Anxiety doesn’t just stem from your thoughts—it originates in your body. Unresolved feelings of alarm stored in your nervous system trigger anxiety. When your body stays in a state of alarm, mindset work like positive thinking won’t help. The nervous system overrides logic when it senses danger, even if the threat is gone.

Anxiety happens when your nervous system signals something’s wrong, leading to anxious thoughts and physical symptoms. To truly heal anxiety, you need to address the body’s response, not just your mind.

Small Traumas Can Have a Big Impact

Many associate trauma with major life events, but small t trauma—emotional injuries from childhood, neglect, or chronic stress—also leaves a mark on your nervous system. These experiences cause the nervous system to become hypersensitive, keeping you stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn modes.

If you don’t identify with major trauma, you could still be carrying unresolved smaller traumas, which fuel your anxiety today. The nervous system remains raw, overreacting to perceived threats, even if they’re not present.

Your Body Stores Trauma and Triggers Anxiety

The body holds onto unresolved trauma and stores it in the nervous system. When unprocessed, trauma keeps your body in survival mode. This stored alarm manifests as anxiety, long after the original event occurred. Your mind tries to rationalize the anxiety, but the root of the problem is your body’s sense of alarm. Anxiety arises when your body sends signals of danger, and your brain creates worries to explain it. To break this cycle, focus on calming the body, not just changing your thoughts.

Healing Anxiety Through Inner Child Work

Inner child work involves reconnecting with the younger version of yourself that experienced trauma or emotional pain. Often, your nervous system responds to triggers as if it’s still that child. By healing those early emotional wounds, you allow your nervous system to settle, reducing anxiety. Reassuring your inner child helps release the stored energy of trauma, so you stop living in hypervigilance. Inner child work calms the body’s alarm state, addressing the root of anxiety and allowing you to feel safe again.

Healing Begins in the Body

Anxiety stems from unresolved trauma stored in your body, not just from anxious thoughts. You can break free from the cycle of anxiety by addressing the body’s alarm state through inner child work and somatic practices. When you heal from the body up, you can finally find relief from anxiety. Start by tuning into your body’s signals, and allow yourself to heal from the inside out.

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