Trauma and the Nervous System: An Embodied Path to Healing

We all carry stories in our bodies. Some of them are filled with joy, calm, and connection, serving as reminders of the moments that made us feel safe and alive. Others, especially those born out of overwhelming experiences, can feel heavy, stuck, or hidden just beneath the surface. Trauma leaves its mark not only in our minds but in the way our nervous system organizes itself during our day-to-day experiences. It shapes how we breathe, how we move, how safe we feel in our own skin, and even how we connect with others.

In this blog, we’ll explore how trauma impacts the nervous system through the lens of Polyvagal Theory, what happens when our body’s natural responses get stuck, and how practices of somatic awareness and embodied tools can help us reconnect with our body’s wisdom, allowing us to experience both healing and resilience.

Understanding Trauma

Many of us were raised to believe that trauma is a difficult event that happened in the past. However, we now understand trauma to be defined not only by the events that happen to us, but how our nervous system experiences and responds to those events. Two people may live through the same external circumstance, but the imprint left on the body and mind can be entirely different.

Trauma occurs when our natural capacity to process, integrate, and return to a state of safety is overwhelmed. Instead of completing its natural cycle, the nervous system becomes stuck in patterns of defense, leaving us disconnected from ourselves and others. This is why trauma is often described less as a story of what happened and more as a story of what remains inside the body.

The Nervous System’s Role in Trauma

The human autonomic nervous system is designed to keep us safe, constantly scanning our environment for cues of danger or safety – a process known as “neuroception”. The Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges, helps us understand where we are in that process by offering a hierarchical ladder of nervous system states: ventral vagal (safety and connection), sympathetic activation (mobilization and fight-or-flight), and dorsal vagal shutdown (immobilization and collapse). In the face of a threat, the body first moves into mobilization—fight or flight—flooding us with energy to protect ourselves. When the danger feels overwhelming or escape isn’t possible, the system can shift into freeze, shutting down as a last survival strategy.

If we are feeling calm and resourced, we can move flexibly up and down this ladder, mobilizing when needed and returning to balance once the threat has passed. Trauma disrupts this flow. Instead of returning to safety, the system can remain locked in defensive states, creating symptoms such as hypervigilance, anxiety, emotional numbing, or chronic pain.

When resources are lacking—such as supportive relationships, grounding tools, or the ability to process feelings, emotions, and sensations - the nervous system loses resilience. What started as an adaptive state in the nervous system shifts to a maladaptive state. In other words, a temporary state of defense becomes a long-term pattern, shaping how we think, feel, and relate to the world.

How Trauma Disconnects Us from Our Bodies

One of the most profound effects of trauma is disconnection from the body. To survive overwhelming experiences, many people learn to numb, suppress, or override their inner signals. This natural protective strategy may have been necessary at the time, but over the long term, it leaves us cut off from the very wisdom that could guide us toward healing.

Interoception—the ability to sense internal states such as our heartbeat, breath, or gut feelings—is often diminished. Without this inner compass, emotions can feel confusing or overwhelming, and decisions may be driven more by fear than by authentic desire.

Talk therapy often falls short because trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. We can’t think our way out of anxiety—healing begins by safely engaging with the body.

Unlike many therapeutic models, embodied healing doesn’t require reliving the past—it’s about slowly and gently noticing present-moment sensations. This process calls for safety, grounding, and self-compassion so the nervous system learns it can experience sensations without being overwhelmed.

Returning to the Body’s Wisdom

Have you ever experienced a tightening in the chest, a sensation of warmth in your heart, or butterflies in your stomach? These are subtle, pre-verbal cues from the body that emerge as the “felt sense”. It is the language of the body that arises as we turn our attention inward.

By bringing awareness to the felt sense, we create space for natural shifts and allow the body’s intelligence to guide us back to regulation. As safety returns, the nervous system can move from defense into “rest and digest,” helping us complete survival responses that were left unfinished. When this release happens, it may show up as a sigh, a yawn, trembling, warmth, or even tears. These are subtle signs that the nervous system is shifting back to balance.

The Power of Embodied Practices

Embodied or “bottom-up” practices give us practical ways to restore safety in the body and support trauma healing. Gentle breathwork, vagal toning, yoga, or other mindful movement practices can help calm activation and create a sense of safety in the body. They offer the body small, gentle experiences of release and regulation. Over time, these practices widen our capacity to feel grounded and present.

Healing also happens in connection with others. Co-regulation—what we might call “borrowed safety”—is the nervous system’s way of settling in the presence of another calm, attuned person. A warm look, a soft tone of voice, or steady breathing are neurophysiological signals that help guide the body out of defense and back toward safety. This can happen in everyday relationships, in supportive groups, or with a therapist who provides a steady source of regulation. With consistent practice, co-regulation strengthens our ability to self-regulate, creating emotional and physical resilience.

An Embodied Path to Healing

Trauma may have its roots in survival, but healing and post-traumatic growth can be found in reconnecting with ourselves, others, and the present moment. By regulating the nervous system through embodied practices, we can begin to reestablish the pathways of safety and connection.

Rather than overwriting our stories, embodied healing allows us to hold our experiences differently, turning them into sources of growth. In doing so, it invites back the vitality and resilience that were once buried beneath the trauma.

If you’d like to find freedom from chronic anxiety, pain, or illness conditions through embodied practices, please visit www.noakairywellness.com or www.embodiedprogram.com for more information.