Releasing emotional trauma from the body is a process of discharging stored survival energy and allowing the nervous system to return to a state of balance. Unlike simply talking about a past event, true trauma release is a somatic (body-based) process. It involves techniques that help you safely connect with and complete the physiological responses that were frozen at the time of the overwhelming event.
Trauma Release: A Body-Based Approach
Trauma release works on the principle that the trauma is not in the event, but in the nervous system’s response to it. When faced with a threat, if you are unable to successfully fight or flee, the immense survival energy mobilized by your body becomes trapped, leading to a state of chronic dysregulation. The goal of trauma release is to provide a safe way for your body to finally “complete” these unfinished biological responses. This is a “bottom-up” approach; instead of starting with the cognitive story, you start with the body’s sensations to gently calm the nervous system, which then allows the mind to process the experience.
Self-Help Techniques for Trauma Recovery
Several practices can be used to begin the process of self-regulation and gently release stored tension.
Breathwork for Emotional Release
Conscious, controlled breathing is a direct way to influence your autonomic nervous system. Specific breathwork techniques, such as conscious connected breathing, can help to access and release stored emotional energy. By increasing the energetic charge in the body in a safe and controlled way, the breath can facilitate a cathartic release of pent-up emotions and physical tension associated with past trauma.
Somatic Awareness via Yoga and Mindfulness
Trauma often creates a disconnection from the body. Practices like trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness help to rebuild this mind-body connection. They train you to pay close, non-judgmental attention to your internal sensations (a skill known as interoception). This allows you to track the subtle feelings of tightness or activation in your body, which is the first step toward allowing them to release.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
This technique involves systematically tensing and then releasing different muscle groups. For trauma recovery, this helps in two ways: it releases the chronic muscle tension where traumatic stress is held, and it retrains the body to recognize the difference between a state of tension and a state of deep relaxation.
Professional Trauma Release Therapies
For deep-seated or complex trauma (PTSD), working with a certified professional is essential. Several highly effective modalities specialize in the somatic release of trauma.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine, Somatic Experiencing is a therapeutic approach focused on healing trauma by gently guiding a client to release frozen survival energy. It includes (among others) the following stages:
- Titration: Introducing a very small, manageable amount of traumatic sensation at a time to avoid overwhelming the nervous system.
- Pendulation: Guiding the client’s attention back and forth between the state of traumatic activation and a state of calm and resource in the body, which helps the nervous system to self-regulate.
- Grounding: Techniques like feeling one’s feet on the floor are used to help the client stay present and connected to the body.
- Resourcing: The client is encouraged to identify positive feelings, images, and bodily sensations to use as a source of self-regulation when difficult feelings arise.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
EMDR is a structured psychotherapy that helps people process traumatic memories. The core of the technique involves the use of bilateral stimulation—typically by having the client follow the therapist’s fingers with their eyes. This back-and-forth movement is believed to help the brain’s information processing system to “digest” and integrate the stuck traumatic memory, reducing its emotional charge.
An Integrative Method: Psychosomatic Training
Some modern methods integrate principles from multiple disciplines. My own Psychosomatic Training method, for example, combines deep somatic awareness (interoception), trauma-release breathwork, and ki energy manipulation into a single system. This approach is designed to teach an individual how to consciously access the stored somatic memory and use their breath and energy to facilitate its release and integration.
How to Support Someone with Emotional Trauma
Helping someone with trauma requires sensitivity and respect for their boundaries.
- Create Safety: Your primary role is to provide a safe and non-judgmental presence.
- Listen Without Pushing: Allow them to share their experience if and when they choose to. Do not pressure them for details.
- Validate Their Feelings: Acknowledge the reality and difficulty of their experience. Simple phrases like, “That sounds incredibly difficult,” are more helpful than “You should get over it.”
- Avoid Giving Unsolicited Advice: Refrain from telling them what they “should” do.
- Encourage Professional Help: Gently suggest that they might benefit from speaking with a therapist who specializes in trauma, and offer to help them find resources if they are open to it.
