From Frozen to Free: Reconnecting with Your Body After Betrayal and Trauma

Healing Takes Place from the Inside Out

After betrayal, abuse, or emotional pain, it’s common to feel frozen—disconnected not only from others, but from yourself. Especially from your body.

Trauma isn’t just something that lives in your mind. It lives in your nervous system, your muscles, your breath. If you’ve felt emotionally shut down, chronically tense, or numb, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken—your body is protecting you.

But healing requires more than processing our pain mentally. We also have to reconnect with the body—because that’s where the trauma lives.

Why Trauma Disconnects Us from Our Bodies

Dr. David Grand, the creator of Brainspotting therapy, explains:

“When the body is under threat, we contract physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Expansion Brainspotting fast-forwards the Expansion necessary to heal our clients. As they expand physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, they heal.”

When we’ve been betrayed, abused, or emotionally violated, we instinctively contract. We hold our breath, tighten up, and eventually disconnect from our emotions and body sensations entirely. This is a survival mechanism—but it can leave us stuck long after the threat is gone.

That’s why so many trauma survivors experience:

• Chronic muscle tension

• Anxiety or numbness

• Brain fog or fatigue

• Physical pain with no clear cause

Just like the body contracted in response to trauma, healing begins by creating space to expand again.

3 Gentle Ways to Reconnect with Your Body

Rebuilding your connection to your body doesn’t need to be overwhelming. These small, consistent practices can begin to shift your nervous system from survival to healing.

1. Breathe with Awareness

Start with your breath. Inhale deeply through your nose, exhale slowly through your mouth. Just notice what you feel. Are you holding tension? Do you feel disconnected? Awareness is the first, most powerful step toward healing.

2. Move with Intention

Your body has carried so much. Offer it gentle movement. A slow walk, a light stretch, or simply placing your hand over your heart. These small acts tell your nervous system: You’re safe now.

3. Listen to Body Sensations

Throughout your day, check in. Where do you feel tightness? What happens in your body when you feel anxious or overwhelmed? Learning to read these cues helps you identify where trauma is stored—and where healing is needed.

What Is Brainspotting—and Why It Works for Trauma

While breathwork and mindfulness are essential, deeper trauma often requires deeper work. That’s where Brainspotting therapy can be life-changing.

Brainspotting is a cutting-edge, body-based therapy designed to help release trauma from where it’s stored in the brain and body. Unlike traditional talk therapy, Brainspotting bypasses the thinking mind and works directly with the nervous system.

This allows the body to process and release emotional pain—often without needing to rehash or relive traumatic memories.

Benefits of Brainspotting for Betrayal Trauma:

• Releases trauma stored in the body

• Restores emotional regulation and calm

• Helps rebuild trust in your own body

• Reduces anxiety, overwhelm, and internal chaos

If you’ve felt stuck or disconnected for a long time, this approach may offer the release your body has been waiting for.

Are You Ready to Feel Whole Again?

If you’ve been feeling heavy, stuck in the past, or like part of you is missing—your body may be holding onto trauma that’s ready to be released.

Healing is possible. You don’t need to figure it all out. You just need the right support, the right tools, and the right space to begin.

Whether you’re just starting your healing journey or looking for the next layer of transformation, reconnecting with your body is a powerful step toward freedom.

💖 Additional Support for Your Healing Journey

Explore trauma-informed programs, tools, and support designed specifically for women healing from betrayal, emotional abuse, or loss:

• Believing In You Coaching Membership – Ongoing trauma-informed coaching and support

• Should I Stay or Go – Self-Paced Course – For women questioning their relationship

• Intimacy Within – Self-Paced Course – Healing sexual and emotional intimacy after betrayal

• Divorce Q&A – Free Monthly Session – Ask questions, find clarity, connect with community

• Dating From Within Program – Heal before reentering relationships

• Abuse Recovery Coaching – One-on-one support tailored to your healing journey

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Final Thoughts

Your healing doesn't have to wait for the “perfect” moment. It begins the moment you decide to come home to your body—and trust that it's safe to heal.

You are not broken. You are thawing. You are expanding.
And you don’t have to do it alone.

With love and belief in your healing,
XO,
Amie