When trauma enters our lives, it doesn’t just affect our minds – it takes up residence in our bodies. As a breathwork practitioner with over two decades of experience and a background in counseling psychology, I’ve witnessed countless individuals struggle to make progress through talk therapy alone, only to experience profound breakthroughs when they finally addressed the physical dimension of their trauma.
The truth many of us in mental health are now embracing is this: trauma isn’t just stored in our memories and thoughts – it lives in our tissues, our nervous systems, and our very breath patterns.
Why Trauma Remains in the Body After Talk Therapy
Traditional approaches to trauma often focus exclusively on cognitive processing – understanding what happened, reframing negative thoughts, and developing coping strategies. These approaches are valuable, but they miss something crucial: trauma fundamentally disrupts our physiological state.
When we experience trauma, our bodies enter survival mode. Our nervous system shifts into a heightened state of alertness – the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. For many trauma survivors, this state becomes chronic. Their bodies remain on high alert long after the danger has passed, leading to symptoms like anxiety, hypervigilance, sleep disturbances, and emotional reactivity.
Talk therapy can help us understand these responses intellectually, but it often can’t reach the deeper, non-verbal parts of our brain where these trauma responses originate. This is where somatic (body-based) approaches like breathwork become essential.
The Gateway to the Subconscious
Breathwork provides a direct pathway to parts of ourselves that remain inaccessible through conversation alone. When we consciously alter our breathing patterns, something remarkable happens – we bypass the logical, analytical mind and connect directly with the autonomic nervous system.
This matters tremendously for trauma healing because:
- Breath directly affects our physiological state. By changing how we breathe, we can shift from a stress response to a relaxation response within minutes.
- Conscious breathing brings awareness to sensation. Many trauma survivors have disconnected from bodily sensations as a protective mechanism. Breathwork gently reconnects them with their physical experience.
- The breath serves as an anchor to the present moment. Trauma often keeps us trapped in the past. Focusing on your breath pulls you back to the present, where healing happens.
In my practice, I’ve observed that breathwork accesses subconscious material that clients weren’t aware was impacting them. Memories, insights, and emotions that had been suppressed often surface during breathwork sessions, allowing for processing and integration that wasn’t possible before.
The Science: Why Breathwork Creates Immediate Physiological Shifts
The efficacy of breathwork isn’t just anecdotal – it’s backed by neuroscience. Research has shown that controlled breathing practices can:
- Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (our “rest and digest” mode)
- Reduce levels of stress hormones like cortisol
- Increase heart rate variability, an indicator of emotional resilience
- Release tension held in the diaphragm and other areas where trauma is stored
- Improve oxygen flow to the brain, enhancing cognitive function
These physiological changes create a foundation for healing that talk therapy alone simply cannot provide. When the body feels safe, the mind can begin to process traumatic material without becoming overwhelmed.
My Journey: From Anxiety to Healing Through Breath
My path to breathwork began in college when I was struggling with debilitating anxiety and an eating disorder. On the surface, I appeared to be a typical student, but internally, I was in constant turmoil.
Traditional therapy helped me understand the roots of my anxiety, but knowledge alone didn’t stop the panic attacks or the persistent feeling that something was wrong. It wasn’t until I stumbled into a breathwork class at a local yoga studio that I experienced a profound shift.
During that first session, I felt a peace I’d been searching for my entire life. The practice allowed me to access and release emotions that I had been carrying for years. For the first time, I felt present in my body rather than at war with it.
This experience was so transformative that it became my life’s work. Over the past 24 years, I’ve witnessed similar breakthroughs with hundreds of clients who had tried numerous therapeutic approaches without success.
A Simple Practice to Try at Home
While the most profound breathwork experiences often occur in facilitated sessions, there’s a simple practice you can try at home to experience the calming effects of conscious breathing:
The 4-7-8 Breath for Nervous System Regulation:
- Find a comfortable seated position with your spine straight but not rigid.
- Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge behind your upper front teeth.
- Exhale completely through your mouth, making a gentle whooshing sound.
- Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a count of 4.
- Hold your breath for a count of 7.
- Exhale completely through your mouth to a count of 8, making the whooshing sound.
- Repeat this cycle 3-4 times initially, then work up to more repetitions as you become more comfortable with the practice.
This practice activates the parasympathetic nervous system, creating a relaxation response within minutes. It’s beneficial during moments of anxiety or when feeling triggered.
Beyond Coping: Creating Lasting Transformation
What sets breathwork apart from many trauma interventions is that it goes beyond teaching coping skills. While coping strategies are valuable, they often address symptoms rather than root causes.
Breathwork facilitates true transformation by:
- Releasing stored trauma energy from the body. Trauma creates constriction and tension in our systems. Breathwork helps discharge this energy that’s been locked in the tissues.
- Reconnecting mind, body, and spirit. Trauma often causes fragmentation – a disconnection between thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Breathwork helps restore integration.
- Creating new neural pathways. Regular breathwork practice helps the nervous system learn that it’s safe to relax and develop new responses to triggers.
- Empowering self-regulation. Unlike approaches that depend on a therapist’s presence, breathwork offers tools that can be used anywhere, at any time.
The result is not just feeling better temporarily, but fundamentally transforming how we respond to stress and challenging emotions. Over time, many find that their baseline state shifts from anxiety and reactivity to greater presence and peace.
Integrating Breathwork with Traditional Approaches
Breathwork isn’t meant to replace traditional trauma treatment approaches – it enhances them. The most effective trauma healing often combines:
- Talk therapy for cognitive understanding and processing
- Somatic practices like breathwork for physiological regulation
- Mindfulness techniques for developing present-moment awareness
- Community support for connection and validation
When these elements work together, healing can occur on all levels – mind, body, and spirit.
A Path Forward
If you’re struggling with the effects of trauma, consider adding breathwork to your healing journey. Start with simple practices, like the one described above, or seek out a qualified breathwork practitioner who specializes in trauma recovery. Many now offer both in-person and virtual sessions.
Remember that healing isn’t a linear process, and finding the right combination of approaches often takes time. Be gentle with yourself in the process, and know that each breath is an opportunity to come home to yourself a little more fully.
With every inhale, we take in new life and possibilities. With every exhale, we release what no longer serves us. In this continuous rhythm, we find our way back to wholeness – one breath at a time.
Photo Credits
Photos are from Canva
Guest Author Bio
Alyse Bacine
Alyse Bacine, CEO of Alyse Breathes, is a Breathwork and Trauma expert with 24 years of experience and a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. She worked as a school counselor for a decade in the Philadelphia School District, where she implemented meditation programs for students. Alyse combines clinical mental health expertise with somatic healing approaches to address trauma at the level of mind, body, and energy. Her work has been featured in Oprah Magazine and Well+Good. Alyse specializes in helping individuals transform trauma through precise, targeted breathwork techniques that create lasting change rather than temporary relief.
Connect with Alyse: Instagram – Facebook
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