Shiatsu blog: Is Your Body Holding Trauma? It’s Not What You Think

If You Have Persistent Pain or Anxiety, Your Nervous System May Be Asking for Help

One of the questions I am most often asked by new shiatsu clients is: “Why does my body get like this?”

For years my answer was simple: “Life.” Followed by: “Stress is stored in the body.”

Many people don’t believe they are stressed, and here lies the issue. When you don’t consciously process situations and instead push through, the body stores the emotions and experiences until it feels safe enough to revisit them. What isn’t expressed becomes embedded.

Now, with a deeper understanding of how the nervous system works, I give a more informed answer: nervous system dysregulation caused by continued trauma – however small.

This is a holistic perspective on trauma, chronic stress, and how they are held in the body. I’ll also share how shiatsu and other gentle body-based therapies can help calm your nervous system so you feel happier, healthier and are more resilient in daily life.

Find out in this shiatsu blog: Is your body holding trauma?

What Is Trauma? A Nervous System Perspective

Trauma is not defined by the size or shape of an event. It is defined by how your nervous system responds to it.

If your body does not have enough time, space and safety – and safety is crucial – to recover after a stressful event, the nervous system response becomes embedded. It becomes physical as well as emotional.

Over time, this can show up in ways that don’t immediately seem connected to “trauma” at all. More noticeably your inability to regulate your nervous system tells over time; the window for regulation shrinks. Swinging from a Hypo- to Hyper- nervous state keeps you in this cycle but with a few minutes of daily nervous system hygiene you can increase your tolerance of situations and maintain a balanced state.

Is Your Body holding Trauma? Physical Signs it maybe

• Tight shoulders

• Persistent lower back pain

• Gut health issues or unexplained stomach discomfort

• Chest tension and shallow breathing

• Waking in the early hours regularly

• Feeling exhausted even after sleeping

• Tired but wired at bedtime

• Autoimmune conditions

• Chronic pain that doesn’t respond to medication

Emotional Signs of Nervous System Dysregulation

• Numbness

• Feeling easily overwhelmed

• A quick temper, especially if it feels out of character

These are not weaknesses. They are survival responses. This is trauma speaking through the body.

 

Big Trauma: When the Body Remembers

There are obvious forms of trauma we all recognise, but sometimes the impact still surprises us.

One January day, shortly after a house move, I was rear-ended while driving. I was already tired and on my way to the garage to have my brakes changed. Thankfully I was leaving long stopping distances, which saved me from something far worse. My car was written off by an SUV that accelerated into the back of me as I was braking.

Physically, I experienced whiplash and ongoing shoulder and arm problems. Osteopathy helped relieve the immediate effects. What surprised me were the emotional responses that emerged later.

Driving at night and seeing headlights in the distance would send what felt like ice water down my spine. I also experienced explosive anger that felt completely unlike me. I sought out a Shiatsu practitioner specialising in car crash trauma, and within a couple of sessions the symptoms resolved.

At the time, I felt it was dealt with – and largely, it was. Yet over a decade later, as I continue learning about nervous system regulation, I can see how that experience linked into a wider pattern. Trauma is rarely a single isolated moment; it connects into our existing capacity and resilience.

Everyday Trauma: The Slow Accumulation of Stress

Not all trauma is dramatic. In fact, for many of us it is the slow accumulation of everyday stress that wears us down.

Ongoing pressures, responsibility, emotional labour, lack of rest, or years of putting others first can gradually dysregulate the nervous system. If you've had to 'walk on egg shells' in relationships for years - this is one of the biggest dysregulators. If you find yourself ruminating for hours, replaying situations and searching for better solutions long after the event, this too is your nervous system at work.

You may look back and think, “I used to handle much bigger stresses than this – what’s happened to me?”

As stress accumulates physically in the body, there comes a point when it simply cannot take any more. Trauma is just as physical as it is emotional.

There can also be shame in admitting you’re struggling, particularly if you’ve always been the strong one – the reliable one, the “rock”. When you’ve carried others for years, reaching capacity can feel like failure. It isn’t. It is physiology.

Your subconscious mind is incredibly powerful at protecting you. It is designed to handle acute stress and release it soon afterwards. Modern life, however, has shifted many of us into chronic, long-term stress. When this continues for decades, it becomes detrimental.

Trauma is just as physical as it is emotional

Calming a Dysregulated Nervous System

Healing is not about force, nor about pretending something didn’t happen. If your mind avoids, your body remembers. If you try to force release, your body may resist. Trauma is not defined by the event; it is defined by what your nervous system is reacting to.

Compassion is essential. Create space. Notice how you show up in your reactions, your emotions and even your breathing patterns.

This is where Shiatsu has been profoundly beneficial in my own life and in my practice.

I began receiving cranial osteopathy over 30 years ago for lower back and pelvic issues, and I stayed because I simply felt calmer and more robust. It helped me cope with life. Later, I discovered Shiatsu, which deepened my understanding of the body–mind connection.

Over three decades into this journey, I know how difficult it can be to “notice how you show up” without support. Unless you are exceptionally skilled at journalling and self-reflection, it is challenging to navigate this alone.

As a Shiatsu practitioner, I bring not only professional training but lived experience. I have walked the path, done the work and continue to do so. The clients who stay with me long term are those who want to understand the body–mind relationship, not simply eliminate a symptom. Those who ask, “How many sessions will it take to fix my shoulder?” often move on quickly – but true healing is rarely that transactional.

 

 

How to Reset Your Nervous System Naturally

You can begin calming your nervous system through small, daily habits. These are gentle resets that tell your body:

• I am safe.

• I can relax.

• I am healing.

• I can sleep.

  
  

Simple practices include:

• Conscious breathing

• Grounding practices

• Gentle, safe movement

• Pausing regularly to prevent overwhelm

• Saying no to recognised stressors

• Slowing the pace of life

• Addressing sleep issues

• Compassionate bodywork

  
  

These small shifts accumulate. You are not broken; you are reconnecting with your healthy self.

Body-Based Activities That Support Nervous System Regulation

Gentle therapies can help your nervous system register safety again:

• Yin Yoga (Restorative Yoga)

• Yoga Nidra

• One-to-one breathwork

• Somatic therapy

• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)

• Qi Gong

• Shiatsu

You do not need to be flexible to engage in these practices. Trauma often creates physical rigidity. Gentleness restores flow.

Flexibility is subjective. A client may feel deeply relaxed while I still perceive areas of restriction. What matters most is how you feel. Only you truly know your internal shifts.

Why You May Feel Worse Before You Feel Better

When you begin healing, old feelings or pains can surface. As energetics shift, what was buried may re-emerge to be processed. This can be uncomfortable, but it is not a setback; it is progress.

Your body finally feels safe enough to release what it has been holding.

Knowing this can prevent self-criticism. Create space. Draw on supportive tools and experienced practitioners.

This capacity to process safely is what healing feels like.

Why Healing the Nervous System Relieves So Many Ailments

Your nervous system is fundamentally a threat-detection system. When it is in overdrive, it prepares your body for fight or flight. That preparation involves your muscles, digestion, hormones, sleep cycles and immune system.

These are ancient survival responses – once necessary for escaping predators – but now activated by emails, responsibilities and unresolved emotional strain.

When you calm the nervous system, you interrupt this cycle. Overthinking reduces. Muscular tension softens. Sleep improves. Digestion settles. Mood stabilises.

This is why nervous system regulation can support:

• Tension headaches

• Chronic fatigue

• Mood swings

• Sleep disturbances

• Digestive issues

• Overwhelm and anxiety

• Even conditions such as endometriosis and autoimmune disorders

Gentle Bodywork for Deeper Breathing and True Relaxation

Choose bodywork that naturally shifts your breath. In Chinese medicine terms, this is a yin approach – supportive rather than forceful.

I would not recommend dynamic group breathwork if you suspect trauma is present. Intense breathing cycles with loud music can create change, but they force it – a yang therapy. Shiatsu works differently.

In Shiatsu, change emerges organically. A deep sigh signals the parasympathetic nervous system – your rest-and-digest mode – coming online.

You can experiment gently at home. Sit quietly and curl your toes twenty times. Notice the speed. Do you begin quickly and naturally slow down? Observe your breath. Do your shoulders drop?

Another helpful practice before sleep is gently clenching and releasing muscle groups in turn. The release signals safety. When your body feels safe, sleep follows more easily.

 

The Power of Shiatsu Therapy for Nervous System Healing

Shiatsu is nurturing and one-to-one. It offers a safe space for your body to let go with support.

Unlike a standard massage, Shiatsu takes your emotional state into account. I listen to what your body communicates and work at a pace that feels comfortable to you.

Your stomach may gurgle. A muscle may twitch. You may notice tenderness you weren’t aware of. We explore these sensations gently until relief comes. Limbs feel heavier. Breath deepens. Tension dissolves.

Healing is not about pushing yourself; it is about allowing the space for positive change.

Emotional pain often manifests physically. Through compassionate therapeutic touch, soft stretching and attentive presence, Shiatsu supports your body in releasing what it has been holding; provided relief.

When the nervous system feels safe again, calm is not something you force. It becomes something you return to naturally.

Contact Andrea to find out if shiatsu is right for you or visit the treatments page.

Additional content provided by Neurotoned.com

Further reading:

Waking the Tiger - Healing Trauma - Dr Peter Levine

The Body Keeps The Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk

About Andrea at Shiatsu Bodyworks Cheltenham

Andrea is a qualified zen shiatsu and chinese medicine practitioner with over 20 years immersed in holistic therapies and the energetics of mind and body. Based in Cheltenham, UK she offers in house clinic and online shiatsu sessions to help people with midlife health issues and also offers online consultations as she is a menopause specialist too.

Ready for a treatment? Book in here! 

Shiatsu: Gentle Bodywork to help your body work better