PTSD: Breathing Through Trauma: How Somatic Breathwork Helps Break Through PTSD

Living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can feel like carrying an invisible weight, a constant echo of past events that impacts every aspect of life. Traditional therapies often focus on cognitive processing, but at SomaYama® BREATH, we understand that trauma isn't just in the mind; it's deeply held within the body. This is where Somatic Breathwork offers a powerful path to true breakthrough.

The Body Remembers: Trauma's Physical Imprint

When we experience trauma, our nervous system instinctively activates "fight, flight, or freeze" responses. If these natural responses are interrupted or incomplete, the intense energy and survival instincts can become "stuck" in the body, leading to a dysregulated nervous system. This can manifest as persistent hypervigilance, anxiety, emotional numbness, flashbacks, and other debilitating PTSD symptoms.

Research highlights how trauma alters our physiological responses, affecting sensory processing and keeping the body in a state of chronic alarm. Studies show that individuals with PTSD often exhibit difficulties with sensory modulation, leading to hyper- or hypo-responsivity to stimuli, which can result in frequent states of overwhelm or detachment [1, 4]. This "brain-body disconnect" is a key area where somatic approaches can make a profound difference.

Somatic Breathwork: A Body-Centered Approach to Healing

Somatic Breathwork is a therapeutic practice that utilizes specific breathing patterns to gently unlock and release these trapped energies and emotions from the body. Unlike traditional talk therapy that primarily focuses on recounting traumatic events, somatic approaches work directly with the body's sensations, which are often considered the carriers of traumatic memory [3].

The process often involves:

• Accelerated Breath Patterns: Techniques like conscious connected breathing, which involve continuous, rapid, and full inhales and exhales without pause, can activate the sympathetic nervous system in a controlled environment. This can bring unprocessed traumatic and stressful situations back to the surface, allowing for their safe release and integration [2, 7]. This initial activation is followed by periods of integration and calm, helping to complete the trauma cycle.

  
  

• Somatic Awareness: Clients are gently guided to notice and track subtle bodily sensations (interoception and proprioception) without judgment. This increased awareness helps to discharge residual tension and activation [5].

  
  

• Titration and Pacing: A core principle in trauma-informed somatic work is "titration" – working with small, manageable increments of traumatic material. This prevents re-traumatization and allows for safe, gradual processing, fostering new, corrective physical and emotional experiences [3].

  
  

The Breakthrough: Evidence-Backed Benefits for PTSD

While more extensive research is continually emerging, preliminary studies and clinical observations strongly support the effectiveness of somatic breathwork and related somatic therapies for PTSD:

• Symptom Reduction: A 2017 randomized controlled trial on Somatic Experiencing (a closely related body-oriented trauma therapy) showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and and depression severity in participants [3]. Another scoping review from 2021 found preliminary evidence that somatic experiencing effectively treats PTSD-related symptoms [6]. Breathing-based meditation practices, including those with accelerated phases, have also shown promising results in reducing PTSD symptoms in veterans [8].

  
  

• Nervous System Regulation: Accelerated breathwork, while initially activating, can ultimately lead to profound nervous system regulation. By intentionally engaging the sympathetic nervous system, followed by periods of rest, the body learns to complete the stress response cycle, leading to improved Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and enhanced parasympathetic (rest and digest) activity. This is crucial for individuals with PTSD, whose autonomic nervous systems are often dysregulated [2, 5].

  
  

• Processing Repressed Memories: Some accelerated breathwork techniques can help individuals access and process deeply buried memories and emotional layers, leading to resolution and a deeper understanding of their experiences by bypassing the conscious mind and accessing the limbic system where trauma is stored [2, 7].

  
  

• Increased Resilience: By working with the body's innate capacity for self-regulation, somatic practices help build resilience, enabling individuals to better manage stress and trauma impacts [4].

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Your Path to Healing with SomaYama® BREATH

At SomaYama® BREATH, Norm and Toni Poulsen are Certified Practitioners and Teachers of the SomaYama® Trauma Informed Somatic Breathwork method. We know firsthand the profound power of this work because we've experienced its healing benefits ourselves. Our mission is to guide you in finding the same peace and breakthroughs we've found, helping you unlock the potential within.

If you're ready to break free from the grip of PTSD and step into a life of greater calm, clarity, and connection, Somatic Breathwork may be your next step.

Ready to start your breakthrough journey?

Visit SomaYamaBREATH.com to learn more about our 1-on-1 and group sessions (in-person or online), and discover how SomaYama® BREATH can support your healing.

References:

[1] INTEGRIS Health. (2024, October 28). Somatic Therapy: Signs Your Body Is Releasing Trauma. Integris Health. Retrieved from https://integrishealth.org/resources/on-your-health/2024/october/somatic-therapy-signs-your-body-is-releasing-trauma

[2] Breathless Expeditions. (2023, April 1). Breathwork for Trauma & PTSD. Retrieved from https://breathlessexpeditions.com/breathwork-for-trauma-and-ptsd/

[3] Leitch, M. L., Thompson, L., & Sinha, V. (2017). Somatic Experiencing for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(4), 390-398. Retrieved from https://traumahealing.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Somatic-Experiencing-for-Posttraumatic-Stress-Disonder-2017.pdf

[4] Harricharan, S., et al. (2022). The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 1015749. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.1015749/full

[5] Charlie Health. (2023, November 10). Somatic Breathwork. Retrieved from https://www.charliehealth.com/post/somatic-breathwork

[6] Ogden, P., & Minton, K. (2000). Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(1), 1-13. (While this specific article wasn't directly in the search results, it's a foundational text in sensorimotor approaches which underpin much of somatic therapy and its application to PTSD). Correction: Used search result data for source 6: Rintala, M., et al. (2021). A Scoping Review of Somatic Experiencing for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14), 7480. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8276649/

[7] Othership. (2021, October 17). Breathwork for Healing Trauma: 3 Popular Techniques + Benefits. Retrieved from https://www.othership.us/resources/breathwork-for-healing-trauma

[8] Seppälä, E. M., et al. (2014). Breathing-Based Meditation Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27(4), 397–404. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4309518/