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When most people think about self-care, they picture bubble baths, journaling, or a walk outside. And while those things can be genuinely nourishing, they often fall flat — or feel impossible — for people who have experienced trauma. That’s not a failure of willpower. It’s biology.
As someone training to become a trauma-informed therapist, I find myself returning to one question again and again with the people I work with: what does your body do when you feel unsafe? Not what you think, not what you tell yourself — but what your body does. That question changes everything about how we approach healing.
This guide is for anyone who wants to understand their nervous system better, build a self-care practice that actually works, and learn what trauma-informed support looks like — in your daily life and in therapy.
What Does “Trauma-Informed” Actually Mean?
The phrase gets used a lot. But in clinical practice — and in your own healing — it has a specific meaning.
Trauma-informed care starts with one core assumption: what happened to you has shaped how your body and mind respond to the world today. It doesn’t pathologize you. It doesn’t ask you to push through or think positively. Instead, it meets you exactly where you are, with curiosity and without judgment.
At Banyan, this shapes everything — from the way we greet you in session to the practices we encourage outside of it. In my own clinical work, I try to hold this constantly: meeting you exactly where you are, without rushing toward a fix. Trauma-informed self-care follows the same principle: rather than imposing a wellness routine onto a dysregulated nervous system, it starts by understanding what your nervous system actually needs.
Understanding Your Nervous System: The Foundation of Everything
Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the biological command center that regulates your sense of safety. It operates largely outside your conscious control — and for trauma survivors, it often gets stuck in patterns that made sense during the original threat, but now create suffering in everyday life. This framework draws on Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, which maps three distinct autonomic states and their role in how we respond to perceived safety and threat.
There are three key states to know:
The Ventral Vagal State (Safe and Social) This is your baseline state of regulation — where connection, curiosity, and calm live. When you’re here, you can think clearly, relate to others, and engage with the world. This is the state trauma-informed self-care is working to restore and strengthen.
The Sympathetic State (Fight or Flight) When your nervous system perceives danger — even a subtle one, like a tense email or a crowded room — it activates the sympathetic branch. Heart rate climbs, muscles tense, thoughts race. For many trauma survivors, this is a near-constant background hum.
The Dorsal Vagal State (Freeze or Shutdown) When threat feels inescapable, the nervous system can shift into a deeper protective state: collapse, disconnection, numbness, or dissociation. This isn’t weakness — it’s an ancient survival response. But it can make daily functioning feel impossibly heavy.
Understanding which state you’re in — and learning to gently move toward regulation — is at the heart of somatic regulation work.
What Is Somatic Regulation?
Somatic simply means “of the body.” Somatic regulation refers to the process of using body-based practices to shift your nervous system state — moving from dysregulation (fight, flight, or freeze) toward greater safety and ease.
This matters because trauma isn’t only stored in memory and thought. As psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Bessel van der Kolk has documented extensively, the body keeps the score. Unprocessed trauma can live in the form of chronic tension, shallow breathing, a startle response that never quiets, or a persistent sense of dread that has no clear source.
Traditional talk therapy can be profoundly helpful — and at Banyan, our therapists are trained in evidence-based approaches including EMDR, which directly targets how trauma is stored neurologically. But somatic regulation practices are something you can begin building today, in your own home, in your own body.
Trauma-Informed Self-Care Practices for Nervous System Regulation
These aren’t prescriptions. They’re invitations. Start with what feels accessible, and give yourself full permission to go slowly.
1. Orienting
One of the simplest and most powerful somatic practices, orienting involves consciously taking in your environment to signal safety to your nervous system.
Slowly let your gaze travel around the room. Notice what you see — colors, shapes, textures. Let your eyes rest on something that feels neutral or even pleasant. You might gently turn your head from side to side, the way you naturally would when checking whether it’s safe to cross the street.
This practice tells your brainstem: I’m here. I’m looking. Nothing is threatening me right now. For many people, even thirty seconds of orienting creates a subtle but real shift in their nervous system state.
2. Physiological Sigh
A 2023 randomized controlled trial from Stanford University identified what’s called the “physiological sigh” as one of the most effective real-time methods for reducing physiological stress. Led by neurobiologist Dr. Andrew Huberman and published in Cell Reports Medicine, the study found that cyclic sighing — a double inhale through the nose followed by a long, slow exhale through the mouth — outperformed mindfulness meditation for improving mood and reducing anxiety after just five minutes of daily practice.
This works because a longer exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the branch associated with rest and recovery. Two or three of these can measurably lower heart rate and reduce the feeling of urgency or panic.
3. Grounding Through the Senses (5-4-3-2-1)
When trauma responses pull you out of the present moment — into the past, into anticipatory fear, into dissociation — sensory grounding brings you back.
Notice:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can physically feel (your feet on the floor, fabric against your skin)
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
This isn’t just distraction. It’s actively recruiting your sensory system to anchor your experience in the here and now — where, most of the time, you are safe.
4. Movement as Regulation
Trauma activates the body for action. When that action is incomplete — when we freeze instead of flee, or dissociate instead of fight — the charge can stay stuck in the body. Intentional movement helps complete that cycle.
Having worked in outdoor-based settings earlier in my career, I’ve seen firsthand how much the body shifts when it’s invited into movement without pressure. This doesn’t mean intense exercise (which can actually dysregulate some trauma survivors). It might look like:
- Shaking your hands and arms, like you’re flicking off water
- Slow, gentle stretching with attention to sensation
- A short walk where you’re noticing your environment, not escaping into a podcast
- Swaying, rocking, or any rhythmic movement — which is inherently regulating for the nervous system
5. Co-Regulation: You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
One of the most important — and often overlooked — truths in nervous system science is that humans regulate each other. Research confirms that co-regulation operates at both the biological and behavioral level — and that we are wired for co-regulation before we are capable of self-regulation.
This means that safe connection with another person is itself a somatic regulation practice. A calm voice. A steady presence. Eye contact with someone who sees you without judgment.
This is part of why therapy works. And it’s part of why isolation tends to worsen trauma symptoms. If you’re in a season of life where safe relationships feel scarce, that’s worth naming — and worth bringing into the therapy room.
6. Titration: Going Slowly on Purpose
In trauma-informed work, titration means approaching difficult material in small doses rather than diving into the deep end. The same principle applies to self-care.
If a meditation practice sends you straight into overwhelming body sensations, that’s not a sign meditation is wrong for you — it may be a sign you need to start with just two minutes, or keep your eyes open, or anchor yourself with a hand on your heart first.
The goal is always enough activation to process, not so much that you’re flooded. Learning your own window of tolerance — the range in which you can be with difficult experience without shutting down or spiraling — is itself a form of healing. Practices like Wise Mind can help you develop this inner awareness over time.
What Trauma-Informed Self-Care Is Not
It’s worth naming a few things, because wellness culture can sometimes do harm in this space.
It is not about toxic positivity. Reframing your trauma as a “gift” or being told to “choose joy” is not trauma-informed. Your pain is real, and healing is not about bypassing it.
It is not another thing to do perfectly. If a self-care practice becomes a source of shame when you skip it, it has lost its purpose. Trauma-informed self-care is fundamentally compassionate — toward yourself, especially on the hard days. If shame is a persistent pattern for you, it may be worth exploring shame-focused counseling as part of your healing work.
It is not a substitute for therapy. These practices can be genuinely transformative as part of a healing journey. But complex trauma — especially from childhood, relationships, or prolonged stress — often needs more than self-directed tools. Professional support creates a container that self-care alone cannot.
When Self-Care Isn’t Enough: Signs It’s Time to Seek Support
There is no shame in reaching a place where you need more than what you can offer yourself. If you’re unsure whether what you’re experiencing warrants professional support, our guide on 7 signs you may need counseling can help you reflect. Some signs that professional trauma support may help:
- Your symptoms are interfering with work, relationships, or daily functioning
- You find yourself cycling through the same patterns despite your best efforts
- You feel disconnected from yourself or your life in ways you can’t quite name
- Self-care practices feel inaccessible, or they make things worse
- You’re using substances, food, or other behaviors to manage what you feel
These aren’t signs of failure. They’re signs that your nervous system has been carrying something too heavy for too long — and that you deserve real support. According to SAMHSA’s Trauma-Informed Care guidelines, somatic symptoms and emotional dysregulation are among the most common presentations of unresolved traumatic stress — and they respond well to professional, body-aware treatment.
Trauma-Informed Therapy in Denver: How Banyan Can Help
At Banyan Counseling Collective, we offer trauma-informed therapy in person at our Denver office and via telehealth for clients across Colorado. Our team specializes in trauma counseling, EMDR, somatic approaches, and integrative care that treats the whole person — not just the symptoms. If you’ve ever wondered whether traditional talk therapy is actually enough for what you’ve been through, our article on why high-functioning women need trauma-informed therapy explores exactly that.
I see clients at Banyan as a Master’s Level Intern, and I work especially with people who are ready to explore how their body and nervous system are part of their healing — not obstacles to it. If that resonates with you, I’d be honored to connect.
We know that reaching out is one of the hardest parts. That’s why we’ve made it simple: fill out our contact form, and a real member of our team (not an automated system) will be in touch within 24 hours on weekdays. No pressure, no commitment — just a conversation about what you need and whether we’re the right fit. You can also read our complete guide to trauma counseling in Colorado if you’d like to learn more before taking that step.
If we’re not, we’ll help you find someone who is.
About the Author: Emma Olmsted is a Master’s Level Intern at Banyan Counseling Collective, currently completing her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree at the University of Denver. Her clinical training is grounded in trauma-informed, mind-body integrated approaches, with a particular focus on somatic awareness and nervous system regulation. Emma’s prior experience spans outdoor-based therapeutic settings and child welfare systems, giving her a broad, human-centered foundation for working with individuals navigating trauma and stress. She works under the direct clinical supervision of Cait Duncan, MSW, LCSW, LAC, Co-Director and LCSW Supervisor at Banyan Counseling Collective. All clinical content Emma produces is reviewed for accuracy by Banyan’s licensed leadership team. Emma sees clients in person in Denver at a rate of $80 per 50-minute session. To reach Emma directly, email [email protected] or call 720-515-7465.
Clinical Reviewer: Cait Duncan, MSW, LCSW, LAC is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Addiction Counselor, and Co-Director of Banyan Counseling Collective in Denver, Colorado. Cait serves as an LCSW Supervisor and brings extensive clinical experience in trauma-informed care and somatic approaches to her oversight of intern-authored content.
This article was written by Emma Olmsted, MSW Intern, and clinically reviewed by Cait Duncan, MSW, LCSW, LAC. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor does it establish a therapeutic relationship. Always seek the guidance of a qualified mental health professional with questions you may have regarding a mental health condition. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
