How Do You Release Trauma Stored in Your Body?

The reason traumatic events pack such a powerful punch boils down to survival. Back in the day, anyone who was blasé about tigers and other threats didn’t last very long. 

Our brains are wired to obsess over a traumatic event because it thinks our survival depends on it. The clearer you remember the terrifying aspects of the event, the less likely you are to go through the same experience again. 

The results of this are twofold: your mind obsesses over the event as if it happened yesterday, and your body reacts. You can feel your heart rate escalate as you replay the situation in your mind. You begin avoiding situations that bear even the slightest resemblance to the traumatic event. If you were in a car accident, your brain will clang the warning bells if you even think of merging onto that freeway again. Because of this, you avoid freeways entirely.

When your body reacts, it triggers your mind, and images of the event or similar scenarios flood your brain. This triggers your body. This cycle can repeat indefinitely until you learn how to move through the trauma and release it. 

But how, right? This seems like a pretty complicated process. 

Here are some techniques that will help you release pent-up trauma that is stored in your body.

Therapy for Trauma

Ideally, you should enlist the help of a therapist. At the Relationship Therapy Center, we use proven techniques like EMDR and Brainspotting to help our patients who are suffering as a result of trauma, along with other tools. There are many components that make up trauma, and our skilled team of clinicians will apply the treatment modalities deemed most effective for you and your situation.

Ultimately, therapy is your best bet to work through the lingering effects of trauma. 

Trauma Release Exercise

Wild animals experience trauma all the time. Studies show that after the threat has passed, animals release all that pent-up fight-or-flight energy through shaking. They literally shake it off. This is believed to help reset their nervous system. 

A man named Dr. David Berceli came up with his own set of body exercises he says can help people release trauma that’s stuck in their body, and some people find relief. 

The exercises work to slowly fatigue the legs which triggers the shaking. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that will guide you through the process. However, if you have deep-seated or complex trauma, it’s crucial you enlist the help of a therapist.

Yoga and Mindfulness

These are both excellent ways to help people connect with their bodies and become aware of where tension is stored. Marrying movement with breath during yoga or simply following the breath with a mindfulness practice. Both of these practices bring awareness to how this tension is affecting the body and help soften it. 

Used in conjunction with therapy, these can be powerful tools to help maintain awareness and connection to the body. Practiced regularly, they lead to a greater understanding of how the stressors of day-to-day life often exacerbate the problem. 

Exercise

Lifting weights can help ground you, and cardiovascular exercise can reduce stress and lessen high-arousal energy. Cardio also activates the parasympathetic nervous system which calms the body down. 

Trauma is best released from the body using a multimodal approach, and a therapist who specializes in treating trauma can put together a treatment plan centered around you. If you’re curious about how we can help you, please reach out. We’d love to connect with you and discuss more about how we can help. 

Begin Trauma Therapy in the Sacramento Area or Online:

Are you ready to find peace and healing after trauma? We are here to support you and provide high-quality evidence-based trauma treatment to people in the Sacramento Area and online for people living in the state of California. To begin trauma therapy in Fair Oaks, CA or Roseville, CA, please follow these steps:

1. Reach out to our relationship therapy clinic for a free 15-minute phone consultation to learn more about trauma therapy.
2. Meet with one of our compassionate trauma therapists.
3. Begin trauma treatment and regain control in your life.

Other Services Offered at The Relationship Therapy Center in California:

In addition to trauma therapy, Our Sacramento area counseling clinics located in Roseville and Fair Oaks, CA are pleased to offer a variety of mental health services. Our couples services include: Counseling after infidelity, sex therapy, co-parent counseling, family therapy, divorce counseling, intensive couples retreats, and premarital counseling. Individual therapy services include, therapy for children, teen therapy, depression treatment, and individual relationship counseling. Our therapists offer online counseling in California to treat a variety of mental health concerns. Please reach out to our Sacramento area therapy office to learn more about the many ways we can help you or your loved ones heal and grow.