You have been to multiple doctors. They have run tests, drawn blood, done scans. Everything comes back normal. Yet your body feels anything but normal. Your heart races for no reason. Your stomach is in knots. You have chronic headaches, tight shoulders, or mysterious pains that move around your body.
The doctors tell you it is stress or anxiety, and you should try to relax. But that feels dismissive. Your symptoms are real. They affect your daily life. You are not making this up, and “just relax” does not make it go away.
If you have been searching anxiety physical symptoms, somatic therapy Colorado, or body anxiety treatment, you are starting to understand something important. Anxiety is not just in your head. It lives in your body, and your body is trying to tell you something.
At Better Lives, Building Tribes, we understand that healing anxiety requires working with your body, not just your thoughts. This article explores how anxiety manifests physically, why traditional talk therapy sometimes is not enough, and how somatic approaches can help you feel better.
What Are Somatic Symptoms Of Anxiety?
Somatic symptoms are physical sensations that arise from emotional or psychological distress. Your nervous system is responding to perceived danger, even when there is no immediate physical threat.
Common somatic symptoms of anxiety include:
- Cardiovascular: Racing heart, palpitations, chest tightness, feeling like you might have a heart attack.
- Digestive: Nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel symptoms.
- Respiratory: Shortness of breath, feeling like you cannot get enough air, hyperventilating.
- Muscular: Chronic tension, especially in shoulders, neck, and jaw. Headaches or migraines.
- Neurological: Dizziness, lightheadedness, tingling sensations, feeling disconnected from your body.
- Fatigue: Exhaustion that does not improve with rest. Feeling physically drained all the time.
- Pain: Unexplained aches and pains that move around your body or do not have a clear medical cause.
These symptoms are not imaginary. They are your nervous system’s way of responding to stress, even when your conscious mind is not aware of feeling anxious.
Why Anxiety Lives In Your Body
Your body and mind are not separate. When you experience stress or anxiety, your body activates the fight or flight response. This is an evolutionary survival mechanism designed to protect you from danger.
Here is what happens:
- Your heart rate increases to pump more blood to your muscles.
- Your breathing quickens to get more oxygen.
- Your digestive system slows down (you do not need to digest food while running from danger).
- Your muscles tense up, preparing to fight or flee.
- Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline flood your system.
This response is helpful when you are facing actual danger. The problem is that your nervous system cannot always tell the difference between a real threat (like a bear) and a perceived threat (like a stressful email or social situation).
When you experience chronic anxiety, your body stays in a state of high alert. The fight or flight response never fully turns off. Over time, this creates physical symptoms.
Why Traditional Talk Therapy Sometimes Is Not Enough
Traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on changing thoughts and behaviors. This is incredibly helpful for many people. But for some, talking about anxiety does not relieve the physical symptoms.
Why? Because trauma and chronic stress get stored in the body, not just the mind. Your body remembers experiences that your conscious mind might not even recall.
Talking can help you understand your anxiety, but it does not always teach your nervous system that it is safe. Your body needs different tools to release the stored stress and return to a state of calm.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body centered approach to healing. Instead of only talking about your feelings, somatic therapy helps you notice and work with the sensations in your body.
The word “somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma,” meaning body. Somatic therapy recognizes that your body holds emotional information and that healing requires engaging with that information directly.
Somatic approaches might include:
- Body awareness practices: Learning to notice sensations, tension, and areas of disconnection in your body.
- Breathwork: Using specific breathing techniques to regulate your nervous system.
- Movement: Gentle movements that help release stored tension and trauma.
- Grounding techniques: Practices that help you feel present and safe in your body.
- Pendulation: Moving between states of activation and calm to build nervous system resilience.
- Tracking sensations: Following physical sensations as they shift and change during therapy sessions.
The goal is not to eliminate all anxiety. The goal is to help your nervous system become more flexible, so it can move between states of activation and calm more easily.
How Trauma Affects Your Body
Many somatic symptoms are rooted in trauma. Trauma does not just mean big, obvious events like accidents or abuse. Trauma can also include:
- Chronic stress during childhood or adolescence.
- Medical procedures or hospitalizations.
- Emotional neglect or lack of attunement from caregivers.
- Bullying, rejection, or social exclusion.
- Sudden loss or grief.
- Being in environments where you did not feel safe.
When you experience trauma, especially if it happens repeatedly or during childhood, your body learns to stay in a heightened state of alert. This is called a dysregulated nervous system.
Even after the trauma ends, your body might continue to respond as if danger is still present. This manifests as chronic physical symptoms, anxiety, hypervigilance, or difficulty relaxing.
How To Start Working With Your Body
You do not need a therapist to begin paying attention to your body. Here are some practices you can start on your own:
Practice Body Scans
Lie down or sit comfortably. Slowly bring your attention to different parts of your body, starting with your feet and moving up to your head. Notice any areas of tension, warmth, coolness, or numbness. Do not try to change anything. Just notice.
Use Your Breath
When you notice anxiety rising, try box breathing: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts. Repeat several times. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes calm.
Move Gently
Gentle movement like stretching, yoga, walking, or dancing can help release stored tension. The key is to move in ways that feel good, not push through pain or force your body.
Ground Yourself
When you feel disconnected or anxious, try grounding techniques. Feel your feet on the floor. Notice five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
Track Your Sensations
When you feel anxious, pause and notice where you feel it in your body. Is your chest tight? Is your stomach clenched? Just naming the sensation can sometimes reduce its intensity.
How Therapy Helps With Somatic Anxiety
Working with a therapist trained in somatic approaches can accelerate your healing. Therapy provides a safe space to explore what your body is holding and learn how to regulate your nervous system.
At Better Lives, Building Tribes, somatic therapy for anxiety might include:
- Nervous system education: Understanding how your body responds to stress and why you experience the symptoms you do.
- Building body awareness: Learning to notice and track sensations without becoming overwhelmed by them.
- Regulation skills: Practicing techniques that help your nervous system move from activation to calm.
- Processing stored trauma: Gently working with experiences that are held in your body, at a pace that feels safe.
- Resourcing: Building internal and external resources that help you feel safe and supported.
We offer virtual therapy for adults across Colorado, which can be helpful if leaving your home feels overwhelming when you are experiencing physical anxiety symptoms.
What Makes Somatic Therapy Different
Somatic therapy is not about analyzing why you feel anxious. It is about helping your body feel safe again. Some key differences:
- Focus on sensation, not story: You do not have to talk about every traumatic event. Sometimes, just working with the body sensations is enough.
- Slower pace: Somatic work honors your nervous system’s capacity. We do not push you into overwhelm.
- Emphasis on safety: Creating a sense of safety in your body is foundational to all other work.
- Integration of body and mind: We work with both your thoughts and your body sensations, recognizing they are interconnected.
When To Seek Medical Care
While many physical symptoms are caused by anxiety, it is important to rule out medical conditions. Seek medical evaluation if you experience:
- Chest pain, especially if accompanied by shortness of breath or radiating pain.
- Sudden, severe headaches.
- Unexplained weight loss or gain.
- Persistent digestive issues that do not improve.
- Any new or worsening symptoms.
Once medical causes have been ruled out, therapy can help you address the anxiety that is creating or worsening your symptoms.
What Healing Looks Like
Healing from somatic anxiety is not about never feeling physical sensations again. It is about:
- Your nervous system becoming more flexible and resilient.
- Being able to notice sensations without panicking about them.
- Physical symptoms decreasing in frequency and intensity.
- Feeling more present and connected to your body.
- Having tools to calm yourself when anxiety arises.
This takes time, but it is possible.
How Better Lives, Building Tribes Supports Somatic Healing
At Better Lives, Building Tribes, we integrate somatic approaches into our trauma informed, attachment focused therapy. We understand that anxiety is not just a mental experience. It lives in your body, and your body needs attention and care to heal.
Our approach includes:
- Trauma informed care: We understand how past experiences shape your nervous system today.
- Nervous system focus: We help you work with your body, not just your thoughts.
- Compassion and patience: We honor your pace and never push you beyond what feels safe.
- Practical tools: We teach you techniques you can use in daily life to regulate your nervous system.
Next Steps: Healing Anxiety In Your Body
If anxiety is showing up in your body and traditional approaches have not helped, somatic therapy might be what you need. You do not have to keep living with chronic physical symptoms.
To start somatic therapy for anxiety with Better Lives, Building Tribes:
- Visit betterlivesbuildingtribes.com/ to learn more about our trauma informed, body centered approach.
- Schedule a session with Dr. Meaghan Rice or another therapist on our team through the booking link on our site.
- Reach out via our contact form to ask questions or find out if we are a good fit for what you are experiencing.
Your body is not betraying you. It is trying to protect you. With support, you can help it feel safe again. We would be honored to walk alongside you.
