Exercise can play a powerful role in trauma recovery — not just for physical health, but for emotional regulation, nervous system balance, and rebuilding a sense of safety and connection with the body. Many trauma survivors become disconnected from their physical selves, experiencing either numbness or hyperarousal (like anxiety, panic, tension). Movement can help bridge that gap.
Here are some of the most beneficial exercises for trauma recovery, based on neuroscience, somatic psychology, and trauma-informed practices:
🌿 1. Walking in Nature (Mindful Walking)
Why it helps:
- Regulates the nervous system through rhythmic movement.
- Activates the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest”).
- Connects you to the present moment and your surroundings, which is grounding.
- Nature exposure lowers cortisol and inflammation.
How to do it: Walk slowly and mindfully. Feel your feet touch the earth. Look around. Use your senses — notice the sounds, smells, colors. Try walking barefoot on grass (earthing) for even deeper grounding.
🧘♀️ 2. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TSY)
Why it helps:
- Encourages interoception (awareness of internal body sensations).
- Empowers choice — a key in healing from trauma, where control was often taken away.
- Helps re-establish trust and safety in the body.
Important note: Not all yoga is helpful for trauma. Trauma-sensitive yoga avoids touch, emphasizes agency (“you can choose what feels right”), and creates a safe, predictable space.
🐎 3. Somatic Movement (like Feldenkrais or gentle Qigong)
Why it helps:
- Encourages slow, conscious movement that reconnects you to bodily sensations.
- Helps rewire the brain-body connection in a way that’s gentle and safe.
- Builds neural pathways for calm, presence, and embodiment.
Somatic exercises often begin with lying down or seated, focusing on micro-movements and breath. They are deeply regulating.
🕺 4. Dancing (Freeform, Ecstatic, or 5Rhythms)
Why it helps:
- Expresses emotions that may be trapped in the body.
- Allows joy, grief, anger, and freedom to emerge in a non-verbal way.
- Helps integrate both hemispheres of the brain.
- Builds rhythm and embodiment.
Tips: Start alone in a safe space. Put on music that matches your emotional state. Let your body move how it wants — no choreography, no judgment. Just release.
🚶 5. TRE (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises)
Why it helps:
- Developed by Dr. David Berceli to help the body naturally release deep muscular patterns of stress and trauma.
- Uses simple exercises to elicit neurogenic tremors (shaking) — a natural discharge of tension.
- Can be deeply calming after practice.
Caution: Should ideally be learned with a certified TRE practitioner, especially if you’re new to trauma work.
🧠 6. Bilateral Movement (e.g., cross-crawl, drumming, swimming, dancing)
Why it helps:
- Stimulates both sides of the brain and integrates trauma stored in different regions.
- Mimics the brain’s processing in REM sleep (like EMDR).
- Promotes coordination, balance, and a sense of control.
Examples: Walking while gently tapping alternating shoulders, crawling, or even swimming.
🌬️ 7. Breath + Movement Practices (e.g., gentle breathwork, yoga flows)
Why it helps:
- The breath is a direct access point to the vagus nerve.
- Paired with movement, it becomes a way to feel safe while inhabiting your body.
- Grounding breath (like deep belly breathing or box breathing) while doing slow stretches can be deeply therapeutic.
💪 8. Strength Training or Martial Arts (when ready)
Why it helps:
- Rebuilds a sense of strength, empowerment, and self-trust.
- Helps reclaim a sense of control over the body.
- Martial arts like tai chi or aikido can be both meditative and empowering.
Caution: Only when you feel emotionally stable enough — some survivors might be triggered by high-intensity exercise initially.
🌊 Honorable Mentions:
- Swimming or floating – provides sensory regulation, deep pressure, and a feeling of being held.
- Rebounding on a mini trampoline – encourages lymphatic flow and is joyful, light, and playful.
- Animal-assisted movement (e.g., horseback riding therapy) – helps co-regulate the nervous system with another living being.
💡 A Final Word:
Not all movement feels safe at first. Trauma survivors often experience body flashbacks, dissociation, or anxiety when attempting new movement. That’s okay. Start small. Even swaying gently while seated can be profound.
The goal is not “fitness” — it’s feeling. Feeling safe. Feeling connected. Feeling alive.
