Somatic Healing and Lack of Safety

There is a critical gap in how somatic healing and nervous system regulation are often framed in healing spaces. Many dominant models of trauma and nervous system care emphasize "too much." Too much stress, too much stimulation, too much overwhelm- bypassing what manifests as "not enough." Not enough safety, not enough rest, not enough recognition, resources, or rights.

Pathologizing nervous system dysregulation can bypass embodied effects of chronic deprivation, marginalization, and erasure that arise from systemic oppression. Dysregulation can also be an intelligent, adaptive and necessary response to real ongoing harm. Hyper-vigilance, for example, is a natural and normal response to living in unsafe systems and environments, and anger and resistance are valid reactions to injustice. In these cases, "fixing" the nervous system to conform to some normative ideal of calm, or surface level resilience, can cause immense harm. Framing embodied healing to support the nervous system's capacity to respond to injustice without collapsing under its weight, and doing it in ways that are grounded in context, power, and dignity is critical.

It's important to understand that healing cannot be separated from the social, political, and historical conditions a body lives in. Safety is not always accessible and returning to "calm" is not always appropriate. Healing is relational and communal, especially for those harmed by isolation, marginalization, and structural violence. And, so called dysregulation can be resistance, protest, and wisdom, rather than dysfunction.

Trauma and overwhelm can stem from too much, and or too little, and everyone deserves a support system and care team that know the difference. Systemic oppression is chronic deprivation. And dysregulation isn't a malfunction. It's how the body says: "This is not okay.” It is the body truth telling. Healing isn't about "calming down." It's about honoring the body's wisdom while we work to change the world that harms it.