Understanding Trauma Storage in the Fascia and Psoas:
Trauma isn’t just an emotional or mental experience—it also imprints itself physically within our bodies. One of the key areas where trauma can store is in the fascia, the connective tissue that envelops every muscle, bone, and organ. Fascia is incredibly sensitive and can contract or thicken in response to trauma, leading to chronic pain or tension.
The psoas muscle, often referred to as the “muscle of the soul,” plays a significant role in this process. Unlike other muscles, the psoas doesn’t have a rigid structure or traditional muscle memory. Instead, it serves as a core stabilizer, deeply connected to our fight-or-flight response. When we experience trauma, the psoas can tighten and hold onto that stress, creating a physical manifestation of unresolved emotions.
This is why releasing the psoas and working on the fascia is crucial in trauma-informed practices. By understanding and addressing the body’s role in storing trauma, we can begin to unravel these deep-seated tensions and move towards healing.
Now that you know that, let’s learn how to release cortisol levels in the body in a natural way.
How to Reduce Cortisol Levels in Your Body:
My name is Courtney Hanson. I’m a somatic healing therapist and I specialize in trauma. Today, I’m going to teach you how to reduce cortisol levels in your body. If you’re feeling stressed out, try these at home.
I’m sure you’ve heard that trauma stores within the psoas muscle of your hip, It actually can’t! The psoas muscle doesn’t have the memory or the structure to hold trauma. Trauma actually stores within the fascia of your body. So, what we’re gonna do today is we’re gonna loosen just a little bit of the hip area to open up and release that fascia. This way, you relax and drop that cortisol level in your body.
To put you more into that rest and digest into that parasympathetic of your nervous system, get on the floor grab a mat, grab a cushion (whatever you need). We’re gonna start off and just put our legs a little wider so you can start to, outwardly on your hip, feel that little gentle pull. Fingertips are gonna come towards your heels, push your chest forward, and create a space in your hips as I show you in the video below.
Next, you’re going to start to drop one knee in and then bring it up. Keep your chest nice and forward as you do this. Your hips should be in and you should be rotating them inward towards the center and outward. Repeat this back and forth motion. You’re going do this for about one to three minutes.
Part of the problem when we have high cortisol levels is that our body is usually in fight-or-flight mode. It feels like the walls are caving in on the sides of us, and we have a really hard time focusing. We have brain fog. There’s a ton of things that happen. So, we need to ground down into our body. You’re going to stand up, lift up your heels, and I want you to heavily drop them down so. You’re gonna repeat this motion for another 1-3 minutes.
Stay tuned to my Instagram for Part 2 of this series! If you need help with releasing trauma or want to learn more about Trauma Somatic Healing, feel free to learn more or schedule a session here.
