Releasing Inherited Trauma: Rewriting the Body’s Memory

Polly Behringer
Apr 14
4 min read

Trauma may be passed down, but so is the ability to heal.

While epigenetics shows us that stress can shape gene expression, it also reveals something deeply hopeful: these patterns are not fixed. The body is adaptive. The nervous system is responsive. And with the right inputs, we can begin to rewrite the signals we’ve inherited.

Healing intergenerational trauma isn’t about “fixing” yourself. It’s about creating safety where there once wasn’t any... in your body, your breath, and your daily patterns.

It's not about breaking the trauma bond of inherited trauma... It's about regulating where you are in this body to release the anchors your ancestors endured.

1. Regulate Before You Reflect

You don’t release trauma by thinking your way out of it; you release it by feeling safe enough in your body to let it move. When creating my journal workbook (to be published mid May 2026) adding in regulation as a way to move forward was big for me. I would be all in... and then burnout. I went into a sense of overwhelm after being inspired and divinely led.

Start with simple nervous system regulation:

Slow, intentional breathing (long exhales)
Grounding through your senses (touch, sound, sight)
Gentle movement (walking, stretching, rocking)

When your body feels safe, it stops signaling survival... and starts allowing release.

2. Work With the Body (Not Against It)

Trauma is not just a story; it’s stored physiology. Somatic practices help discharge what the body has been holding through holistic methods and modalities to RELEASE and RESET.

Shaking or tremoring (somatic trauma release methods like methods in my Release Reset in-person / zoom classes)
Yoga Nidra or deep rest practices
Coiling, unwinding, or intuitive movement
Isometric holds (in workouts) followed by release

These practices mimic the body’s natural stress-release cycles, completing responses that may have been interrupted generations ago.

Have you ever lifted weights and feel this rush of emotions come to the surface; not feelings of elation but trauma? I wasn't able to put it into words when I first began lifting weights. I felt emotionally weak, vulnerable... and sometimes stupid for having these feelings. I tried to hold back my tears; using that energy to force and not flow.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c04e8e_233f795853a04f3d91cbec0d5b8f738a/480p/mp4/file.mp4

When I first began lifting and trying to find my PR, what I could lift in order to measure my progress, I held back. You can see at the end of the video... this childlike look or surprise... and immediate fear I had overstepped something.

3. Interrupt the Pattern in Real Time

Inherited trauma often shows up as automatic reactions:

Overwhelm
Hypervigilance
Shutdown

Instead of judging these responses, begin to notice and pause. If you run from feelings of uncomfortableness... from feelings you mistake as abandonment or rejection... Learning how to RESPOND... even after you REACT... is key to emotional regulation and growth. All of these feelings are tied to you... somewhere in the past.

Ask yourself:

Is this reaction mine, or something I learned?
What would safety look like right now?

Even one conscious pause begins to rewrite the pattern.

4. Create New Signals of Safety

Epigenetic expression shifts based on environment. That means your daily life becomes your medicine.

Support your system with:

Consistent sleep and nourishment
Safe, supportive relationships
Time in nature
Rhythmic practices (breathwork, walking, music)

You’re not just calming your mind—you’re sending signals all the way down to your cells:“We are safe now.”

Asking yourself daily, How am I different today than yesterday?, helps you rewrite your perception of your life altering your todays and tomorrows.

5. Feel What Was Never Felt (Gently)

Trauma persists when emotions are suppressed or incomplete. Healing doesn’t require reliving everything, but it does invite safe, gradual feeling:

Journaling sensations instead of stories
Allowing small waves of emotion to move through
Working with a practitioner if needed

Release happens in layers, not all at once. In my daily quest to expand myself through uncomfortable learning... I listened to a speaker about quantum physics and our current reality. In a rough paraphrase, they said... Your reality is based on your nervous sytem. This made so much more sense than saying your life is based on your perception of events... Because our perception is curated by our responses...and our responses is curated from the health of our nervous system.

Our brains prunes weak connections; weak not being a correlation between healthy or good for you. It's in proportion to what's being used. Even the healthiest, best practices and thoughts can be eliminated by non-use. (see last paragraph of #6)

6. Repetition is What Rewires

One session doesn’t undo generations; but consistent, small practices do.

Every time you:

Choose regulation over reactivity
Stay present instead of dissociating
Breathe instead of bracing

…you are literally reshaping your nervous system and influencing gene expression over time.

The brain contains both temporary and sometimes permanently broken or unconnected "wires" (neurons), particularly during development and with neuroplasticity. While the brain is largely connected efficiently, it is not a perfectly sealed system; it constantly prunes weak connections, forms new ones, and relies on neuroplasticity to rewire

The Truth About Healing through Trauma

You are not just healing yourself. You are interrupting a pattern that may have existed for decades or longer. And in doing so, you change what gets passed forward.

Trauma may be inherited, but so is resilience. So is repair. So is the capacity to return to baseline... through RELEASE and RESETTING what has been holding you back.