You Are Not Broken: How Trauma Affects the Body and How We Can Heal

For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. I felt anxious all the time, like I was stuck in overdrive. Other times, I felt numb, like I was watching my life from the outside. No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t safe.

Then, I learned the truth—it wasn’t my fault. Trauma, especially in childhood, can shape how we react to stress in ways we don’t even realize. Some of us become hyper-alert, always bracing for the worst. Others shut down, feeling disconnected from ourselves and the world. These are not personality flaws, not weaknesses—just survival responses.

Research by Dr. Bruce Perry and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study shows how early trauma changes the brain and body. But here’s the most important part: healing is possible. With the right tools, our brains and bodies can learn new patterns—ones that bring calm, connection, and safety.

You are not broken. You are not alone. And you are safe here.

Understanding Trauma and the Stress Response

When we go through trauma, our nervous system learns to protect us—sometimes by keeping us on edge, sometimes by shutting us down. It’s exhausting, but there’s a way to regain control.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) supported by biofeedback has helped me—and so many others—retrain our stress response.

CBT teaches us to notice our automatic reactions to stress and replace them with healthier responses. Biofeedback takes it a step further by giving us real-time insight into our body’s signals, like heart rate and breathing patterns.

With a biofeedback tool, I can see how my body responds to stress and practice skills—like deep breathing or grounding—to calm my system. Over time, this helps rebuild self-awareness, making it easier to respond instead of react.

Healing isn’t about just coping—it’s about feeling safe again, feeling in control, and learning how to regulate my emotions.

Finding the Right Support

I know that reaching out to a doctor or therapist can feel overwhelming. I’ve been there. But it’s one of the most important steps in healing. Professional support is essential—what we do here together doesn’t replace that, it supports it.

This space is a safe place to practice self-awareness, explore regulation techniques, and get to know our hearts and minds through biofeedback. By monitoring and tracking our heart rate data, we can see our body’s patterns and begin to shift toward balance.

Taking Your First Step

Once you have the Rewire app on your mobile device, turn on your heart rate monitor and select the hart beat tool. Let’s start by taking our baseline heart rate measurement—our personal starting point for growth, awareness, and resilience.