The physical signs your body is releasing trauma might be more familiar than you realize.
Understanding the physical signs your body is releasing trauma can be the first step toward healing and self-awareness. Whether it’s a sudden wave of emotion, a tightness in your chest, or an overwhelming sense of fatigue, these responses are your body’s way of processing and letting go of stored pain.
Physical Signs Your Body is Releasing Trauma
1. Trembling or Shaking
Your body might begin to tremble or shake without any clear cause. This is a natural and automatic response, signaling that your nervous system is discharging stored energy.
According to Dr. Peter Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing and author of Healing Trauma, “shaking or trembling is a primitive yet powerful way for the body to reset after a traumatic experience.”
Your body uses this mechanism to release built-up stress, helping you regain balance.
2. Sudden Crying or Emotional Outbursts
Tears can come out of nowhere when you’re processing trauma, often surprising you. This emotional release is essential because trauma often blocks the ability to feel fully.
3. Fatigue
You may find yourself unusually tired or needing more sleep than usual. Releasing trauma can be an exhausting process because your body is using a lot of energy to process the emotional strain.
It’s essential to honor this fatigue by resting, as the body needs recovery time to continue healing.
4. Muscle Aches and Tension
As your body processes trauma, certain muscles may tense up or, conversely, relax, leaving you feeling sore.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, in his book The Body Keeps the Score, explains that “trauma is stored in the body, particularly in muscles and fascia,” and when the body begins to release these, you may feel soreness, similar to the aftermath of physical exertion.
5. Digestive Issues
Your gut may react to trauma release with symptoms such as stomach cramps, nausea, or digestive changes.
The gut is often referred to as the “second brain” because of its direct connection to emotional well-being.
Trauma can cause disruption to the digestive system, and as it is released, these symptoms are part of the body’s way of re-regulating.
6. Sweating
Sudden bouts of sweating, especially during moments of emotional release, are common. When the body releases trapped emotions or energy, your nervous system is activated, leading to sweating as the body tries to maintain homeostasis.
7. Headaches or Migraines
The emotional strain of trauma can build tension in the body, particularly in the head and neck area, leading to headaches or migraines.
8. Tingling Sensations or Numbness
As your body releases trauma, you may experience tingling or numbness in certain areas.
This sensation, often described as “energy moving through the body,” occurs when blocked energy is released, and your body begins to regain normal sensation.
9. Rapid Heartbeat or Shortness of Breath
During trauma release, it’s common to experience a racing heart or difficulty breathing. These symptoms are part of the body’s response to stress, known as the “fight or flight” response.
When trauma is released, your autonomic nervous system may still respond with these signals until the body settles back into a state of calm.
10. Changes in Sleep Patterns
You may find yourself sleeping either too much or too little. Trauma release often disrupts your sleep cycle as your brain and body work to process the emotional residue.
Disturbances in REM sleep are particularly common as the brain uses this time to organize and process emotional memories.
11. Heightened Sensitivity to Sounds and Light
Your body may become more sensitive to stimuli, such as sounds or light, as your nervous system is in a heightened state of alertness.
Trauma can amplify your senses as a protective mechanism, and this sensitivity will gradually decrease as the body stabilizes.
12. Cold Hands and Feet
The extremities can feel cold when trauma is being released. This occurs because the body’s stress response constricts blood vessels, diverting blood flow away from the hands and feet.
Somatic Exercises to Release Trauma
The goal of somatic exercises to release trauma is to guide you back to a state of physical and emotional equilibrium by addressing trauma’s impact on the body. These exercises work directly with your nervous system, allowing you to safely process and release stored energy.
1. Grounding Techniques
Grounding techniques help you connect with the present moment and your body. When trauma causes disassociation or a feeling of being disconnected from your body, grounding exercises can anchor you in the “here and now.”
Simple activities such as feeling your feet on the ground or focusing on your breath can bring your awareness back to your body, reducing anxiety and emotional overwhelm.
2. Body Scanning
Body scanning involves mentally scanning each part of your body to notice where tension or discomfort is stored.
This mindful practice helps you become more aware of the areas where trauma has been held. By bringing attention to these areas, you can begin to release the stored tension.
3. Tension and Trauma Release Exercises (TRE)
Trauma release exercises are a series of gentle stretches and movements designed to activate the body’s natural tremor mechanism.
This tremor response is a key aspect of TRE, as it helps to release the physical stress stored in your muscles after trauma. When practiced regularly, TRE allows the body to let go of deep-seated tension, restoring a sense of calm and relaxation.
Dr. David Berceli, developer of Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), notes that “cold extremities often indicate that the body is still in a heightened state of arousal,” a common occurrence when trauma is being processed.
4. Shaking Exercises
Shaking is one of the most natural ways the body releases tension. Animals, after facing a threat, instinctively shake to rid themselves of the stress hormones coursing through their systems.
Humans can engage in controlled shaking exercises, mimicking this natural response to help release trauma from the body. These somatic exercises to release trauma helps discharge excess energy stored in the nervous system.
5. Somatic Breathwork
Breathwork connects you to your autonomic nervous system, which is often disrupted by trauma.
By consciously controlling your breath, you signal to your body that it is safe, helping your nervous system move from a state of hyper-arousal to relaxation.
Techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or 4-7-8 breathing (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8) can aid in calming your system and releasing tension from the body.
6. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
PMR involves tensing and then slowly releasing specific muscle groups throughout the body. This technique is particularly useful for becoming aware of where you hold tension and can serve as a guide for targeted trauma release.
By actively engaging and then relaxing your muscles, you send signals to your body that it’s okay to let go of the tension caused by trauma.
7. Mindful Movement (Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong)
Incorporating mindful movement practices like yoga, Tai Chi, or Qi Gong can be incredibly beneficial for trauma release.
These forms of movement combine slow, deliberate movements with deep breathing and focused awareness, helping you to restore balance and flexibility to both body and mind.Through gentle, consistent movement, these practices promote healing by reducing stress, calming the nervous system, and increasing body awareness.
How to Take Care of Your Body When It’s Releasing Trauma
As trauma leaves your body, it may manifest in ways that feel unsettling—like tension, fatigue, emotional swings, or even physical discomfort. To support your body through this, you need to focus on gentle practices that help you regain balance and ensure your physical and emotional well-being.
1. Gentle Movement
When your body is releasing trauma, movement is key to facilitating the process. Unlike intense exercise, which may overstimulate your system, gentle movement offers a soothing approach, ensuring your body feels safe while it works through the trauma.
Yoga
Yoga is particularly effective because it integrates breath and movement, helping you release tension and improve flexibility.
Trauma often causes your muscles to contract and tighten, and yoga gently encourages those muscles to let go, allowing your body to soften.
Poses like Child’s Pose, Cat-Cow, and Savasana (Corpse Pose) promote relaxation, helping your nervous system reset.
Walking
Walking, especially in nature, can be grounding and restorative. It allows you to reconnect with your surroundings and move at your own pace, giving your body the time it needs to process.
Stretching
Simple stretches allow you to target specific areas of tension. Focus on stretches that release the neck, shoulders, and lower back—common places where trauma-induced stress accumulates.
2. Deep Breathing
Breathing is an immediate way to connect with your body and calm your nervous system. Trauma often leaves you feeling tense, which disrupts your natural breathing patterns.
Shallow or rapid breathing is a common reaction to stress and trauma, and it can keep you in a heightened state of anxiety.
Deep, mindful breathing helps reverse this, signaling to your brain and body that it’s safe to relax.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
This type of breathing engages the diaphragm, the large muscle located just beneath your lungs.
By breathing deeply into your belly rather than your chest, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps reduce stress.
Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4, hold for 4, and exhale for 6-8 seconds. This slow exhalation is key to calming your body.
3. Hydrate
When your body releases trauma, it’s not just emotional and mental tension that is being processed.
The physical stress associated with trauma can create toxins in your system as your body works to release pent-up energy and emotions. Hydration is vital because water supports your body’s natural detoxification processes.
Drinking enough water (at least 8-10 glasses) ensures that your organs—particularly your liver and kidneys—are functioning optimally, helping to flush out the toxins associated with emotional release.
Electrolytes
If you’re feeling particularly drained, adding natural electrolytes to your water can help replenish the minerals lost during trauma release.
Coconut water or electrolyte tablets can provide the additional hydration your body might need.
When you start to see these physical signs your body is releasing trauma, it’s a powerful signal that you’re healing, growing, and evolving.
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