“Trauma is stored in the body” is a shorthand way of saying traumatic experiences can leave lasting changes in the nervous system, stress hormones, attention, memory, and bodily sensations.
Mind and body are all one system. And overlooked emotional symptoms can really form a “memory.” It means that your body remembers the sensations, and this stress keeps impacting you long after the trauma happened.
In this post, we’ll look at behavioral, emotional, and physical signs that your body is releasing trauma. Don’t know what to do to release trauma? We’ll also provide ideas on how to release trauma from the body to finally let go and live a more fulfilled life.
20 Signs Your Body Is Healing Itself
Bessel van der Kolk, world-famous psychiatrist and author of “The Body Keeps the Score,” says, “Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort.”
Because of this, healing doesn’t always feel pleasurable. What feels good is how you feel afterward.
Emotional Signs You’re Healing From Trauma
When we think about healing inner trauma, we imagine tranquility and inner peace. But in order to get to this point, a person has to go through a quite intense emotional phase first.
When the body and mind feel safe again, you relieve suppressed feelings. One option to uncover hidden emotions is to take the test that summarizes suppressed parts of you based on your experiences.
When finally relieved, emotional signs of healing can look like the following:
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- Intense emotions (anger, fear, frustration, joy) that feel cathartic rather than overwhelming.
- Feeling mentally calmer as if you started seeing situations more clearly.
- Crying more frequently or more intensely.
- Becoming more confident and optimistic about life.
- Feeling confused/unsure about your life purpose or identity.
- Resurfacing memories and flashbacks.
- Not caring and caring at the same time (not caring about comparison, gossip, or jealousy, but wanting to share happiness with other people through care and devotion).
Physical Signs Your Body Is Releasing Trauma
Some physical signs your body may be slowly releasing stress or trauma include:
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- Fatigue or deep tiredness. Firstly, healing from trauma and inner work requires a lot of energy. Secondly, when your body stops excreting adrenaline, you can feel waves of exhaustion that it produces for the sake of survival.
- Changes in sleep or dreaming. That includes if you want to sleep more, can’t fall asleep, start having nightmares, or dream very vividly, or have lucid dreams. Extra points for when changes in sleep mean healing are when new sleep patterns have never happened to you.
- Muscle pain or soreness. Some researchers say that muscle pain during healing is a sign of exhaustion. There is also an interesting theory that stress and trauma block muscle growth. It means that when you finally get rid of trauma, the muscle pain could mean that your muscles are actively growing.
- Shaking or trembling sensations. Sudden trembling, especially if you think about painful memories or if you reflect on yourself during/after trauma.
- Less tension in the jaw, shoulders, or neck.
- Changes in breathing patterns. Breathing deepens, and breaths become fuller. Breathing also becomes an instrument for self-regulation.
Behavioral Signs Stress Is Leaving Your Body
These are the signs that you do that differ from routine behavior. Sometimes, behavioral signs show up unconsciously, while you need to put in effort to realize the others.
Some behavioral signs of stress may be leaving your body include:
- Prioritizing yourself more often. It happens when the intuition or the rational part of the mind knows when to pause and set a boundary. It means resting when you’re tired, refusing to help when you’re busy, etc.
- Approaching rest as a necessity, not a luxury.
- Accepting emotions and letting them be.
- Becoming more aware of your surroundings and the people around you. You can understand why the world around you is the way it is. You can accept its flaws if it’s out of your control. You also understand why people around you behave the way they do, but do not try to change them.
- Taking on more responsibility for yourself and your life.
- Letting go of grudges. Letting go of the past doesn’t always mean forgiveness, especially if you were hurt and the person who did it won’t admit it. Letting go also means stopping caring and focusing on the future instead.
- Feeling more comfortable being alone with your thoughts. When someone lives in survival mode for years, they might need constant distraction through scrolling, background noise, television, music, etc., because being alone with thoughts feels threatening. If you can allow yourself to be in a moment, it’s a sign of progress.
How to Release Trauma From the Body
A note: trauma release cannot be forced. It’s not a detox that can be started and ended whenever comfortable.
Emotional release of trauma stored in the body is a natural consequence of profound inner work and self-reflection. This inner work can start or include the following activities:
- Somatic therapy practices, such as yoga, body scanning, breathwork, and grounding.
- Moving the body in ways that feel comfortable, no matter if the exercise is high-intensity or not.
- Doing something creative, especially something a person liked to do in childhood.
- Adding small playful moments into everyday life.
- EMDR therapy with a qualified professional.
- Practicing slow, mindful breathing regularly and/or during stressful moments.
- Spending time without constant background noise or distractions.
- Working with a therapist trained in trauma recovery.
Trauma often disconnects people from pleasure, curiosity, rest, creativity, and playfulness. Because of this, recovery shouldn’t only be about processing pain from the past.
Therapy and therapeutic practices will often include exercises to bring joy back in the presence. Such practices remind the body that it’s safe now and it can start the process of trauma release from the body.
FAQs about Trauma Release
How to Tell if Someone Has Trauma?
People with trauma can look very different. One type is always joyous people, who don’t share their problems. Others can be reactive, impulsive, and easily irritable. In order to recognize trauma in a person, pay attention to their routine. How do they nourish their body? Do they engage in escapism? Do they have problems trusting people?
At the same time, trauma cannot be diagnosed based on internet symptoms alone. Help from a qualified mental health professional is required.
Does Crying Release Trauma?
Crying does release emotional tension and may become part of trauma healing, especially when someone finally feels safe to express emotions they previously bottled up.
Is Trauma Stored in the Body?
There is one body part where trauma is stored. By saying “trauma is stored in the body,” it’s meant that emotional distress impacts different physiological processes that change routine behavior and even the appearance of a person.
Where Does the Body Store Trauma?
Trauma is where tension is. The easiest body parts where you can notice tension are the jaw, shoulders, neck, chest, stomach, hips, or throat.
Am I Healed?
In order to know whether you’re healed, consider how you feel right now in comparison to how you felt when you knew for sure you had trauma. Pay attention to whether you feel safe, how you can regulate your emotions, whether you prioritize yourself, etc.
