Somatic Therapy & Inflammatory Illness
A quiet moment to soften, exhale, orient, and come back to yourself.
This post is a simple, real-life guide to somatic therapy. We’ll look at how stress is different from trauma, and how your nervous system moves between three common states. We’ll look at why a body-first approach can ease inflammation, how the gut and brain “talk,” quick answers to common questions, and a 3-minute reset you can use anywhere. Take what fits, leave the rest, and go at your own pace.
A quick guide to stress, trauma, and body states
Stress vs. trauma
Stress is what happens when life asks more of us than our system can handle in the moment. It’s meant to be short-term.
Trauma isn’t what happened; it’s what gets stuck in the body after the event. It shows up as patterns in the autonomic nervous system — like we’re still bracing, even when we’re safe.
For me, getting cut off in traffic is stressful. I feel a rush of energy, my focus narrows, my breathing gets shallow, and my body tightens. Then, as the moment passes and I feel safe again, I notice tingles down my arms, my muscles soften, and my breath returns to normal. (That’s my body settling – my nervous system is coming back to a regulated state.)
If I had an unhealed trauma wound or incomplete fight, flight or freeze response stuck in my body, I might feel the same sensations – but they could be stronger, last longer, and harder to shake. I might replay the incident in my mind, call a friend or two, have a bad dream, or even stop driving. Even though the moment ended and I’m safe now, my body is still activated. In the wild, animals will naturally tremble and shake after a threat; that movement helps the nervous system complete the fight / flight / freeze response. In our culture, we’re told to “move on” or “get over it,” so we stuff it down instead of moving the energy through. The incomplete survival response stays in our body, and our nervous system keeps acting like danger is still here.
As we heal these old wounds and help the body complete what it started, we spend less time in stress states and more time in a regulated state, which is restorative and supports health. Stress is part of life, but it’s meant to be temporary. If it feels constant, that’s a signal to offer those unhealed places some care.
Subtle wounds count too
It’s not only the big, obvious events that leave a mark. Subtler wounds like emotional neglect, misattunement, chronic criticism, walking on eggshells, or feeling unseen can also keep your body on alert. When care is inconsistent, we learn to brace, scan for danger, and push feelings down. Over time, those habits show up somatically as tension, numbness, hypervigilance, shutdown, or trouble settling after everyday stress. The good news is that our bodies can relearn how to feel safe, and we can spend more time in a calm, regulated state.
Nervous system states at a glance
Ventral is the regulated state where we rest, digest, connect, thrive, and flow.
Dorsal is a disregulated state when we’re in a freeze, shut down, or we feel foggy, numb, or collapsed.
Sympathetic is the other disregulated state when we’re in fight or flight, revved up, ready to mobilize.
Fight, flight, freeze are normal survival responses. The trouble comes when the response doesn’t get to finish and our body keeps acting like danger is still here.
Quick Q&A
What is Somatic Therapy?
It is body-based counselling. You learn to notice what your body is doing – breath, posture, tension, urges – and how to settle it. In other words, you learn to recognize what state your nervous system is in, and how to bring it back to a regulated state. We work in small, safe steps to complete stuck survival responses, rebuild a felt sense of safety, and widen your capacity to move between states. It’s gentle, practical, and focused on the present moment.
Why is Somatic Therapy relevant to inflammatory illness?
Because your nervous system state drives your body’s chemistry. When the nervous system spends more time in disregulated states, stress hormones and neural-immune pathways can bias the body toward inflammation. Somatic work intentionally builds regulated states associated with lower stress hormones and reduced inflammation.
When your body spends more time in a regulated state, stress hormones settle, sleep and digestion improve, and your immune system is less triggered. Somatic skills help you spend more time there.
Why is Somatic Therapy so central to unresolved stress and trauma?
Unresolved trauma lives in the body as nervous system patterns: tension, numbness, startle, hypervigilance, collapse. Talking helps, but your system also needs new body experiences to recognize safety, shake off activation, set boundaries, and rest. Somatic work gives you those experiences, slowly and safely.
How can body-based practices support hormonal health?
We use simple things that signal “I’m safe” to the body: longer exhales, gentle orienting: looking around the room, slow, rhythmic, bi-lateral movement, co-regulation with a calm, attuned person. These cues activate a regulated nervous system state, which steadies the stress-hormone system over time.
How does Somatic Therapy help heal the gut-brain axis?
The gut-brain axis is the two-way communication line between your digestive system and your brain. They’re constantly talking, and what happens in one affects the other.
When we’re in fight, flight or freeze, the body slows digestion down (less stomach acid, slowed motility, tighter muscles). Over time, that can mean bloating, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, food sensitivities, and more inflammation. Somatic practices shift you toward a regulated state, so digestion turns back on and your body digests, absorbs, and eliminates better. Less time in fight, flight or freeze means fewer inflammatory stress chemicals in your body. Pair that with good nutrition and herbal medicines and you get a stronger, steadier gut-brain axis.
Can Somatic Therapy improve nutritional status?
Yes, when you’re less revved-up or shut down, you:
notice real hunger and fullness signals,
Tend to choose healthier foods, and
Digest, absorb and eliminate better.
How do you integrate Somatic Therapy with herbal medicine and natural wellness?
To put it very simply:
Somatic therapy helps calm the body so herbs can work.
Herbs support the body so somatic work can go deeper.
Regular nutritious meals, movement, time in nature, quality sleep, and having a supportive community are all going to support healing.
What does “trauma release” look like in the body?
It often shows up as small, organic shifts: sighs, deeper breaths, yawns, waves of warmth or coolness, tingles, soft shaking, tears, a sense of dropping into the chair. After a release, people often feel clearer, a sense of relief, lighter or heavier in a good way, or more present. It’s not usually dramatic, it’s your body finishing something it started.
How long before someone sees results?
Many people notice small shifts in the first session. Could be a deep breath of release or feeling less tension. Bigger changes build with concistency and good pacing. Aim for a steady practice, not perfection. This isn’t a one-and-done, magic pill modality.
Can someone do this work on their own, or do they need a practitioner?
Both help. A trained therapist brings co-regulation, attunement, safety, pacing and relational repair which is especially important with developmental or relational trauma. But using daily self-regulating practices between sessions will be very beneficial.
What’s the most important takeaway about Somatic Therapy and inflammatory illness?
Your nervous system state drives your biology. By shifting the body from chronic disregulation to a regulated state of safety and connection, we can reduce stress chemistry, support immune balance, improve sleep and mood, and open the door for nutrition and herbal strategies to work better.
Practice to try: Soften – Exhale – Orient 3-minute reset
Soften: place your hand on your chest (or belly) and feel the contact for 60–90 seconds.
Exhale slowly 6 times (let the exhale be a bit longer than the inhale).
Orient: slowly take a 360° look around the space you are in and name 3 safe, ordinary things you see.
You are giving your nervous system the cues that you are safe enough here and now, in this present moment. This brings you back to a regulated state. You can do this before meals, after a challenging interaction, and at bedtime.
Where can you start today?
Try the 3-minute “Soften–Exhale–Orient” practice twice a day.
Check in and notice your state (regulated, fight, flight, freeze), and ask yourself what would feel helpful, what does your body need? It might be a movement, a sound, or asking for a hug …
Book a somatic therapy session or free consultation with me here.
Need herbal medicine guidance? Contact Petra Sovcov, Clinical Herbal Therapist (Doctorate in Natural Medicine) for aromatherapy, DNA/SNP insights, and tailored supplement, diet, and lifestyle support.
With thanks to Mariah Moser, Opening to Grace.
