The Body Keeps the Score: What Trauma Research Is Telling Us.

The phrase “the body keeps the score” comes from the work of Bessel van der Kolk and is also the title of his influential book The Body Keeps the Score. It reflects a shift in how we understand psychological distress, moving beyond the idea that trauma is only held in memory or thought, and toward an understanding that it can also shape how the body and nervous system organise experience, safety, and response over time.

This does not mean the body is broken or permanently stuck. It means the body adapts. In moments of overwhelming threat or helplessness, the nervous system does what it is designed to do in order to protect us. These survival responses can be immediate and life-saving, but when they persist beyond the original context, they can influence how a person experiences stress, emotion, and connection in everyday life.

In trauma research, there is growing understanding that these experiences can affect multiple interconnected systems. The autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate states of activation and rest, may become more easily triggered into alertness or shutdown. Stress hormone systems may remain more reactive. Sleep, digestion, pain perception, and emotional regulation can all be influenced by these patterns. What we often describe as fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses are ways of making sense of these survival states. They are useful clinical frameworks, although they are not strict biological categories, and they are best understood as patterns of protection.

One of the most significant shifts in modern trauma-informed thinking is the move away from asking what is wrong with a person, toward understanding what has happened and how the body has adapted in response. This framing removes blame and opens up space for compassion. It also helps us see symptoms not as failures of regulation, but as evidence of a system that has learned to stay safe in the best way it knows how.

Alongside this evolving understanding, research into body-based and mind–body approaches has expanded. Yoga and Yoga Therapy have been increasingly studied as complementary approaches in trauma recovery. Findings from a range of studies suggest that these practices may be associated with improvements in emotional regulation, body awareness, stress reduction, and in some cases reductions in post-traumatic stress symptoms. It is important to hold this carefully, as the evidence is still developing and varies in quality and design. Yoga Therapy is not intended to replace psychological or medical care for trauma, but it is increasingly explored as a complementary approach that can support regulation, embodiment, and recovery alongside other forms of treatment.

Alongside clinical trials, qualitative research offers another important perspective. People who take part in Yoga Therapy programmes often describe experiences that go beyond physical movement. Some describe a gradual reconnection with their body after periods of numbness or overwhelm. Others describe developing a greater sense of choice, or feeling more able to notice internal signals without becoming overwhelmed by them. These are lived experiences rather than measurable clinical outcomes, but they provide meaningful insight into how such practices may be experienced.

Yoga Therapy itself is distinct from general yoga classes. It is a personalised approach that uses movement, breath, awareness, and rest practices to support individual needs. In trauma-informed settings, the emphasis is not on performance or achievement but on choice, consent, and pacing. This is particularly important because trauma can affect a person’s relationship with control, boundaries, and internal sensation. When practices are offered in a way that prioritises safety and autonomy, they may support the gradual rebuilding of trust in the body.

There is also increasing interest in neuroplasticity, the nervous system’s ability to change and adapt over time. Research suggests that repeated experiences of safety, regulation, and supportive awareness may influence how stress responses are organised. Yoga does not erase trauma, nor does it directly “rewire” the brain in a simple or linear way. Instead, it may help create conditions in which new patterns of regulation and awareness can gradually emerge.

It may also be helpful to shift the language we use around trauma itself. Rather than thinking of the body as storing trauma in a fixed way, it can be more accurate to understand the body as an adaptive system. What we sometimes experience as symptoms are often patterns of protection that developed in response to overwhelming experience. These patterns can be distressing, but they are also meaningful. They reflect survival and adaptation.

From this perspective, healing is not about returning to who we were before difficult experiences occurred. It is more about expanding our capacity to live with what has happened, while developing greater flexibility, awareness, and support in the present. Yoga Therapy for some people, can offer a gentle and embodied way of exploring that process.

Ultimately, trauma shapes the body’s patterns of protection and response, but those same systems also hold the potential for change. The body adapts, and with the right conditions, it can also learn new ways of experiencing safety, presence, and connection. For some people, Yoga Therapy becomes one way of gently supporting that possibility.

Naomi Hurst (she/her)