Trauma can significantly affect all aspects of a person’s life. The impact is almost always lasting, and it can be “stored” in the body. The body, or similarly, the subconscious mind, may hold onto the pain or traumatic memory. This can disrupt natural equilibrium and cause symptoms, which may be emotional, physical, spiritual, and/or energetic. As a result, releasing trauma from the body becomes important to restore balance, not to mention reclaim your sense of self and wholeness. Read on for a comprehensive guide on what trauma is as well as 5 trauma release exercises (TRE) you can choose from in your recovery journey.
Trauma can be defined as an event that causes severe emotional distress. It often overwhelms the individual’s capacity to cope or process what occurred. Common responses to a traumatic experience include fear, helplessness, confusion, dissociation, rage, shame, and depression.
Most people experience trauma, whether minor or massive, infrequent or repetitive. While no one would consciously choose it, there can be gifts and lessons during the healing process. But that does not mean it is fair or warranted. A red flag in many spiritual communities is the emphasis on past lives or karma as the alleged “cause” of trauma. While this concept may or may not be true in a cosmic sense, it is certainly not ethical to convey to trauma survivors. For more on this topic, read my blog here.
The primal response to trauma usually involves the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for danger. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are other areas of the brain that might also “light up.” When this happens, the fight/flight response turns on, meaning you feel a compulsion to run away or attack.
Freeze and fawn are the other primary psychological responses, which mean freezing in place or feeling paralyzed; or people pleasing, respectively. You may experience something called emotional flooding as well, where you are “flooded” with intense emotions and unable to function as usual. For more specifics on how to deal with trauma triggers, read this blog here. Part of restoration is also a re-regulation of the nervous system. The nervous system is usually the most affected system of the body, and it often gets hijacked or stuck when there is a traumatic event. Childhood trauma can be particularly challenging.
As you can see, these strong reactions activate the body, mind, and spirit. Now let’s get into how to begin to release trauma. The effectiveness of trauma release exercises varies, but they are a powerful tool for a lot of people.
When trauma is unresolved, it usually means the person pushed it aside instead of dealing with it directly. This is very common, by the way, and understandable. When shocking, terrifying, or emotionally overwhelming events occur, we are often not equipped to process their enormity. The associated emotions and reactions can be suppressed and go latent. But they don’t just go away. They are stored in the body, and may come up at unexpected times. Your physical health and mental health are intertwined through the mind body connection.
Because trauma is lurking beneath the surface of conscious awareness, it can come out via overreactions to small things, physical tension, or emotional symptoms, as mentioned above. It’s been said, famously by psychiatrist and author Bessel van der Kolk, MD, that “the body keeps the score.” That’s because our wounds and psychological experiences must go somewhere.
Our body “remembers” them, even if we have tried to forget. One of the main ways it does this is by the nervous system staying on high alert. Unconsciously (or consciously), the goal is to ward off potential future threats like the trauma that has already transpired. Unfortunately, the body and mind learned that threats are not out of the question, or maybe even likely. For more about signs of repressed childhood trauma in adults, read this blog here.
There are several ways to release deep trauma from the body, and you will need to find what works best for you. Releasing it means clearing out the emotional residue so that you are no longer burdened by the associated heavy, stressful thoughts, feelings, or actions. Just like with grief, we may never fully let go of the experience. But the load can lighten so that you feel more functional and less debilitated.
Be gentle with yourself through the process of trauma recovery. You have likely been through a lot, and self-compassion is a needed first step. Trauma often makes us blame ourselves for everything, including the event or events. The distorted thinking and perception of ourselves that trauma leaves in its wake is one of the most devastating aspects. You might consider counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy, aka CBT (working on changing your negative thoughts), to address this.
Yes! As you’ll see, any movement can help release trauma. Exercise activates the body’s natural mechanisms for discharging tension and stress. It also burns off excess adrenaline and boosts endorphins, thus calm the nervous system. In fact, many people are unknowingly releasing trauma through everyday exercise and routines such as working out, walking their dog, or running errands. I would estimate that this is the most common (albeit inadvertent) way that trauma release occurs.
Trauma releasing exercises TRE are more specific physical movements that facilitate this process. They all bring awareness to bodily sensations and feelings that may have been stuck from trauma. Gradually, the body is supported in moving from fight/flight/freeze back to rest/reset/heal.
Even if the body, mind, and soul have been injured by trauma, they can indeed heal. Here are 5 somatic exercises to release trauma. Doing these will help you feel better and also decrease the chances of experiencing trauma turning into post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prolonged grief disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
It may sound silly, but literally shaking your body can be powerful for releasing trauma and muscle tension. Animals do this naturally in the wild. Emotions or energy trapped in the body need an outlet, and that can be both physical and emotional/spiritual. Shake your hands, legs, behind, head, or whatever floats your boat! You may be surprised how much better you feel afterward.
You don’t need to mentally understand how this is working. If you’re not drawn to shaking, running, dancing, or another movement practice (like yoga) can help. Let any bodily sensations you experience be OK. Signs your body is releasing include crying and laughing.
Peter Levine, PhD, developed somatic experiencing or SE. It is a body-focused trauma therapy that helps release traumatic shock. Through guiding people to become more aware of their bodily sensations and surroundings, the SE client slowly returns to a state of calm. It is a gentle and somewhat indirect method to support complex trauma. Look into local resources if you’re interested.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, is a popular trauma healing modality, and for good reason. It is especially used to treat PTSD and involves bilateral stimulation while sharing with a therapist about traumatic memories. The most common type of bilateral stimulation is side-to-side eye movements. It is thought to help the brain process and “file away” the trauma so it doesn’t affect you as strongly anymore.
Breathwork and grounding practices like earthing help you discharge excess emotion and promote relaxation. They bring you back into the present moment. Trauma hijacks the system into the past, but you can re-center through these techniques. Deep breathing helps you calm down by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system.
Grounding refers to focusing your energy into your feet or the earth. Walking barefoot outside on the grass is ideal, but just sitting in a chair or on the floor and imagining a root going down into the center of earth or simply into your feet works too.
Taking care of yourself well is crucial. Things that seem simple or insignificant actually do make a difference. For example, making sure you eat healthy meals with enough protein. This can help stabilize you mentally as well as nourish your body.
Another example is setting boundaries in relationships, or taking more time for yourself than usual. Rest and alone time are powerful ways to reset and release what you’ve taken on from others, traumatic or not. To investigate if you may be in a toxic relationship, read this blog about the signs of trauma bonding.
The overall effects when you practice TRE are positive. Ultimately, if they work well you should feel much more stable, centered, and grounded in your body. In the short term, you may experience side effects of the healing process. Here are some of the most common temporary effects:
Trauma healing is best done with support. Don’t be afraid to reach out to friends or family, as well as a therapist or other mental health professional. The majority of the trauma release exercises I’ve shared in this post can be done on your own, but tend to be more effective with a guide. Trauma often brings a lot of shame, but it is misplaced. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Congratulations for doing your research so you can move forward to a brighter future. I wish you well on your journey!
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