Let’s get one thing straight—stillness is not the same as safety.

If you’ve lived through trauma—especially childhood trauma, domestic violence, or long-term stress—then you’ll know that being “still” often wasn’t a peaceful experience. It was the moment before the yelling started. Before the hit came. Before someone walked out. Your body remembers that. So when life finally is quiet, your nervous system doesn’t think, “Ah, time to relax.” It thinks, “Brace for impact.”

This is why so many trauma survivors struggle with things like meditation, sitting in silence, or even lying on the couch without the TV on. Stillness can trigger anxiety, dread, or even panic attacks—because your brain learned, long ago, that stillness meant danger was coming.

This isn’t about weakness or having a “racing mind.” It’s biology. The nervous system of a trauma survivor is often stuck in fight, flight, or freeze mode. Hypervigilance becomes a survival tool. And stillness? It threatens that survival strategy.

So what’s the solution?
Not forcing calm. Not pushing yourself to “just relax.”

The first step is understanding that rest doesn’t feel safe—and that’s okay. You’re not broken. Your body is doing exactly what it was trained to do.
The work is about gently retraining your nervous system to feel safe in stillness.

Try this:

• Notice what rest feels like in your body right now.
• Is there tension? A buzzing feeling? Numbness? Racing thoughts?
• Can you bring some curiosity to that feeling instead of judgment?

Start small. One minute of stillness with gentle awareness is progress. Trauma-informed healing is about creating safety from the inside out.

If this resonates, you’re not alone. So many survivors experience this exact response—and it’s rarely talked about. But it deserves to be. Healing starts with understanding, not pressure.

So here’s your invitation:
👉 What does rest feel like in your body right now?