapped in the body, and movement helps release it. Activities like yoga, tai chi, dance, or even shaking exercises can help you discharge stored tension and reconnect with your body.

3. Breathwork

Deep breathing techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing or holotropic breathwork, can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling safety to the body and helping to process emotions stored deep in the system.

4. Bodywork and Physical Release

Massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care can help release trauma stored in muscles and fascia. Craniosacral therapy is another gentle but powerful approach that can help ease the body’s holding patterns.

5. Creative Expression

Journaling, art, music, and dance can provide an emotional release that words alone often can’t. Expressing emotions creatively helps the body process and integrate traumatic experiences.

6. Grounding Techniques

Spending time in nature, walking barefoot, or engaging in mindfulness practices can help bring the body into the present moment, reducing hypervigilance and promoting relaxation.

By engaging in these practices, you create opportunities for your body to let go of trauma in a way that feels safe and gradual. Healing is a process, but taking steps to release stored stress can lead to deep and lasting relief.

Final Thoughts

If your body has been holding onto pain, tension, or exhaustion that seems to have no clear cause, trauma may be playing a role. The good news? Your body is also capable of healing. As you learn more about how trauma affects the body and manifests physically, this will empower and equip you to take steps to regulate your nervous system, you can begin to reconnect, release, and rebuild.

You deserve to feel safe in your own skin. Healing isn’t about forgetting the past—it’s about no longer letting it control your present.