Trauma doesn’t just live in our memories – it also lives in our bodies.

Many survivors logically know they are safe, yet still feel on edge, tense, numb, and overwhelmed. You might feel jumpy, disconnected, tight in your chest, or chronically exhausted, even when nothing is ‘wrong’ in the moment. This can be confusing, frustrating, and even frightening.

Your body is not malfunctioning; it’s protecting you. 

Trauma changes how the nervous system operates. When something overwhelming happens, the body goes into survival mode to get you through what your brain perceives to be dangerous. Sometimes, the body gets stuck in this survival mode, continuing to react as if the danger is still happening, even when it has long passed (sometimes even decades later). Even if your mind understands that you’re safe now, your nervous system may not have caught up yet. 

This article explores why trauma shows up physically, what those sensations mean, and effective body-based tools to help you begin easing your system back into safety. 

Why Trauma Shows Up in the Body

When we experience a trauma, the nervous system activates survival responses (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn) to protect you. These responses are automatic and happen faster than conscious thought. If the trauma is overwhelming, unprocessed, or repeated over time, the nervous system may stay stuck in these modes. Here’s how it might feel if you’re stuck in one or more of these:

Fight or Flight (Hyperarousal)

Your system prepares you to defend yourself or run. 

• racing heart
• shallow breathing
• restlessness
• tension in the chest, shoulders, jaw
• hypervigilance

Freeze or Dissociation (Hypoarousal)

If you can’t escape or fight, your system shuts down to help you survive.

• numbness or disconnection
• feeling ‘far away’ or ‘not in your body’
• heavy limbs
• difficulty thinking clearly
• exhaustion

Fawn (Appease)

If escape, fight, or shut down are not possible, the body creates safety through pleasing or taking care of others.

• difficulty setting boundaries
• people-pleasing
• immediate compliance in conflict

Even when the threat is long over, the body can remain in these states because it hasn’t completed the healing cycle. Your body and brain are still trying to protect you, even though you know logically that you are safe. 

Many survivors say, “My brain knows I’m safe, but my body feels like the trauma is happening right now.” This is incredibly common – and incredibly treatable.

Common Physical Symptoms of Trauma

Trauma can show up in the body in many ways, including:

• chronic muscle tension or tightness
• hypervigilance or exaggerated startle response
• racing heart or irregular breathing
• stomach pain, nausea, or digestive changes
• headaches or migraines
• numbness or disconnection from the body
• fatigue or burnout
• sleep disturbances (trouble staying or falling asleep)
• unexplained aches or pain
• difficulty tolerating touch, sound, or sensory input

These symptoms are not ‘overreactions’ or ‘all in your head’. They are messages from a nervous system doing everything it can to keep you safe. 

How to Support a Trauma-Activated Nervous System

Body-based tools can help signal to your system that the danger is over, bringing more calm, stability, and presence into your daily life. 

Here are some evidence-based strategies you can try yourself.

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

Trauma often stores as chronic tension. PMR can help you release that tension intentionally. 

Try starting at your feet and working your way upward:

• Inhale and tighten a muscle group (like your toes, calves, thighs, abdomen, arms, face) for 5 seconds
• Exhale and release fully
• Notice the shift from tight to relaxed
• Move slowly up the body

This can help in the moment when you notice tension, but studies show that when done regularly, after a few weeks this exercise can help to retrain your muscles, and your brain, to come out of bracing mode.

2. Gentle, Regular Stretching

Slow stretching can signal safety to the nervous system by opening areas that instinctively tighten to protect you. 

Focus on:

• neck and shoulder stretches
• chest-opening stretches
• hip releases
• gentle spine twists

Consistency matters more than intensity. Even 3-5 minutes a few times a day helps reset tension patterns. 

Listen to your body, don’t push further than feels comfortable, and always seek medical advice if you experience pain or have injuries before trying any new stretches.

3. Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing

When trauma pushes us into survival mode, breathing becomes shallow. Diaphragmatic breathing brings you back into the body and helps regulate the vagus nerve.

Try this:

• Place a hand on your belly
• Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, letting your belly rise
• Exhale slowly through your mouth for 6 seconds
• Repeat for 3-5 minutes

This lengthened exhale tells your nervous system: “we are safe.”

4. Vagal Nerve Toning Exercises

The vagus nerve helps regulate heart rate, digestion, mood, and the overall stress response. Trauma can reduce vagal tone, but simple practices can strengthen it.

A. Humming or Vowel Sounds

Humming stimulates the vagus nerve through gentle vibration. Try humming, changing “om” or slowly repeating vowel sounds.

B. The Cold Splash Technique

Brief cold exposure activates the dive reflex, helping reset the nervous system. Try splashing cold water on your face or placing a cool cloth on your cheeks.

Note: Seek medical approval if you have any heart or circulatory conditions or sensitivities to the cold. 

5. Complementary Body-Based Therapies

Complementary therapies can support trauma healing by calming the nervous system and helping the body release stored tension. When practiced with a trauma-informed provider, these approaches can enhance grounding and regulation. 

Examples include:

• Acupuncture – supports relaxation, decreases hyperarousal
• Massage therapy – reduces muscle tension and encourages body awareness
• Yoga therapy – integrates breath, movement, and mindfulness to promote safety in the body
• Tai Chi or Qigong – gentle movement practices that support grounding and nervous-system balance

These therapies are not a replacement for therapy, but they can be powerful additions when combined with trauma-focused treatment.

Release Trauma From the Body in Toronto

If you’ve tried body-based practices on your own and still find yourself struggling, or if you want guided, specialized support, you don’t have to do this alone. There are evidence-based therapies and trauma-trained clinicians in Toronto who can help you safely release trauma stored in the body.

At New Moon Psychotherapy, our team specializes in trauma therapy and offers several highly effective approaches to help your mind and body move out of survival mode and into a place of healing. 

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR therapy is an evidence-based treatment used widely for processing trauma stored in the nervous system. Instead of relying heavily on talking, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping, or sounds) to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories and reduce the emotional and physical charge they carry. 

Somatic and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy 

Somatic and Sensorimotor approaches used at our Toronto clinic focus on the body’s experience of trauma rather than the story of what happened. These therapies are grounded in polyvagal theory, which explains how the nervous system shifts into fight, flight, freeze, and fawn states. 
By increasing awareness of body sensations, posture, breath, and movement, clients learn to track activation and gently guide their bodies back toward regulation. 

This can be especially helpful for people who feel chronically tense, numb, dissociated, or stuck in survival mode. It helps release trauma patterns held in the body so you can feel more grounded, safe, and present. 

SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol)

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a neuroscience-based intervention offered in Toronto that uses specifically filtered music to regulate the nervous system. SSP helps retrain the auditory system and vagus nerve to detect cues of safety, making it easier to relax, connect, and feel present. Clients who struggle with hypervigilance, sensitivity to sound, chronic anxiety, dissociation, or difficulty feeling safe in their bodies often find SSP to be a powerful complement to trauma therapy. It can gently shift the nervous system out of defensive states and create the conditions for deeper emotional and physical healing. 

You’re Not Broken – Your Body is Trying to Protect You

If you experience physical symptoms of trauma, remember: 

You are not overreacting

You are not imagining it

You are not weak

You are not failing at healing

Your body is responding exactly as it was designed to. It learned these survival patterns in moments when they were necessary. Trauma therapy helps your body learn that those moments are over and that you can inhabit your life, your relationships, and your body with more safety and freedom. 

With support, practice, and compassion, your nervous system can shift out of survival mode and into a place where stability, connection, and joy feel possible again.