How Trauma Manifests in the Body: Understanding Physical Symptoms of Emotional Pain
Unresolved trauma doesn’t just live in the mind—it gets stored in the body, manifesting as chronic pain, tension, and fatigue. Learn how trauma affects the nervous system, where it hides in the body, and how somatic therapy can help release it for lasting healing.
Where Trauma Lives in the Body: Understanding the Mind-Body Connection to Healing
Have you ever felt chronic tension, unexplained pain, or tightness in your body—even when nothing appears physically wrong? Do you experience digestive issues, headaches, or shallow breathing that seem to worsen during stress? If so, your body may be holding onto unresolved trauma.
Trauma doesn’t just impact the mind—it becomes embedded in the body, altering how we move, breathe, and feel. When past experiences aren’t fully processed, the nervous system stores them in muscles, fascia, and organs, often leading to chronic pain, tension, and illness.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we specialize in somatic therapy for trauma, helping clients release stored stress, regulate their nervous systems, and reconnect with their bodies. In this article, we’ll explore:
✔️ The neuroscience behind trauma storage in the body
✔️ Where trauma commonly manifests and why
✔️ Signs your body is holding onto past stress
✔️ Somatic therapy techniques to release trauma and restore balance
If you’ve been struggling with unexplained physical symptoms, persistent tension, or emotional overwhelm, you’re not alone. Healing is possible—starting with understanding how trauma takes root in the body and how you can begin to release it. As you begin to orient to and cultivate a felt sense of safety in your body, you will feel more embodied, centered, present, and more connected to yourself and others.
The Neuroscience of How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body
When we experience trauma—whether from a single event or repeated stress over time—our nervous system determines how to respond. The autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls our fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses, plays a crucial role in how trauma gets stored.
🧠 Fight-or-Flight Mode:
— If the body perceives a threat, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, flooding the body with adrenaline and cortisol.
— The heart races, muscles tense, and breathing becomes shallow—preparing the body to defend or escape.
— If the threat resolves, the nervous system returns to balance. But if trauma is ongoing or unresolved, the body stays stuck in hypervigilance, leading to chronic muscle tension, anxiety, and insomnia.
🧠 Freeze & Dissociation:
— When the nervous system feels overwhelmed, it can trigger a freeze response, where the body numbs itself as a survival mechanism.
— Over time, this can result in fatigue, depression, dissociation, and chronic pain syndromes like fibromyalgia.
🧠 The Role of the Vagus Nerve:
— The vagus nerve runs from the brainstem down to the gut, playing a vital role in emotional regulation and digestion.
— When trauma remains unresolved, the vagus nerve becomes dysregulated, leading to digestive issues, immune dysfunction, and difficulty calming the body.
The body remembers what the mind forgets. Even if we try to "move on" from trauma cognitively, the nervous system and body may still be holding onto the stress response—manifesting as pain, tension, or emotional numbness. When one is stuck in the flight response because their body was at one time unable to complete the impulse to flee, they may experience ADHD-like symptoms, such as chronic restlessness, stress, anxiety, shallow breathing, difficulty focusing or sitting still, and compulsive busyness. The flight response can also manifest as addiction as the addict attempts to “escape” or “numb” uncomfortable or even painful feelings or to soothe nervous system dysregulation.
Where Trauma Manifests in the Body (And Why)
Different types of trauma settle into different areas of the body, affecting posture, muscle tone, and organ function.
1. Neck, Shoulders & Jaw (Holding Stress and Suppressed Expression)
— Common Symptoms: Chronic neck stiffness, TMJ, migraines, teeth grinding.
— Why? The body tenses the shoulders and jaw in response to stress and emotional suppression. For example, repressed or suppressed anger is often stored in the jaw and neck. People who swallow their emotions or hold back their voices often experience tightness in these areas.
2. Chest & Heart Area (Grief and Emotional Wounds)
— Common Symptoms: Tightness in the chest, shallow breathing, heart palpitations.
— Why? Emotional pain, especially from loss, betrayal, or abandonment, can create a literal heaviness in the chest. This can affect breathing patterns, leading to chronic hyperventilation or breath-holding.
3. Stomach & Gut (Anxiety and Fear)
— Common Symptoms: Digestive issues (IBS, bloating, nausea), ulcers, appetite changes.
— Why? The gut has its own "second brain" (the enteric nervous system) that directly responds to stress and trauma. When unresolved emotions aren’t processed, they can manifest as gut dysfunction and chronic inflammation.
4. Pelvis & Lower Back (Unprocessed Fear or Boundary Violations)
— Common Symptoms: Pelvic pain, lower back tension, sexual dysfunction, hip tightness.
— Why? The pelvic floor muscles contract in response to fear and unresolved sexual or relational trauma. When trauma remains unprocessed, the body keeps these muscles locked in tension, leading to chronic discomfort.
5. Hands & Feet (Fight-or-Flight Energy that Was Never Released)
— Common Symptoms: Cold hands and feet, tingling, restlessness, feeling “on edge.”
— Why? The body's fight-or-flight system prepares the limbs for action, but when the energy is never discharged (e.g. if one is unable to escape or fight back), the body holds onto that survival energy—creating restlessness and nervous system dysregulation.
How Somatic Therapy Helps Release Trauma from the Body
Healing trauma isn’t just about talking through it—it’s about releasing it from the body. At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we use somatic therapy techniques to help clients process and integrate trauma in a way that restores balance to the nervous system.
1. Breathwork & Vagus Nerve Stimulation
— Deep diaphragmatic breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling safety to the body.
— Gentle vagus nerve exercises (like humming, gargling, or cold exposure) help shift the nervous system from fight-or-flight into a state of calm.
2. Grounding & Movement-Based Healing
— Techniques like shaking (TRE - Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) help discharge stored fight-or-flight energy.
— Somatic yoga and intuitive movement help the body release tension safely.
3. Safe Touch & Somatic Experiencing
— Gentle, intentional touch therapy helps clients restore a sense of safety in the body.
— Guided body awareness exercises help process stored trauma without being retraumatized.
Healing Is Possible: Your Body Wants to Be Free
If you've been struggling with chronic pain, tension, or emotional disconnection, know that your body is not betraying you—it is trying to protect you.
Through somatic therapy, you can restore balance to your nervous system, release trauma safely, and reconnect with your body in a way that feels empowering.
💙 Are you ready to start your healing journey? At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we offer expert somatic therapy and trauma healing services designed to help you feel safe, strong, and whole again.
📩 Contact us today to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated trauma specialists or somatic coaches. Your healing starts here.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
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References
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W.W. Norton & Company.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
