The Body Remembers: How Trauma Is Stored in the Nervous System

There is a magical system that resides within you — one that holds all your memories.

Your nervous system, always acting as your best friend, is here to protect you.

What if the key to your healing lies within it? The body remembers.

So now, let’s return to the very beginning and reconnect with the magic within you.

Wounds create traumas that are energetic imprints stored in our bodies. After a traumatic event, the nervous system enters “survival mode” and sends signals to let us know something is wrong. These signals are experienced through emotions and bodily sensations, which together form symptoms.

The nervous system plays a key role in regulating emotions.

It is divided into two parts:

• The parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for feelings of relaxation and calmness.

• The sympathetic nervous system, activated in times of stress and responsible for feelings of fear and anxiety.

When the nervous system enters “survival mode,” the sympathetic system activates and can remain that way for years. This is why many people today experience near-constant anxiety.

The body carries the imprint of all experiences.

Our nervous system has no concept of time and therefore cannot differentiate between our past and our present. This means that for it, the unprocessed wound you experienced many years ago is still occurring now. This is why a lack of safety is felt, as your nervous system perceives that you are always in danger. So, you continue to experience symptoms related to your wound.

To give a concrete example, if you were abandoned as a child, your nervous system still believes you're at risk of being abandoned — even if the event happened long ago. So every time you try to build a new connection, it feels like a real threat, because it has associated relationships with abandonment. That’s why you may experience symptoms like fear of abandonment, codependency, and deep loneliness, which often end up leading to self-sabotage in relationships.

However, past belong to the past, and today you are safe.

You can choose to restore a true sense of safety in your body by reconnecting with it, listening to its messages, and giving it what it needs. Talking therapy, while incredibly helpful, may not always be enough. Because trauma is stored in the body, it’s essential to learn how to speak your body’s language.

Our mind can’t do what only the body knows how to do: heal.

The body doesn’t communicate with words like we do in daily life. It speaks through sensations and emotions. Reconnecting with those — by feeling them, listening to them, and expressing them — is crucial on your healing journey.

It will take you further than just engaging with your mind. The experience of the body is as rich as the messages it holds. And understanding those messages becomes possible the moment you choose to turn your attention inward.

Since your body doesn’t use words, it’s important to speak its language to reassure it and let it know: you are safe now.

How can you do that?

By engaging your body — through movement, gentle touch, shaking, sound, voice, dance, or stretching. Simply by doing what it’s asking you to do.

Your body is your ultimate guide.

It holds all the answers you’re looking for.

Healing is a lifelong journey; it’s not about no longer feeling emotions or symptoms, but rather about bringing peace to them and to your story by reconnecting with your body.

You’ve stayed in survival mode for too long — and now you feel exhausted, disconnected, and out of control of your own life.

You can see your nervous system as your best friend: it’s always there to protect you and keep you safe from danger. It will never abandon you. The problem is, that danger isn’t always real. That’s why, once you bring awareness to it, it becomes essential to regulate your nervous system so it can return to a natural state of balance.

By the way, healing is all about balance — just like everything in life. Deep inner work is just as important as rest and lightness. Your nervous system needs both to feel safe and regulated again. So don’t exhaust yourself on your healing journey.

Healing isn’t just about digging into the past and understanding the why — although that can sometimes be helpful. It’s also about allowing yourself to invite joy, love, and peace into your life. And that may be the hardest part for many of us, because our nervous system isn’t used to it. It will always look for what is familiar, not necessarily what is healthy.

Be patient, loving, and compassionate with yourself and your body throughout this journey. You can’t erase years of pain in a split second. Your body needs time to feel safe again, and to learn a new way of being.

You are not broken — even if it feels that way.

So don’t try to fix yourself. You are simply disconnected and out of balance. You just need to find your way back to yourself. And the only way to do that is by meeting your body, your heart, and your soul through love, pleasure, compassion, and kindness.