How Unresolved Trauma Can Lead to Anxiety—Somatic and Yoga Practices Can Help Heal Through Nervous System Regulation

Trauma doesn’t just affect your mind—it also leaves a deep imprint on your body and nervous system. If unresolved, it can manifest as chronic anxiety, keeping you stuck in a cycle of stress and tension that feels impossible to break. Fortunately, through the power of neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to rewire itself), healing is possible. Somatic practices and yoga can play a transformative role in calming your nervous system and helping you move toward lasting relief.

How Unresolved Trauma Leads to Anxiety

When you experience trauma—whether it's from a single overwhelming event or a series of smaller, ongoing stressors—your nervous system goes into survival mode. It triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response, designed to keep you safe in moments of danger. But when trauma isn’t properly processed, your body stays stuck in this heightened state of alert. The nervous system becomes dysregulated, leaving you in a constant loop of stress even when the immediate danger is long gone.

Over time, this chronic activation of the nervous system can lead to anxiety. You may feel jumpy, restless, or constantly on edge. Sometimes, anxiety might feel like a vague, ever-present sense of dread, while at other times, it shows up as physical symptoms—like racing thoughts, shallow breathing, or muscle tension.

This cycle happens because your nervous system, which governs your stress response, has learned to expect danger and reacts accordingly, even when you're safe. The good news is that your brain and body can learn new, healthier ways of responding through neuroplasticity.

The Power of Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to form new neural connections throughout life. It’s what allows us to learn new skills, break old habits, and, most importantly in this context, heal from trauma. The nervous system can be retrained to move out of a chronic fight-or-flight state and into a more regulated, relaxed state.

This is where somatic practices and yoga come in. By focusing on body awareness and gentle movement, these practices directly influence the nervous system, helping it calm down and reset its stress response. Over time, they create new neural pathways that support relaxation and emotional resilience, breaking the cycle of anxiety caused by unresolved trauma.

How Somatic Practices Help with Nervous System Regulation

Somatic practices focus on reconnecting the mind and body. When trauma happens, we often disconnect from our bodies as a survival mechanism. Somatic techniques help us safely come back into our bodies and release stored tension and trauma.

These practices emphasize paying attention to physical sensations, movement, and breath, allowing the body to process and release trauma at its own pace. This bottom-up approach (starting with the body rather than the mind) helps the nervous system move out of a reactive state and into a more regulated one.

Some examples of somatic practices that help regulate the nervous system include:

• Body scanning: Gently tuning into different parts of your body, noticing tension or discomfort without judgment.
• Breathwork: Using deep, mindful breathing to calm the body’s stress response and signal safety to the nervous system.
• Grounding exercises: Bringing attention to sensations like the feet on the ground or the feeling of your body supported by a chair, helping to anchor yourself in the present moment.

These somatic practices support the brain’s neuroplasticity by creating new associations with safety and calmness.

How Yoga Supports Healing from Trauma and Anxiety

Yoga offers a holistic way to integrate mind and body, making it a powerful tool for trauma healing and nervous system regulation. Yoga, particularly trauma-informed yoga, emphasizes creating a safe and supportive environment where you can reconnect with your body at your own pace.

Here’s how yoga can support healing from unresolved trauma and anxiety:

• Movement to Release Stored Tension: Trauma often gets stored in the body, leading to tight muscles, chronic pain, and even postural issues. Yoga’s gentle movements allow you to release this stored tension in a safe, gradual way.
• Breathwork for Calm and Focus: The breathing practices used in yoga directly activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system responsible for rest and relaxation. This helps to counteract the stress response and brings more calm into your daily life.
• Mindful Awareness: Yoga encourages you to tune into your body and observe your sensations without judgment. This helps you become more aware of your body’s signals, fostering a sense of safety and control, which can reduce anxiety over time.
• Restorative Practices: Certain styles of yoga, like yin or restorative yoga, emphasize long, passive holds in supported poses. This gives the nervous system a chance to fully relax, helping to break the chronic cycle of fight or flight and promote healing.

Putting It All Together: Healing Through Body, Mind, and Nervous System

Somatic and yoga practices work by helping you reconnect with your body in a safe and supportive way. This helps your nervous system shift out of the chronic stress response that unresolved trauma can create. Over time, as you continue these practices, your brain and body begin to associate calm and safety with your environment, reducing anxiety and creating new patterns of relaxation.

The key to healing is consistency and patience. Neuroplasticity takes time, but with regular practice, you can retrain your nervous system to respond to life’s challenges with greater resilience and calm. Somatic and yoga practices give you the tools to reconnect with yourself, release stored trauma, and cultivate a sense of inner peace that lasts.

If you’re struggling with unresolved trauma and chronic anxiety, know that healing is possible. Somatic yoga therapy can help guide you back to a place of balance, peace, and self-compassion. By working with your body and nervous system, you can create deep and lasting healing.

In my yoga therapy program - Body-Focused Healing for Anxiety: Uncovering and Healing the Root Causes of Chronic Stress - we incorporate all of these healing practices and provide body-based tools and supportive guidance to help you regulate your nervous system, reduce anxiety, and manage chronic stress effectively.

Are you ready to take the next step in your healing journey? Learn more about this life-changing program and discover how you can transform your relationship with stress and anxiety.

You’re not meant to carry this weight on your own. Together, we can work toward releasing what no longer serves you and building a path toward healing and peace. I’m here to help you navigate this process with grace and understanding.