News — symptoms of stored trauma

It’s important to understand how stress affects your hormones. When you're stressed, your body produces more cortisol. While cortisol is necessary for your bodies during stress, too much can harm your sleep. Research shows that high cortisol can reduce REM sleep and increase awakenings during the night. This means you might wake up more often and not feel rested. Additionally, high cortisol levels can take resources away from hormones like estrogen and progesterone, which can worsen mood.  High cortisol levels can disrupt your sleep Chronic stress disrupt your body’s natural sleep cycle. If cortisol levels stay high at night, it becomes harder to...

How Stress Can Keep You in Survival Mode The flight response is one of the body's natural reactions to stress, and while it's useful in dangerous situations, prolonged activation can leave lasting effects on your body and mind. The constant feeling of wanting to escape or avoid triggers is a clear sign that your nervous system is stuck in survival mode. Let’s explore the nature of this response, the reasons behind it, and how you can begin your healing journey using somatic exercises. Signs of Flight Mode Many people experience symptoms of the flight response without recognizing it as part...

When life feels overwhelming and you find yourself struggling to move forward, it’s natural to wonder whether you’re dealing with depression or something else entirely... One possibility is that you might be in a functional freeze state, a condition that shares some similarities with depression but is rooted in different causes. Understanding the difference between these two states is essential for identifying the right support and healing approach.  What is Functional Freeze State? A functional freeze state is a survival response to long-term stress or unresolved trauma where the body and mind become “frozen,” unable to fully relax or engage...

Stress is a normal part of life, but when it becomes chronic, it can take a toll on your body and mind. You might feel overwhelmed and think it's just the way life is, but there are signs your body gives you when it's experiencing too much stress. Recognizing these signs is the first step toward healing and finding balance. The Cycle of Stress: How It Shows Up in Your Body               Excessive stress can manifest in a variety of ways, often mimicking other conditions. Some of the most common signs of too much...

Feeling like menopause and perimenopause have turned life into an emotional roller coaster? You’re not imagining things! These phases of life bring a range of symptoms that often overlap with those caused by high cortisol levels (that’s your stress hormone in action).  So if you're experiencing fatigue, mood swings, sleep issues, weight gain, anxiety — it can feel like a never-ending cycle where stress from one makes the other worse. When estrogen and progesterone levels start to fluctuate or decline, your body’s ability to regulate cortisol takes a hit, making even minor stress feel overwhelming. The result is a loop of...