Trauma doesn’t always wear a dramatic face. It doesn’t have to be a catastrophic event to leave a lasting impact on your body. In fact, the subtler forms—like a childhood of emotional neglect or a toxic relationship—can be just as powerful.
“People will gaslight themselves and say, ‘Others have had it worse,’” says Cole. “But they don’t realize what it did to their mitochondria, to their nervous system, to their inflammation levels.”
That’s the part we don’t talk about enough: how trauma doesn’t just live in the mind. It nests itself in your biology, influencing everything from your energy levels to your immune response. Think of it like static in your body—low-level background noise that never quite fades until you give it attention.
So, how do you start healing?
- Begin by acknowledging what you’ve experienced without minimizing it.
- Explore somatic practices (like breathwork, body-based therapy, or even movement modalities like trauma-informed yoga).
- Consider working with a trauma-informed therapist to help you safely process what you’ve stored away.
The first step isn’t fixing it all overnight—it’s noticing it’s there. Awareness is healing in itself.
