How Somatic Therapy Helps Release Racial Trauma Stored in the Body

By Maria Diaz, LMHC-D, LPC, EMDR Certified Therapist

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Understanding the Connection Between Racial Trauma and the Body

Racial trauma is both deeply personal and collective. For many people of color, the pain of racism—whether through discrimination, microaggressions, or systemic inequities—doesn’t just live in the mind; it lingers in the body. Tight shoulders, racing thoughts, or chronic fatigue can all be signs of the body carrying stress that words alone can’t release.

Somatic therapy offers a compassionate and effective way to heal from this embodied pain. It bridges the gap between mind and body, helping individuals gently release tension, rebuild safety, and reconnect with themselves.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach that recognizes how trauma lives in the nervous system. When faced with repeated experiences of racism or exclusion, the body often moves into survival mode—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

If these stress responses never fully resolve, they can become “stuck” in the body, showing up as chronic tension, emotional numbness, or anxiety.

Somatic therapy helps individuals notice and release these patterns through:

• Breathwork and mindful awareness

• Grounding exercises to anchor the body in safety

• Gentle movement and body scanning to explore sensations

• Therapeutic presence to process emotions that words can’t express

These techniques help the body complete the healing process that may have been interrupted by trauma.

How Racial Trauma Manifests in the Body

Racial trauma doesn’t come from one moment—it often builds from a lifetime of experiences that signal “you are not safe.”

Being followed in a store, hearing racial slurs, seeing violence against one’s community, or navigating daily microaggressions all create stress responses. Over time, the body may remain on alert—tensed, guarded, and prepared for harm.

Even when the immediate threat is gone, the nervous system may continue to send danger signals. This can lead to physical symptoms like:

• Muscle tightness or pain

• Difficulty sleeping or relaxing

• Feeling disconnected from the body

• Heightened anxiety or irritability

Somatic therapy helps re-teach the body that it can be safe again.

How Somatic Therapy Supports Healing Racial Trauma

1. Reconnecting with the Body

Many who experience racial trauma learn to disconnect as a form of self-protection. Somatic therapy gently restores this connection by inviting clients to notice their breath, heartbeat, and sensations without judgment. This builds body awareness and begins to restore trust in oneself.

2. Rebuilding Safety

Living in a world that constantly triggers racial stress can make the body feel unsafe. Somatic therapy slows down the nervous system, helping individuals learn to regulate their responses. Therapists guide clients through grounding exercises that remind the body it can rest, even after long periods of vigilance.

3. Releasing Stored Emotions

Racial trauma carries emotional weight—anger, sadness, grief, fear—that often gets trapped in the body. Through breath, movement, or mindful presence, clients can safely allow these emotions to surface and move through. Shaking, sighing, or crying can be the body’s natural way of releasing what it no longer needs to hold.

4. Cultivating Empowerment

As clients begin to notice and regulate their body’s signals, they gain a sense of control and empowerment. This self-awareness becomes a foundation for confidence, resilience, and self-compassion.

Healing Beyond the Individual: Generational and Collective Impact

Racial trauma is often passed down across generations through family stories, silence, and survival patterns. Somatic therapy helps break these cycles by providing a space to process inherited fear and grief.

When one person heals through the body, it can ripple outward—helping families and communities find collective grounding, voice, and empowerment. Healing the body becomes a form of reclaiming identity, safety, and belonging.

Bringing Somatic Healing into Everyday Life

Somatic healing doesn’t stop in therapy—it continues through intentional daily practices.

Try integrating these small steps:

• Take slow, deep breaths before responding to stress.

• Check in with your body throughout the day: “What do I need right now?”

• Move—stretch, dance, walk, or breathe—when you feel tension.

• Spend time in environments that feel safe and nurturing.

These moments remind the body that it is worthy of rest and peace.

Final Thoughts

Racial trauma lives not only in our memories but also in our bodies. While traditional talk therapy helps us name and understand experiences, somatic therapy helps us feel and release them.

By reconnecting to the body with compassion and awareness, individuals can move from merely surviving to truly healing—restoring safety, presence, and wholeness.

Healing racial trauma is not just an act of self-care; it’s an act of liberation. And it begins by listening to what the body has been trying to say all along.

About the Author

Maria Diaz is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in NY, NJ, and CT. She's certified in EMDR and trained in trauma-focused modalities. She is focused on healing and providing compassionate treatment to best support clients looking to feel better.

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