Your body holds the lesson your mind edited out.
When the nervous system learns that the world is dangerous, it holds that lesson in the body as a physical state: braced, shut down, or scanning for threat. You cannot reason your way out of a state, you have to move through it. These field notes cover somatic release, the freeze and shutdown responses, and post-traumatic growth, grounded in polyvagal science.
11 field notes in this topic
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The 7 TRE Exercises, Step by Step
All seven TRE exercises in order, from ankle rolls to the tremor position, with what each one does, who should skip it, and when to stop.
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Emotional Flashbacks: When the Feeling Arrives Without the Memory
No images, no scene, just a sudden flood of old feeling that seems to belong to now. What is happening, and how to shorten it.
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Functional Freeze: Running the Day With the Engine Off
Functional freeze is doing everything and feeling none of it. What the shutdown response actually is, why rest does not fix it, and how to come out.
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Is Trauma Really Stored in the Body?
The phrase is everywhere and it is half right. What the evidence supports, what it does not, and why the distinction changes what helps.
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Post-Traumatic Growth: What the Research Actually Supports
People do report building something after the worst of it. What the evidence shows, where the measurement is weak, and why growth must never be a demand.
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TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises): What It Is and How to Try It
TRE explained: David Berceli's neurogenic tremor method, what the evidence actually shows, and how to try tension release exercises safely.
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Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: The 4 Stress Responses Explained
Fight, flight, freeze, fawn are your nervous system's four automatic answers to threat. Learn what each one looks like, why it's adaptive, and how to regulate.
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What Is Somatic Therapy? A Clear, Evidence-Based Guide to Body-Based Healing
A plain guide to somatic therapy: how it works, the main methods (Somatic Experiencing, sensorimotor, TRE), the evidence, and how to find a practitioner.
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The Window of Tolerance: What It Is and How to Widen Yours
The window of tolerance is the zone where you feel calm, present, and in control. Learn to spot hyperarousal and shutdown, and how to widen yours over time.
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Shadow Work for Beginners: A Practical Guide (With 20 Prompts)
Shadow work for beginners, explained plainly: what it is, how to start safely, 20 journaling prompts, and why nervous-system regulation should come first.
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Somatic Exercises for Anxiety: Releasing Stress From the Body
Eight gentle somatic exercises for anxiety, step by step. Pick one, try it for a minute, and notice what helps. Each has an honest note on its limits.
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