Conquering Trauma by Building a Stronger Body

Trauma is a very serious issue that affects a large portion of the population. In Australia, it’s estimated that 57% to 75% of adults experience some traumatic event in their lifetime, with around 5.6% percent of them actually developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result.

In the United States, the statistics paint an even bleaker picture. An estimated 90% of American adults experience some traumatic event in their lifetime, and an estimated 7% to 8% of adults develop PTSD.

Of particular concern to women is the finding that they’re two to three times more likely than men to develop PTSD following trauma.

Either way, the effects of trauma on a person can be profound and debilitating. It can shape your thoughts, your emotions, your relationships with others, and even how you inhabit your own body. Not to mention your very outlook on life itself.

Trauma isn’t just something that happens to you – it’s something that happens inside you.

For most women who’ve experienced abuse, violence, or betrayal, the effects of trauma usually linger long after the threat has passed.

When trauma leads to PTSD, these effects can become even more deeply rooted and life-altering. Understanding these impacts is an important step in reclaiming your power and beginning the healing process.

It’s also important to bear in mind that no two traumatic situations are the same. And because we’re all individuals, no two responses to trauma are the same. There’s no right or wrong way to be affected by or react to trauma.

Importantly, there’s no shame in being afflicted by trauma. It’s not a sign of weakness. Just like any physical injury, your body needs time and treatment to recover.

Psychological Impact

At its core, trauma is a shattered sense of your physical, emotional, and/or psychological safety. It feels like, and essentially is, a profound violation.

And when you experience something as overwhelming or as threatening as trauma that you can’t fully process, your mind does what it must to survive. It fragments, shuts down, dissociates, or rewires itself to stay safe by being alert to any further danger.

Women suffering a traumatic response or PTSD can often experience a number of different psychological effects, such as:

These psychological impacts don’t indicate weakness or some character flaw. They’re simply by-products of the brain’s survival system doing what it was designed to do.

When trauma becomes chronic or unprocessed however, this survival system can stay “stuck,” leaving a woman feeling trapped in survival mode long after any danger is gone.

Emotional Effects

Emotionally, trauma can result in strong feelings of numbness, overwhelm, and isolation.

Many women feel either too much emotion, particularly panic, anger, or grief, or feel nothing at all. Emotional numbness is very common following trauma, as the body learns to shut down feelings to avoid pain.

Other emotional symptoms of trauma and PTSD include:

These emotional struggles can lead women to disconnect from friends and family, withdraw from intimacy, or hide their pain behind masks of perfection, strength, or self-sufficiency.

Physical Effects

The physical effects of trauma on the body are very commonly overlooked. Science confirms what many survivors already know however, which is that trauma isn’t just stored in the memory, but also in the nervous system and the muscles.

Trauma and PTSD can cause very physical symptoms, such as:

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the brain, which is the body’s central stress response system, becomes sensitised with exposure to trauma. This activates the body’s “fight-or-flight” mode and increases its production of the stress hormone cortisol, among others.

In many cases, when someone is exposed to trauma their HPA axis can remain stuck in survival mode after the stressor has been removed, leading to chronic symptoms such as those listed above, as well as other adverse effects over time.

Additionally, chronically high levels of cortisol can be very harmful, and lead to increased risk of health issues such as heart disease.

The physical and emotional pain of trauma can also make it hard to cope, leading to unhealthy behaviours like smoking, drinking alcohol, and abusing prescription drugs. Although these may feel like they help in the short term, they can also cause numbing of the emotions and prolonging of the trauma’s impact on your body and mind.

This is why traditional therapy, which is the first-line treatment for trauma and PTSD, may not always be enough. Complete healing often requires reconnecting with your body, retraining your nervous system, and rebuilding physical and emotional safety from the ground up.

Treatment for Trauma

Surviving trauma isn’t the end of your story. Healing and recovery are possible.

With the right support, care and treatment, you can rewire your brain, restore your emotional balance, and rebuild a loving, powerful relationship with yourself and your body.

The effects of trauma and PTSD are normally treated with psychotherapy, sometimes combined with medications such as antidepressants to target symptoms of associated anxiety disorders and/or depression.

Mental health professions will generally concede that there isn’t one type of therapy that fits every situation or sufferer, however. Each person’s trauma is unique. Each has its own symptoms, and its own set of psychological, biological, physiological, and neurological needs and reactions.

Oftentimes, the right fit of therapist can be just as important, if not more so, than the specific type of therapy used.

Among the most commonly used types of therapy are:

Although getting immediate and effective professional treatment for trauma or PTSD is extremely important, as I mentioned a moment ago, it unfortunately isn’t always enough.

To allow yourself to heal more quickly and more completely, directly addressing the physical and emotional fallout, in addition to therapy, can be very valuable.

Rising From the Ashes

I’ve always believed that whenever we face a major challenge or setback in life, we have four choices as to how to deal with it:

My philosophy is that all of life’s challenges can be and should be growing experiences. They’re not meant to just be endured as quickly and painlessly as possible, and then forgotten about and put behind us.

To go through a tough ordeal in life and not make the most of it to improve ourselves in some way is a wasted opportunity.

This is the mindset that I’ve held in recovering from two severe major depressive episodes in my life. Events like these are always life-changing. And I’ve done my best to make them change my life in the most positive ways.

Those of you who know me will be aware that I come from a fitness background. So it should come as no surprise that I believe physical fitness can play an invaluable role in recovering from the impact of trauma and rebuilding yourself into a stronger, more capable version of yourself.

The aim, however, isn’t just to “get fit”. Nor is it simply a way to occupy your mind with something engaging and productive.

There are actually six key objectives that need to be targeted in a post-trauma fitness program to help promote your complete recovery:

Here, then, is my 6-step plan for recovering from trauma through a physical activity and fitness program:

Step 1 – Start From Where You Are: Reconnect With Your Body

Below is a collection of simple exercises that you may find helpful to reconnect with your body and with life. Feel free to modify these or even find other similar exercises to suit your preferences.

Pairing the exercises with journaling or voice memos will help you track emotional and physical responses, and allow you to rebuild trust in yourself day by day.

Grounding Techniques

Sensory Grounding – Use your senses to bring yourself into the present moment, by identifying 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

This helps calms the nervous system and bring awareness back to your body and surroundings.

Barefoot Grounding – Stand or walk barefoot on natural surfaces like grass, sand, or soil. Focus on the sensation of the ground beneath you, including its texture, its temperature, and its hardness or softness. Feel your weight pressing downward and the earth holding you up.

Seated Swaying or Rocking – Sit on a chair or cross-legged on the ground. Gently sway your upper body from side to side or rock slightly forward and backward.

This rhythmic motion helps self-soothe and reconnect with bodily movement in a safe, calming way. It’s especially helpful when feeling anxious.

Targeted Muscle Relaxation – Tense and release one muscle group in your body at a time, working from your feet up to your face. For example, tense your feet for 5 seconds, then release; tense your calves for 5 seconds, then release. Continue upward.

This helps re-establish a sense of control and ownership over your physical body.

“Safe Space” Visualisation – Close your eyes and breathe deeply and purposefully. As you inhale, imagine drawing in calm, safety, and light. As you exhale, imagine releasing tension, fear, and darkness. Visualise yourself in a safe, comforting place, such as a beach, a forest, or a cosy room. Let your breathing and imagination work together to bring you peace and tranquility.

Mindfulness – There are plenty of online resources and books that can guide you through mindfulness exercises to help you redevelop mental focus and tranquility, and to help suppress worrying or ruminative thoughts. These help keep your attention in the “here and now”, and away from your painful past or uncertain future.

Meditation – Again, there are a multitude of online resources and books to help you achieve relaxation and mental tranquility using meditative techniques.

Breathing Exercises

Paced Breathing – Follow this structured breathing technique to regulate stress: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 1 second, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 1 second. Repeat this cycle for 5 to 10 minutes. Focus on the rhythm and feel of your breath moving in and out of your body.

You can alter the timings of the four phases to suit your preference, however try to maintain approximately six breaths per minute (10 seconds per cycle).

There are several different paced breathing apps available to help guide you through this exercise.

Anchoring Touch – Place one hand on your heart and one on your stomach. Take slow, deep breaths, and feel the rise and fall beneath your palms.

This physical touch helps you feel safe and “at home” in your body.

Vagal Humming – Breathe deeply and purposefully, gently humming or chanting (like “mmm” or “om”) as you exhale. Feel the vibration in your chest and throat.

Humming activates the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in calming the body. This exercise helps regulate your nervous system and build awareness of internal sensations.

Gentle Movement

Step 2 – Find a Comfortable and Empowering Training Space

Your training environment is very important – it needs to allow you to feel totally comfortable and safe. You can either start at home, or if you feel confident enough, venture into a gym.

Here are some important tips to help you get started in a suitable training space:

Step 3 – Start Building Strength with a Trauma-Sensitive Approach

A trauma-sensitive training approach is slow, steady, and empowering. There’s no hurry and no need to feel as though you have to start pushing your limits right away. Start with small steps, and feel things out as you go.

Here are some helpful tips for getting started:

Step 4 – Fuel and Restore Your Body

Trauma can be highly disruptive to a number of your body’s processes and functions, including eating and sleep patterns. Rebuilding strength starts with restoring these back to health. Without proper food and sleep, building strength would be impossible and you would never feel truly whole and healthy.

Here are some key pointers for managing your nutrition and rest during your trauma recovery:

Step 5 – Build Physical and Mental Strength Through Movement

As you grow stronger physically, you’ll also grow mentally tougher. The two go hand in hand.

It’s important to understand, however, that building a stronger body has nothing to do with “beast mode”, punishing workouts, or burning calories to feel worthy. True strength after trauma is about nurturing your body and reclaiming ownership.

There’s sometimes an image among women who work out of the stereotypical “alpha female” – the tough, aggressive woman whose very presence intimidates those around her. This is just a facade, however. And it isn’t something you need to aspire to, or even acknowledge.

The very act of showing up each day to rebuild and take back control inch by inch itself makes you alpha. Your journey in coming back from the physical, mental and emotional devastation of trauma demands more strength and courage than virtually everyone else in the gym.

Remember, yours is a different kind of fitness journey. It’s one where every rep of every workout is an act of self-respect, self-love, and resilience. It’s not about image, and it’s not about proving anything to anyone.

Here are some of the major benefits of building a stronger body as part of your trauma recovery:

Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is most often associated with the idea of strictness, and of forcing yourself to do that which you don’t want to do. There’s another side to self-discipline, however. One that’s far more attractive and empowering.

It’s important to remember though, that building self-discipline post trauma will be a very slow process. And that’s okay.

Until you’re well and truly ready, it’s vital that you take your time and be nice to yourself. The last thing you need is to jump from one miserable situation into another. So in the beginning, just showing up for your training, whenever you can, is enough.

Each time you show up will be a win.

That doesn’t mean that each time you don’t show up, you’ve failed. It just means that the next win will be tomorrow. Or the next day.

Like I said, it’s a slow process.

As you get physically and mentally stronger over time, so too will your discipline. You’ll start to expect more from yourself, because you’ll notice that you’re capable of more. You’ll start showing up even when motivation fades.

That’s when you’ll start to feel the empowering side of self-discipline.

Being self-disciplined isn’t about living a life of deprivation or harshness. It’s actually about freedom.

The fact is, most people don’t know freedom. They’re prisoners – of their addictions, of comfort, and of laziness. Their everyday life choices aren’t their own. They’re decisions made for them by these masters.

They indulge in things not because they choose to, but because they simply can’t refuse. They don’t have the strength or the willpower. And in doing so their self-esteem slowly but surely erodes.

You don’t want that.

As your self-discipline grows, you’ll enjoy a greater level of not just freedom, but also of self-confidence and self-pride. And you’ll find that the rewards of these empowering feelings far outweigh whatever effort it takes to maintain your disciplined mindset.

But as I mentioned, this will take time following trauma. Don’t rush things, they will come.

Mental Toughness and Resilience

This one is something that will develop later on in your journey, once the spectre of trauma has been dealt with.

When most people think of working out, they think predominantly about the physical benefits, such as building a stronger, fitter body and having more energy. One of the most powerful and sometimes overlooked benefits of working out however, is the transformation it creates in the mind.

For women rebuilding their lives after trauma, loss, or hardship, physical training becomes far more than just a workout. It becomes both a form of therapy and a method of developing mental toughness and resilience.

One thing that fitness teaches you is that you can’t always rely on motivation. It fades. Some days you’ll feel strong, and other days you won’t feel like getting out of bed.

But through the discipline you develop and showing up anyway, it creates a powerful internal message that you follow through on what you say you’ll do. This teaches you that you can count on yourself, even when life is hard or your emotions are heavy.

Physical training also teaches you how to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”. Whether it’s the pain of working through a tough set, or the focus needed to maintain your form, you learn how to breathe through difficult moments without giving in or running from them.

This carries over into other areas of your life. The more you train your body to endure challenge without panic or shutdown, the more your mind follows. You become more adaptable and harder to shake.

Over time, as you train consistently, especially when no one is watching, applauding, or validating you, you start to develop a warrior mindset. You stop relying on external approval and instead begin to draw strength from within yourself.

You learn how to keep going, how to stay focused, how to handle setbacks without collapsing. Resilience doesn’t mean never feeling weak or overwhelmed. It means knowing you can feel those things and keep moving forward anyway. Because you’ve done it before and can do it again.

Emotional Regulation

Physical movement and exercise also play a powerful role in regulating your emotions, especially when healing from trauma or experiencing emotional overwhelm.

Exercise increases the production of endorphins and other mood-stabilising chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, which naturally elevate your mood and reduce feelings of depression or emotional heaviness. It also provides a sense of rhythm, structure, and control in your life, which are essential for grounding and restoring an inner balance.

Physical training therefore helps you to overcome frustration, sadness, anger and other negative emotions by channelling them into movement.

Self-trust

Working out on a regular basis, and the associated structure it creates in your lifestyle, helps you to learn that your body and your mind will show up for you again and again. You’ll gain a sense that they’re both well and truly on your side.

This helps build a feeling of self-confidence and self-trust, which are important components of healing from trauma.

Step 6 – Celebrate Your Progress and Reward Yourself

Forget about what the social media fitness influencers say about progress. As someone recovering from trauma, for you a win might be being able to lift your child more easily, sleeping better after a workout, walking with better posture, or feeling proud in your own skin for the first time in years.

It’s important to remember that your progress is personal to you, and shouldn’t be compared to anyone else’s. No one else is on your journey.

So track your progress in a way that feels authentic and meaningful to you. Use journals, photos, videos, and notes to yourself.

Celebrate every small breakthrough, and create a ritual out of celebrating and rewarding yourself when achieving milestones.

Rewards can be simple. For example, a day of spa therapy, a fancy restaurant meal, a meaningful gift to yourself, a new outfit, new shoes, a trip away, and so on.

A well-chosen reward should make you feel good both when actually experiencing it and afterwards. The examples I listed above fit this bill.

A reward such as going on an alcohol-fuelled bender, on the other hand, may seem like a lot of fun at the time, but will most likely leave you feeling ashamed and disappointed in yourself the next day. This can potentially put a dent in your emotional recovery progress.

So choose wisely.

But if you do screw up, that’s okay. Learn from your choices and try to do better next time. There will always be ups and downs in your journey, that’s life. As long as you keep going and keep doing your best, you’re doing it right.

And remember, there’s no finish line here. Strength isn’t a destination, it’s a way of living. And as someone healing from trauma, you’re already living it.

The Role of Physical Training in Trauma Recovery

Many women who’ve experienced trauma or abuse find themselves disconnected from their own bodies, and carrying tension, fear, shame, or numbness. For them, physical strength isn’t about aesthetics or gym culture. It’s about reclaiming control, restoring safety, and rebuilding confidence from the inside out.

Trauma often makes you feel like your body has betrayed you or been taken from you. Training turns the tables. It helps you feel strong, grounded, and in charge of your physical space. That sense of control translates into your entire life, by how you carry yourself, how you think and speak, and what you believe you deserve.

Trauma is a devastating thing, and can be very difficult to heal from. It makes sense, therefore, to take advantage of every available tool to help in your recovery.

Physical exercise is one such tool. And it’s a powerful one.

It’s important to remember though that building a strong body isn’t a substitute for therapy or other forms of professional help. Use it as an add-on, to allow yourself a more complete recovery and to move you beyond what you can achieve through therapy alone.

Discuss physical exercise with your therapist, and start implementing it when you’re ready, under her guidance.

And finally, bear in mind that some women recovering from trauma report feeling emotionally overwhelmed during or after workouts. This is normal. Physical movement can unlock old pain, but it also unlocks new power.

Let it come. Let it move through you. And know that you’re healing day by day.