Guide
Your Body Remembers
Some of what we carry is not stored in thoughts. Coming back to yourself can start below the neck.
You can understand something completely and still feel it in your chest. You can know you are safe and still flinch. That is not a failure of insight. It is a sign that some of what we carry lives in the body, not just in the mind.
Bessel van der Kolk spent a career showing how hard experiences leave traces in the body: in how we breathe, how we hold ourselves, how quickly we startle. His work helped many people understand why talking alone does not always reach the places that hurt.
Gentle Ways Back
Coming back to your body does not have to be dramatic. Noticing your feet on the floor. Taking a slower breath out than in. Walking without your phone. Stretching when you wake up. Small, regular moments of paying attention are how many people begin to feel at home in themselves again.
Feeling safe in your body is not a reward for figuring everything out. It can come first.
One Thing to Try
Three times today, stop and ask: where in my body do I feel this? You do not need to fix anything. Just notice, and let the noticing be enough. If difficult memories come up strongly, slow down, and consider working with a trauma-informed professional.
Further Reading
- The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk, 2014
Written in our own words, from ideas in the work above. Michael shared these books or cites them in his own study.
This article is a general reflection, not medical or clinical advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 in the United States, or your local emergency number.