In my healing journey, I’ve come to understand that healing isn’t just about processing painful memories or developing coping strategies—it’s also about reconnecting with joy and play. My recent conversation with Rebecca Anderson, a trauma-informed somatic educator and practitioner, illuminated how our bodies hold onto trauma and how somatic movement therapy can be a powerful pathway to healing.
Rebecca’s story resonated deeply with me because, like many survivors, her healing journey began from a place of survival mode. Through our discussion, I realized how many of us share similar experiences with micro traumas that compound over time, even when our specific circumstances differ.
When Our Bodies Keep Score of Trauma
One of the most profound insights from our conversation centered on how trauma responses manifest physically. As Rebecca explained, “When we’re in survival mode, and we have high cortisol in our body, trauma takes a toll in so many different ways.”
This physical dimension of trauma is something I’ve experienced firsthand. For years, I carried tension in my body without realizing it was connected to my past experiences. My body was in a constant state of vigilance—always prepared for the next threat, never fully relaxed.
What makes survival mode so insidious is that we often don’t recognize we’re in it. We accept symptoms like chronic tension, digestive issues, or sleep disturbances as just “how life is” rather than signals that our bodies are still responding to past trauma.
The Micro Traumas We Don’t Recognize
While many understand major traumatic events can shape our lives, we often overlook the impact of micro traumas—those seemingly small daily experiences that gradually erode our sense of safety and self. These might include:
- Consistent dismissal of our feelings
- Subtle boundary violations
- Ongoing exposure to toxic relationships
- Daily interactions that chip away at our self-worth
Rebecca shared how her divorce and the year of separation preceding it created a prolonged state of fight-flight-freeze-fawn. “My body was so dysregulated, and I just was in fear,” she explained. This persistent state of dysregulation is exactly what happens when micro traumas accumulate over time.
I’ve found in my own life that these micro traumas can be just as damaging as major events because they condition us to accept distress as normal. We develop unhealthy coping mechanisms without even realizing we’re in survival mode.
Somatic Movement Therapy: Healing Through the Body
What struck me most about Rebecca’s approach was how she integrated somatic movement therapy into her healing journey. As someone who has benefited tremendously from body-based healing approaches, I was fascinated by her perspective on how movement can release trapped emotions.
Finding Safety in Our Bodies First
“The body heals when it feels safe,” Rebecca emphasized during our conversation. This principle is foundational to somatic movement therapy. Before any deep healing work can happen, we need to establish somatic safety—a sense that our bodies are secure places to exist.
For many trauma survivors (myself included), the body can feel like a dangerous place. We become disconnected from physical sensations as a protective mechanism, making it difficult to recognize when we’re triggered or when we’re actually safe.
Somatic movement therapy works by helping us gradually reconnect with our bodies through:
- Breath awareness
- Gentle movement
- Sound and vocalization
- Touch (when appropriate)
I’ve found that even simple practices like conscious breathing can begin to shift long-held patterns of tension and disconnection.
Dancing My Way to Healing
Rebecca’s experience with somatic dance movement therapy as a healing modality particularly resonated with me. “Dance has been one of the biggest things that healed me,” she shared. Through movement, she found a way to express her feminine energy and reconnect with joy.
What’s beautiful about this approach is that it doesn’t require reliving traumatic memories through talk therapy. Instead, it creates new, positive experiences in the body that gradually replace the imprint of trauma.
Inner Child Work: Healing Through Play
One of the most touching parts of our conversation centered around inner child shadow work. When we experience trauma, especially in childhood, parts of ourselves become exiled—pushed into the shadows because they weren’t safe to express.
What Our Inner Child Needs Most
Rebecca shared a profound insight from her work with clients: “Almost every client, they wanted to be loved for who they were… But then the interesting thing is after they got that need, it was like, okay. So now what do you need? Almost always, it is play.”
This brought tears to my eyes because it aligned so perfectly with my own experience. After years of intensive therapy addressing my trauma, what ultimately helped me reconnect with joy was allowing myself to play again. Whether it was art, music, or simply being silly, these activities helped me reclaim parts of myself that had been lost.
“After you get the love, it’s some form of play,” Rebecca observed, capturing perfectly the progression of inner child healing.
Simple Ways to Reconnect With Play
Rebecca offered several practical suggestions for reconnecting with our playful inner child:
- Create a playlist of love songs to sing to yourself while looking in the mirror
- Display childhood photos and make positive “I am” statements to them daily
- Try on clothes just for fun with no intention to buy
- Dance freely without worrying about “getting the moves right”
- Engage in activities you loved as a child
These practices might seem simple, but they can be profoundly healing for those of us who’ve spent years in survival mode, disconnected from joy and spontaneity.
From Survival to Thriving: My Ongoing Journey
What I appreciate most about Rebecca’s approach is her recognition that healing isn’t linear. We don’t suddenly “get fixed” and move on. Instead, healing unfolds in layers, with different aspects of ourselves coming forward to be acknowledged and integrated.
Her work with inner child healing includes several phases that resonated deeply with my experience:
- Acknowledging and welcoming back abandoned parts
- Grieving what was lost
- Expressing rage in a safe container
- Developing love and compassion for all parts
- Celebrating integration
Looking back at my own journey, I can see how I’ve moved through similar phases. There was a time when I couldn’t even identify my own needs or emotions. Like Rebecca, I had to learn to listen to my body and honor what it was telling me.
The Gift of Rest
One insight that particularly struck me was Rebecca’s reflection on tiredness. “The feminine is tired,” she noted, highlighting how many of us—especially women—have been conditioned to push through exhaustion rather than honoring our need for rest.
I’ve found in my own healing that learning to rest without guilt has been revolutionary. So many trauma response behaviors stem from believing we must constantly prove our worth through productivity and achievement.
Healing Is a Lifelong Practice
As I continue my healing journey and support others on theirs, conversations like the one with Rebecca remind me that healing isn’t a destination—it’s a practice. Each day brings opportunities to choose connection over disconnection, compassion over criticism, and play over productivity.
The tools of somatic movement therapy, inner child work, and conscious rest aren’t quick fixes, but they offer sustainable pathways to transforming trauma response behaviors into greater self-awareness and joy.
If you’re on your own healing journey, I encourage you to explore these somatic approaches alongside whatever other healing modalities resonate with you. Remember that your body carries wisdom, and learning to listen to it is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward healing.
And please remember: you don’t have to do this alone. Whether you work with a trauma-informed practitioner, join a healing community, or simply begin to validate your own experience, each step toward self-compassion matters.
Are you ready to explore somatic approaches to healing? I’d love to hear about your experiences or answer any questions you might have. Connect with me to continue the conversation.