The Impact of Trauma on the Body
When you experience trauma, your body has an automatic, involuntary stress response. These stress responses are your body’s way of trying to help you survive and cope both during and after the traumatic event.
One of these physical responses is the secretion of cortisol and adrenaline, which helps your body develop the appropriate stress response: fight, flight, or freeze. These instinctive responses save your life, by telling you to slam on the brakes if you are about to hit another car or get out of the ocean the moment you see a fin in the distance. After the traumatic event your body returns to its resting state and your mind will try to make sense of what you just experienced.
How Trauma Affects the Body
If you experienced multiple or chronic traumas, as is the case with childhood trauma survivors, the long term effects of the cortisol causes long lasting impact on both your body and brain. Some affects of trauma on the body are:
Feeling as if you are in a constant state of hyperviligance - constantly assessing for possible threats, and the smallest stressor causes a significant triggered reaction.
Feeling numb to all or parts of your body
Feeling disconnected from body at times
Feeling the desire to flee when you feel vulnerable in a relationship
Chronic physical pain
Exaggerated startle response.
These “overreactive” responses can begin to cause friction in your relationships and managing every day stressors - which is why it is important to understand trauma and your body’s response.
Healing Your Body
If our body holds trauma and is still being impacted despite no longer being in the traumatic situation, its crucial you address your body in the healing experience as you learn you are now safe. Trauma creates a disconnect between the mind and body and healing can come from reestablishing that connection again and just noticing with compassion what happens next.
As Bessel A. van der Kolk states in The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the healing of Trauma, “In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.”
So what does involving my body in healing look like?
Grounding exercises - get connected back to your body
Mindfulness exercises - create a safe space in your mind
Physical exercise
Trauma informed yoga
Here at Atlanta Wellness Collective, we want to help. If you need further support on how to find healing from trauma, contact us or request an appointment online.
Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to substitute professional therapeutic advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your health concerns and before starting or stopping therapies. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct professional advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
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