How to Release Trauma From the Body? | Kazmo Brain Center (2024)

How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body?

During traumatic events or prolonged stress, the body goes into fight-or-flight mode, flooding the system with cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress hormones. While this is an adaptive response at the moment, extended activation of the nervous system leads to changes like:

Chronic muscle tension from a constant state of arousal.
Emotional numbness and disconnection from internal sensations and feelings as a way to cope.
Blockages in energy meridians, which Chinese medicine links to organ function and emotional health.

As a result, trauma and pain become locked into the tissues, limiting mobility and disrupting mind-body harmony.

Holistic Ways to Heal and Release Trapped Trauma

The good news is that the body can return to balance when supported properly. Here are holistic ways to discharge old trauma activation:

Body awareness practices like yoga, meditation, breathwork, and somatic movement. These bring non-judgmental attention to physical sensations and held tension.
Bilateral stimulation through alternating left-right sensations that impact the brain’s limbic system to dampen fear and anxiety.
Release techniques like massage, acupressure, and rocking that stimulate and discharge pent-up muscle armoring.
Community practices that restore felt safety through collective embodiment, group therapies, and human connection.
Energy healing modalities like acupuncture, sound baths, and Thai bodywork unblock trauma-based energy blockages.

By honoring the body’s innate wisdom, past trauma can be integrated into the wholeness of one’s story.

Mapping Emotional Stress in the Body

Different stressful emotions create predictable physical responses that remain stuck when unprocessed. These include:

Fear: Shallow breathing, racing heart, clenched core, pelvic floor.
Anger: Tightened jaw, neck, shoulders, heated face.
Sadness: Collapsed chest and shoulders, difficulty breathing fully.
Shame: Constricted throat, avoiding eye contact, slumped posture.

Noticing areas of chronic tension or numbness reveals where emotional residue may be trapped. Loving attention to these places can start the process of release.

Techniques for Releasing Past Trauma

Healing trauma requires establishing safety, community support, and targeted mind-body therapies. Here are some top approaches:

Somatic therapy uses gentle touch, rocking, and vibration to discharge excess muscle activation.
Acupuncture and acupressure unblock energy meridians disrupted by trauma.
Breathwork, meditation, and yoga bring awareness to held tension and constricted areas.
EMDR uses bilateral eye movements to reprocess traumatic memories.
Dance, music, theater, and group vocalizing provide human connection and nervous system synchronization.
Finding meaning and coherence through techniques like Narrative Therapy reduces shame.
Additionally, spiritual practices lower stress and provide connection.

By honoring the body’s role in processing trauma, we can unwind the past to live more fully in the present, restoring peace, empowerment, and purpose.

Kazmo Brain Center can help you release trauma and heal.

We offer a variety of holistic therapies, including somatic therapy, EMDR, meditation, and group work. Our caring professionals will tailor our approach to your unique needs.