The Body Remembers: Somatic Healing for Complex PTSD

Have you ever flinched at a tone of voice that wasn’t meant to be threatening? Or found yourself suddenly overwhelmed by panic, dread, or tension without understanding why?

This is not you being “too sensitive.” This is your nervous system responding to unresolved trauma.

For women recovering from narcissistic abuse, healing doesn’t happen only in the mind. Emotional wounds live in the body—and your body remembers long after your mind tries to move on.

This blog explores the concept of somatic healing—how Complex PTSD lives in the body, how trauma dysregulates your nervous system, and how reconnecting with your physical self can support deep, lasting recovery.

Trauma Lives in the Body

Unlike a single traumatic event (like a car accident), Complex PTSD results from prolonged, repeated abuse—often emotional, verbal, or psychological.

Narcissistic abuse often involves:

• Constant walking on eggshells

• Hypervigilance to mood shifts

• Fear of conflict or abandonment

• Suppressing your emotions and instincts

Over time, your body adapts by staying in survival mode. Even after the relationship ends, your nervous system may remain stuck in “fight, flight, freeze, or fawn” responses.

You might notice:

• Chronic muscle tension

• Digestive issues

• Fatigue or sleep problems

• Difficulty relaxing, even when safe

• Feeling detached or dissociated from your body

These are not character flaws or weakness—they’re trauma responses. And they’re invitations for healing through the body, not just the mind.

Understanding the Nervous System and Trauma Response

Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for detecting safety or danger. In trauma, especially prolonged emotional abuse, the ANS becomes dysregulated.

You may constantly feel:

• On edge (sympathetic “fight or flight”)

• Numb or shut down (parasympathetic “freeze”)

• Over-accommodating or people-pleasing (fawn)

Because narcissistic abuse distorts your reality, your body learns to protect you in subtle but powerful ways—even if you're no longer in danger.

Healing means retraining your nervous system to feel safe again. This is where somatic work comes in.

What is Somatic Healing?

“Somatic” simply means relating to the body. Somatic healing focuses on physical sensations, movement, and body awareness as a path to emotional regulation.

Where talk therapy explores your thoughts and beliefs, somatic healing helps you:

• Ground yourself in the present

• Release stored tension and trauma

• Rebuild a sense of internal safety

• Reconnect with your intuition and bodily signals

Your body becomes an ally, not an enemy.

Somatic Practices for Complex PTSD

You don’t need to be a yoga expert or meditate perfectly to benefit from somatic healing.

These simple, gentle practices are accessible and deeply supportive:

1. Grounding Exercises

When you feel anxious or dissociated, grounding helps bring you back to your body.Try:

• Placing your bare feet on the floor or grass

• Holding a warm cup of tea and focusing on the sensation

• Describing 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste

Grounding tells your body: I am here. I am safe.

2. Breathwork

Trauma often shortens or restricts the breath. Intentional breathing calms the nervous system.Try:

• Inhaling for 4 counts, exhaling for 6

• Placing a hand on your belly to encourage deeper breathing

• Letting out an audible sigh to release tension

Breath connects you to your body—and to the present moment.

3. Tension and Release

When trauma is held in the muscles, shaking or releasing that tension is powerful.Try:

• Tightly clenching your fists, then slowly releasing

• Lightly bouncing on your toes or shaking out your arms

• Yawning, stretching, or wriggling to wake up dormant energy

Letting your body move in small, intuitive ways creates space for stored emotion to leave.

4. Body Scanning and Mindful Touch

Gently bringing awareness to your body builds trust and re-connection.Try:

• Lying down and scanning from your head to your toes, noticing sensations

• Placing your hand on your heart or belly and simply holding it there

• Using a soft blanket, lotion, or massage ball to explore gentle touch

These practices help remind your body: You are not in danger anymore.

5. Somatic Therapy Modalities

Working with a trained practitioner can deepen healing. Consider therapies such as:

• Somatic Experiencing (SE): focuses on releasing trapped trauma through nervous system regulation

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: integrates talk and body awareness

• TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises): uses specific movements to release chronic stress patterns

Reclaiming Body Trust and Safety

Many survivors of narcissistic abuse become disconnected from their bodies—they learn to override hunger, exhaustion, intuition, and even physical pain.

Reclaiming your body means giving yourself permission to:

• Feel without judgement

• Rest when needed

• Eat when hungry

• Say no when your body says no

• Trust your gut again

You may cry unexpectedly during these practices. You may feel resistance. That’s okay.

Your body is not betraying you—it’s finally telling the truth after years of being silenced.

Final Thoughts

Healing from Complex PTSD requires more than cognitive insight. It requires tenderness, presence, and a deep return to the body that held your pain for so long.

Your body is not the enemy. It is the place where healing begins.

When you gently reawaken your senses, breathe through anxiety, and ground yourself in safety, you begin to unwind the patterns that trauma left behind. You start to feel alive again—not just surviving, but truly living.

You don’t need to force your way out of trauma. You can breathe, move, rest, and listen your way through it—with compassion and care.

Your body remembers. And now, it’s time to help it remember safety, peace, and joy.