Part 3: Breaking the Distress Cycle: How Survival Styles Show Up in the Body

Vicki Johnson Author

Shifting the Question: Not “What’s wrong with me?” but “What happened to me?”

That shift changes everything. Trauma isn’t just a story in your head....it’s stored in your body. And that’s why even long after the danger is over, your body may still be bracing as if it needs to survive.

Trauma, the Body & ACEs

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study showed that early adversity doesn’t just shape emotional health, it wires into our biology. Higher ACE scores correlate with increased risks for heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, and even shortened lifespan.

Why? Because when stress and trauma are stored in the body, the nervous system stays stuck in survival mode. That dysregulation impacts everything from immune function to metabolism.

Dr. Bruce Perry reminds us that kids “aren’t born self-regulating, they borrow our nervous systems until they can regulate on their own.” When that process is disrupted, children adapt. Those adaptations get wired into muscle tone, posture, and breath.

Bracing Patterns: The Body’s Hidden Survival Maps

One of the ways the body holds trauma is through bracing patterns, unconscious muscular contractions designed to protect us from overwhelming sensations and emotions (Apigian, Biology of Trauma).

Think of bracing as the body’s way of saying: “That’s too much. I’ll hold it down here so you can survive.”

Some common bracing patterns:

• Shoulder/Neck Bracing → shoulders lift, collarbones tighten, neck collapses back. This shuts down vagus nerve signaling, numbs sensations from the heart and gut, and makes deep breathing harder.

• Back Bracing → deep muscles tighten around the spine and ribs, keeping the arms closer in, protecting the heart. This decreases blood supply, reduces flexibility, and keeps the body “ready” for threat.

• Hip Bracing → psoas and abdominal muscles flex, pulling knees up to protect the belly. This can begin even in utero, when the environment doesn’t feel safe.

Each of these patterns has one big cost: reduced breath and movement. Less oxygen, less flow, more freeze.

How This Shows Up in Daily Life

Bracing patterns aren’t abstract — they show up in real, everyday ways:

• Chronic tension in shoulders/neck

• Headaches or jaw pain

• Recurring sports/joint injuries

• Digestive issues or “gut shutdown”

• Chronic fatigue or adrenal burnout

• Weight struggles or metabolic syndrome

These aren’t random. They’re the body’s survival strategies — evidence of resilience, but also signs of stuck trauma.

Hypertonicity & Hypotonicity: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Survival styles show up in the body in two broad ways (Heller & LaPierre, Healing Developmental Trauma):

• Hypertonicity → chronic bracing, muscular tension, rigidity.

• Hypotonicity → collapse, weakness, areas of disconnection.

Both patterns tell a story: where we had to armor up, and where we had to shut down.

Somatic Roadmap: Awareness Without the Story

Here’s the good news: we don’t have to analyze or rehash every painful memory to heal. Somatic work gives us a "map," a way to notice what’s happening in the body without attaching to the story.

From my free training (3 Reset Tools), here are simple practices to start:

1. Grounding → Feel your feet on the floor. Notice how the ground supports you.

2. Orienting → Gently let your eyes wander the room. Remind your body it’s safe here and now.

3. Breath Reset → Place a hand on your chest or belly. Exhale fully, then let the inhale come naturally — no forcing.

These micro-resets tell your nervous system: It’s safe to soften. You don’t have to brace right now.

Breaking the Distress Cycle

Shame says: “I’m broken.”
The body says: “I’m braced.”
Building resilience says: “I adapted....and I can learn a new way.”

As Born to Love reminds us, emotional attunement and co-regulation are what first wire safety into the brain. When those weren’t available, we adapted through survival styles. Building resilience is about restoring those connections — to body, to self, to others.

It’s not about blaming the adaptations. It’s about noticing where we brace, soften, or collapse… and inviting the body back into flow.

Key Takeaway

Your body tells the story of what happened — not to shame you, but to guide you toward healing. Recognizing bracing patterns and survival styles gives us a compassionate map: not what’s “wrong” with us, but how brilliantly we adapted. And that means we can begin to restore connection, regulation, and aliveness.

Call to Action

➡️ Missed Part 1 and 2? Catch up here:

• Part 1: Rethinking Transference in Trauma Work

• Part 2: Why Kids Push Away What They Need Most — Survival Styles

➡️ Join my free mini training: 3 Reset Tools to Bring Your Nervous System Back Online
➡️Enroll in the mini course:When You’ve Lost Your Spark: Why You’re So Tired, Foggy, and Anxious.

References

Heller, L., & LaPierre, A. (2012). Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship. North Atlantic Books.

Perry, B. D. (2006). The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog. Basic Books.

Apigian, A. (Host). Biology of Trauma Podcast. Episode: Survival Mechanisms: Early Trauma & Breathing — What to Do.

Fraiberg, S., Adelson, E., & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the Nursery. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14(3), 387–421.

Categories: : ACEs, Attachment, Bonding, Resilience, Stress, Trauma