Your Nervous System Is Smarter Than Your Mind—Learn to Listen to It
Why You Still Feel Stuck, Even When You “Know Better”
You’ve done the inner work. You’ve processed your past, reflected on your patterns, maybe even spent years in therapy or spiritual practice. You understand your trauma. You know the reasons behind your triggers.
So why do you still react the same way?
“I know I’m safe now, so why do I still feel anxious?”
“I’ve worked through my past, so why does my body still tighten in certain situations?”
“I know this relationship is different, so why does my stomach clench when I get close?”
The answer is simple:
Your nervous system doesn’t follow logic. It follows memory.
Your mind might understand that things have changed. But your body? It still remembers. And it won’t let go just because you tell it to.
The Body Remembers What the Mind Tries to Forget
Babette Rothschild’s work on trauma reveals something crucial: healing isn’t just about processing the past—it’s about reconditioning the nervous system in real time.
Most people assume that if they can understand their pain, they can move past it. But trauma isn’t stored in the thinking brain—it’s stored in the body’s survival system.
Here’s how this plays out in real life:
🔹 Your breath catches in a conversation, even though no one is attacking you.
🔹 You freeze when expressing yourself, even though your words are valid.
🔹 You flinch at kindness, because somewhere in your past, love wasn’t safe.
This isn’t self-sabotage. It’s your body doing what it was wired to do—protect you.
Trauma isn’t just a story from the past. It’s an uncompleted survival response that still lives in the present.
Why You Can’t “Think” Your Way Out of Trauma
Your rational mind and your nervous system work at different speeds.
🧠 The cognitive brain (prefrontal cortex) thinks in words and reasoning.
⚡ The survival brain (limbic system and brainstem) reacts in milliseconds—before thought even forms.
By the time you realize you’re triggered, your nervous system has already activated your fight-flight-freeze response.
This is why insight alone doesn’t heal trauma. You can tell yourself, “I’m safe,” but if your body still remembers danger, you’ll feel unsafe no matter how much you try to rationalize it.
This is why nervous system work—tracking sensation, shifting breath patterns, and integrating somatic awareness—is essential.
Because you don’t heal by just changing your thoughts.
You heal by teaching your body a new experience.
How to Start Rewiring Your Nervous System
Instead of asking “Why am I still like this?”, start asking:
✔️ “What is my nervous system trying to protect me from?”
✔️ “Where do I feel this reaction in my body?”
✔️ “What happens when I slow down and track the sensation rather than fight it?”
A Simple Somatic Exercise to Try Today
1️⃣ Pause the Next Time You Feel a Triggered Response
Instead of getting lost in thought, bring your attention into your body.
2️⃣ Notice Where the Sensation Lives
Is it a tightening in your chest? A pulling in your gut? A clenching in your jaw?
3️⃣ Adjust Your Breath & Posture Gently
If you feel constricted, take one slow, deep breath into that space.
If your shoulders are tensed, let them drop just 5%—small shifts are key.
4️⃣ Give Yourself a New Somatic Experience
Press your feet firmly into the ground.
Feel the weight of your body fully supported.
Remind your nervous system: I am here. I am safe.
By making these small, real-time adjustments, you slowly recondition your nervous system to respond differently.
Final Thoughts: Your Body is Not the Enemy—It’s the Doorway
You are not broken.
You are not stuck.
Your nervous system is simply waiting for a new experience of safety.
Healing is not about forcing yourself to “get over it.”
It’s about teaching your body that it no longer needs to protect you in the same way.
Your mind can’t do that alone.
But your body?
It’s ready when you are.
