Introduction
Trauma is not just a psychological wound—it is a physical and biological response that, if left unresolved, can manifest as chronic stress, anxiety, and physical illness. While many trauma treatments focus on talking about the past, true healing comes from releasing the stored energy of trauma in the body.

In Waking the Tiger, Dr. Peter Levine, the creator of Somatic Experiencing, explains how trauma affects the nervous system and how survivors can heal by working with the body’s natural ability to recover. He draws insights from biology, neuroscience, and animal behavior to show that humans—like animals in the wild—have an innate capacity to heal from trauma, if given the right tools.

This blog post summarizes key insights from Waking the Tiger, focusing on how trauma gets stuck in the body, why traditional talk therapy isn’t always enough, and how somatic healing techniques can restore balance.

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How Trauma Affects the Body and Nervous System

Levine argues that trauma is not caused by the event itself, but by the body’s inability to complete the natural survival response.

The three survival responses to trauma:

1. Fight – The body prepares to fight off danger (e.g., increased heart rate, adrenaline surge).
2. Flight – The body attempts to escape the threat (e.g., running, seeking safety).
3. Freeze – If fighting or fleeing is not possible, the body shuts down and becomes immobilized.

For many trauma survivors, the fight-or-flight response is never fully completed, leaving them stuck in a state of chronic hyperarousal (anxiety, panic) or hypoarousal (numbness, depression).

Levine explains that healing requires allowing the body to release the energy that was trapped in the freeze response.

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Why Animals Don’t Develop PTSD (and What We Can Learn from Them)

Levine uses observations from animal behavior to explain how trauma can be healed.

✔ Wild animals experience life-threatening situations all the time but don’t develop PTSD.
✔ After escaping a predator, animals tremble and shake, releasing built-up survival energy.
✔ Humans, on the other hand, often suppress these instinctive reactions due to social conditioning.

For example, if a gazelle escapes a lion attack, it will tremble, shake, and then move on, as if resetting its nervous system. But humans, who are often told to “calm down” or “get over it,” may suppress these natural responses, causing trauma to become stuck in the body.

Levine argues that relearning how to complete the natural cycle of fight, flight, or tremoring is essential for healing.

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The Role of the Freeze Response in Trauma

Many survivors of abuse, assault, or accidents blame themselves for “not fighting back.” However, Levine explains that the freeze response is an automatic survival mechanism, not a choice.

✔ The body shuts down to minimize pain and increase chances of survival.
✔ After the event, this frozen energy remains in the nervous system, causing PTSD symptoms.
✔ To heal, survivors must gently release this stored energy through movement and somatic awareness.

Levine reassures survivors that they are not weak for freezing—their body was trying to protect them.

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How to Heal Trauma Using Somatic Techniques

Since trauma is stored in the body, healing must involve working directly with bodily sensations, movements, and breath.

1. Tracking Sensations

• Instead of focusing on the trauma story, survivors can pay attention to physical sensations in the body (e.g., tension, heat, tingling).
• This helps increase awareness of how trauma is stored in the nervous system.

2. Grounding Exercises

• Placing both feet on the ground and focusing on sensations helps regulate the nervous system.
• Other grounding techniques include deep breathing, self-touch, or orienting to the environment.

3. Completing the Survival Response

• Survivors can be guided to make small, gentle movements that help release frozen trauma energy.
• This could include slow stretching, trembling, or shaking—just like animals do after escaping danger.

4. Pendulation: Moving Between Safety and Discomfort

• Instead of reliving trauma all at once, survivors learn to shift between feelings of safety and trauma-related sensations in a controlled way.
• This allows the nervous system to gradually reprocess trauma without becoming overwhelmed.

5. Allowing Spontaneous Trembling or Shaking

• Shaking is the body’s natural way of releasing survival energy.
• Instead of suppressing it, survivors can learn to let their body complete its natural healing cycle.

Levine emphasizes that healing does not come from reliving the trauma but from gently reprocessing it through the body’s natural mechanisms.

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Why Traditional Talk Therapy Isn’t Always Enough

Many trauma survivors struggle with traditional cognitive-based therapy because:

• Talking about trauma can re-trigger distress without resolving it.
• The rational mind cannot override an overwhelmed nervous system.
• Verbal processing alone does not release stored trauma energy in the body.

Levine argues that trauma healing must include both cognitive (mind-based) and somatic (body-based) approaches.

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The Importance of Safe Relationships in Healing

Levine emphasizes that healing from trauma is not meant to be done alone—safe, supportive relationships are essential.

✔ Trauma isolates, but healing happens in connection with others.
✔ A safe therapist, friend, or community can help survivors regulate emotions and feel grounded.
✔ Being seen, heard, and validated is a key part of recovery.

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Key Takeaways from Waking the Tiger

1. Trauma is not just psychological—it is stored in the body and nervous system.
2. The fight, flight, or freeze response gets stuck when trauma is not fully processed.
3. Wild animals don’t develop PTSD because they naturally release survival energy—we can do the same.
4. Healing requires completing the body’s unfinished survival responses through movement, grounding, and tremoring.
5. Somatic healing (body-based therapy) is often more effective than traditional talk therapy alone.

Levine’s message is clear: You don’t have to relive trauma to heal—you just need to help your body release the energy that’s still trapped inside.

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Conclusion

Waking the Tiger is a groundbreaking book that shifts the focus of trauma healing from the mind to the body. Peter Levine provides a revolutionary perspective on PTSD and offers practical tools for releasing stored trauma, calming the nervous system, and reclaiming a sense of safety.

For anyone struggling with PTSD, chronic stress, or unresolved trauma, this book offers a new path to healing that does not rely on reliving painful memories but instead harnesses the body’s natural ability to recover.

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References

• Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma.
• Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
• Ogden, P., & Fisher, J. (2015). Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment.