How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body: The Biology of Overwhelm

Trauma is not the event — it’s the biological overwhelm that follows.  Two people can experience the same event; one feels stress, the other becomes traumatized. Why? One was resourced — emotionally, neurologically, relationally, and metabolically. The other was under-resourced, often carrying unresolved preverbal or preaffective trauma, leaving their nervous system flooded and unable to process the experience. Glucose and protein are essential fuel; without them, the body lacks the metabolic stability to regulate stress.

When safety is absent, the nervous system activates.

First, sympathetic arousal — fight or flight — floods the body with energy to mobilize.  But when escape or resistance is impossible, the dorsal vagal system takes over: the freeze, collapse, or fawn response.  This dorsal dive immobilizes the body, trapping the survival energy meant for action.  That unspent energy — the startle, the shock, the helplessness — gets stuck in the nervous system, stored in the brainstem and midbrain. 

Shock, Disbelief, and Helplessness: Where Stored Trauma Begins

In moments of loss, betrayal, or sudden rupture — a death, a breakup, a job loss — the nervous system registers startle, shock, disbelief, and helplessness all at once.  This sequence is not emotional — it’s neurobiological.

Dr. Frank Corrigan’s Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) identifies how this shock lodges in the brainstem and midbrain, outside conscious awareness.  You may feel fine — until you don’t. When you forget, when you sleep, when you get busy — and then, a memory floods in. The hot bubble behind the heart, the breathless crash — it’s the nervous system re-experiencing what it couldn’t complete. 

DBR gently tracks these subcortical imprints — the orienting tension, the shock, the collapse — helping the body complete the cycle and release the frozen trauma. 

A Somatic Path Forward: The Pendulation Exercise

Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing (SE) offers a powerful, bottom-up tool: pendulation. 

When grief or shock floods in:

1. Pause — notice the sensation (heat, tightness, numbness)

2. Find a resource — a neutral or calm place in your body (your pinky toe, your palm)

3. Pendulate — gently shift attention between the activation and the resource

4. Breathe — allow trembling, warmth, or tears to move through

5. Repeat — until your nervous system settles 

This isn’t about fixing — it’s about befriending the body’s wisdom and allowing trapped energy to discharge. 

Why Bottom-Up Approaches Are Essential for Healing

Trauma is not a cognitive problem — it’s a biological one. When we ruminate, analyze, or talk endlessly about our pain, we’re using the mind to fix a body problem.  But trauma gets stuck because the nervous system froze — the survival energy meant for fight or flight was never discharged. It remains trapped in muscles, organs, fascia, and the autonomic nervous system, looping in incomplete cycles. 

The mind cannot complete what the body began.

While speaking our truth is vital — and being heard by a compassionate witness can help discharge energy — no one can move your body for you. That responsibility belongs solely to you, as the conscious Self at the helm. Healing begins when you become present in the body, not to control it, but to listen — to honor its memory, its signals, and its instinct to release. 

How the Body Releases Stuck Survival Energy

When we create safety and presence, the body begins to discharge trapped energy through natural, involuntary processes. These are not signs of dysfunction — they are signs of healing:

• Trembling or shaking — the nervous system discharging excess adrenaline

• Spontaneous deep sighs or yawns — resetting the breath and calming the vagus nerve

• Tears without a clear trigger — emotional release completing a stalled cycle

• Warmth or heat spreading through the body — trapped energy mobilizing and moving

• Muscle twitches or jerks — releasing chronic tension from protective bracing

• Gurgling digestion — the parasympathetic system reactivating as the body exits survival mode

• Sudden chills or flushing — the autonomic nervous system recalibrating 

These responses are not something to fear — they are your body’s innate wisdom, finally being allowed to finish what it started. 

Resourcing the Body: Building Resilience Before Overwhelm

To prevent trauma from taking root, we must resource the body in advance.  Resourcing isn’t just self-care — it’s biological preparation.  When your nervous system is resourced, it can process stress without collapsing into trauma. 

Foundational Resourcing Practices

• Metabolic safety: Maintain stable blood sugar with balanced meals rich in protein and complex carbohydrates.

• Adequate sleep and rest: Prioritize 7–9 hours of deep, uninterrupted sleep. 

• Time in nature: Walk barefoot on earth, forest bathe, or sit under open sky.

• Connection: Spend time with safe, supportive people — and pets.

• Recreation and joy: Engage in hobbies, play, and activities that spark delight.

• Embodiment practices: Use the SE pendulation technique regularly to build capacity for feeling discomfort safely. 

Why Daily Resourcing Matters

Trauma takes hold when the body is overwhelmed and unsupported. But when you consistently nourish your biology — metabolically, emotionally, and relationally — you expand your window of tolerance.  You become able to feel difficult emotions without collapsing.

No matter how supportive others are, you must become your own primary regulator. That means showing up for your body daily — not to fix it, but to listen, honor, and resource it. 

Begin Your Journey with Safe Support

If you’re ready to build deeper resilience, I invite you to explore The Consciously Present Course, a 12-week journey into nervous system regulation, embodiment, and self-trust. 

Or, if you’re just beginning, start with my free 7-day mini-course:
Body Wisdom: 7 Days of Nervous System Safety
— gentle, somatic practices to help you feel safe in your body, one breath at a time.

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