Ashley Jangro, LPCC • 9 min read • Trauma Healing
For years, we've approached trauma as if it lives only in our minds, as if healing trauma meant simply changing our thoughts or processing memories. But trauma researcher Dr. Bessel van der Kolk revolutionized our understanding with his groundbreaking work: "The Body Keeps the Score."
The truth is, trauma isn't just stored in our minds. It lives in our muscles, our breathing patterns, our nervous system responses. It shows up in the way we hold our shoulders, the depth of our breath, and the way our body responds to perceived threats long after the actual danger has passed.
This is why traditional "talk therapy" alone isn't always enough for trauma healing. We need approaches that address the whole person - mind and body working together for complete recovery.
How Trauma Lives in Your Body
When something traumatic happens, your nervous system has one job: keep you alive. In that moment of overwhelming threat, your body mobilizes incredible resources. Your heart pounds, adrenaline floods your system, and your muscles prepare for action.
This response is perfect for actual danger. But trauma occurs when this survival energy gets stuck in your system, when your body continues to respond as if the threat is still present, even when you're safe.
Common Ways Trauma Shows Up in the Body:
Physical Symptoms
- • Chronic muscle tension, especially in shoulders, jaw, and neck
- • Digestive issues without clear medical cause
- • Sleep disturbances or insomnia
- • Headaches or migraines
- • Chronic fatigue or exhaustion
- • Autoimmune conditions or frequent illness
Nervous System Responses
- • Hypervigilance - constantly scanning for danger
- • Easily startled or jumpy
- • Difficulty feeling safe in your own body
- • Feeling disconnected or numb
- • Rapid heartbeat in safe situations
- • Shallow breathing or holding your breath
Why the Body Matters in Trauma Healing
Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing, observed that wild animals in nature are regularly exposed to life-threatening situations but don't develop PTSD like humans do. The difference? Animals discharge the survival energy from their systems through physical movement (like shaking) after escaping danger.
Humans, with our complex thinking minds, often override these natural discharge mechanisms. We think our way through trauma instead of allowing our bodies to complete their natural healing process.
This is why body-based approaches to trauma healing are so powerful. They work with your body's innate wisdom to discharge stuck survival energy and restore your nervous system's natural balance.
Somatic Approaches to Trauma Healing
Somatic approaches focus on the connection between mind and body, using body awareness and gentle movement to support trauma recovery. Here are key principles that guide this work:
🧠 Bottom-Up Processing
Traditional therapy works "top-down" - from thoughts to feelings. Somatic approaches work "bottom-up" - from body sensations to awareness and integration.
This helps access and heal trauma that's pre-verbal or stored below conscious awareness.
⚡ Nervous System Regulation
Focus on helping your nervous system return to a state of safety and calm, rather than staying stuck in fight, flight, or freeze responses.
This creates the foundation for all other healing work.
🌊 Titration
Working with small amounts of activation at a time, allowing the nervous system to process and integrate without becoming overwhelmed.
"Going slow to go fast" - sustainable healing that doesn't re-traumatize.
🎯 Pendulation
Moving between states of activation and calm, teaching the nervous system it can handle difficult sensations and return to balance.
Building resilience and confidence in your body's healing capacity.
Practical Body-Based Healing Techniques
While working with a trained trauma therapist is essential for deep healing, there are body-based techniques you can practice to support your nervous system's recovery:
1Trauma-Informed Breathing
Unlike forced deep breathing, trauma-informed breathing follows your body's natural rhythm and never forces anything.
How to practice:
- 1. Notice without changing: First, simply observe your natural breathing pattern without trying to change it.
- 2. Follow your exhale: Gently extend your exhale slightly, allowing it to be longer than your inhale.
- 3. Pause in comfort: Allow natural pauses between breaths without forcing anything.
- 4. Stop if uncomfortable: If breathing exercises create anxiety, stop immediately. This is normal for trauma survivors.
Why it works:
Gentle breathing practices help activate your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) and can help you feel more grounded in your body.
2Gentle Body Scanning
Learning to notice body sensations with curiosity rather than judgment, building a more compassionate relationship with your body.
How to practice:
- 1. Start small: Begin by noticing sensations in just your hands or feet.
- 2. Use neutral language: Describe sensations as warm/cool, tight/loose, rather than good/bad.
- 3. Stay curious: If you notice tension or discomfort, simply acknowledge it without trying to fix it.
- 4. Find resources: Also notice places in your body that feel neutral, comfortable, or calm.
Building body awareness:
This practice helps you develop interoception (awareness of internal sensations) which is often disrupted by trauma.
3Intuitive Movement and Shaking
Allowing your body to move in ways that feel natural and releasing trapped survival energy through gentle movement.
Movement practices:
Gentle shaking:
- • Start with your hands and wrists
- • Let it spread naturally through your body
- • Stop whenever you want to
Intuitive movement:
- • Follow what your body wants to do
- • Slow, mindful movements
- • No right or wrong way
Important note:
Movement should never be forced. If any movement creates anxiety or distress, stop immediately and consider working with a somatic therapist.
The Integration Process: Mind and Body Working Together
The goal of body-based trauma work isn't to eliminate all difficult sensations or memories. It's to help your nervous system develop the capacity to experience and integrate difficult experiences without being overwhelmed by them.
What successful integration looks like:
- • Increased body awareness - You notice physical sensations and can use them as information
- • Improved emotional regulation - You can experience strong emotions without being overwhelmed
- • Greater resilience - You bounce back more quickly from stressful situations
- • Enhanced connection - You feel more present in relationships and in your own life
- • Restored sense of safety - Your body knows the difference between past and present
When to Seek Professional Somatic Support
While gentle self-practice can be healing, trauma work often requires professional guidance, especially when working with the body. A trained trauma therapist can help you navigate intense sensations safely and provide the support needed for deep healing.
Consider professional support if you experience:
- • Overwhelming physical sensations during self-practice
- • Flashbacks or dissociation triggered by body awareness
- • Chronic physical symptoms without clear medical cause
- • Difficulty feeling safe in your own body
- • Past trauma that feels unresolved despite traditional therapy
Integrating the AERO Method with Body-Based Healing
The AERO Method integrates beautifully with somatic approaches to create a comprehensive framework for trauma healing:
🎯 Awareness (A)
Includes both emotional and somatic awareness - noticing what's happening in your body as well as your mind.
🌊 Emotional Regulation (E)
Uses body-based techniques alongside traditional emotional regulation skills for more complete nervous system support.
🔄 Reframing (R)
Includes updating your body's threat assessment, not just changing thoughts about past experiences.
💪 Ownership (O)
Taking empowered action from a regulated nervous system state, making choices from wholeness rather than survival.
Your Body's Wisdom
Your body has been working tirelessly to protect you, even when that protection no longer serves you. The physical symptoms, the tension, the hypervigilance - these aren't signs that you're broken. They're signs that your nervous system adapted to help you survive.
The beautiful truth about trauma recovery is that the same body that holds your pain also holds your healing. Your nervous system wants to return to balance. Your body knows how to heal.
Working with body-based approaches honors this innate wisdom and supports your system's natural movement toward health and wholeness.
The Journey of Embodied Healing
Trauma recovery that includes the body is often slower than we'd like, but it's also more complete. It's not just about managing symptoms or understanding what happened. It's about reclaiming your right to feel safe and at home in your own body.
This journey requires patience, compassion, and often professional support. But the destination - a life where your body feels like a safe place to be - is worth every gentle, courageous step along the way.
Begin Your Body-Based Healing Journey
Ready to work with your whole system? Trauma-informed therapy that includes the body can help you reclaim your sense of safety and presence.
Want practical tools? Discover the AERO Method and somatic techniques that support your nervous system's natural healing capacity.
Ashley Jangro, LPCC
Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate specializing in trauma-informed therapy and somatic approaches to healing. Based in Castle Rock, Colorado, Ashley integrates body-based techniques with traditional therapy approaches to support complete nervous system healing and recovery.