You’re Not Too Sensitive: How the Nervous System Stores Past Experiences in the Body

Have you ever felt yourself tense up for “no reason”? Or found yourself on the edge of tears during a massage, or in total shutdown even when you’re safe?

You’re not overreacting. You’re not “too sensitive.”Your nervous system remembers, even when your mind doesn’t.

The body stores experience. Especially overwhelming or unresolved experiences. And it speaks to us through tension, fatigue, guarded posture, chronic pain, or emotional release.

Massage therapy, when practiced with skill and care, can help clients reconnect with their bodies, not by pushing through pain, but by offering the safe presence that allows the nervous system to soften, trust, and reset.

The Nervous System: More Than “Fight or Flight”

Most people have heard of the fight-or-flight response. But your nervous system has a whole spectrum of reactions:

• Fight or flight (activation): tight muscles, racing thoughts, irritability, anxiety

• Freeze (shutdown): numbness, fatigue, dissociation, flatness

• Fawn (people-pleasing): disconnecting from your own needs to avoid conflict

• Rest and digest (regulation): safety, openness, presence, healing

These states are not conscious choices. They’re the body’s way of protecting you when things feel unsafe~ whether from trauma, chronic stress, or overstimulation.

The issue arises when these responses become chronic, long after the danger has passed.The result? A body stuck in survival mode.

How the Body Stores Past Experience

Here’s what science and practice now show:

• Fascia, the connective tissue that wraps the body, can tighten and harden in response to emotional stress

• Muscle memory holds bracing patterns from old injuries, surgeries, or traumatic events

• The vagus nerve, a key player in regulating safety, gets dysregulated when the body doesn’t feel heard

• Somatic memory—the body’s felt memory can resurface during safe, supportive bodywork

This is why a massage can sometimes bring up unexpected emotion, images, or a deep release of tension you didn’t even know you were holding.

It’s not a breakdown. It’s a breakthrough. Your body is letting go.

Why Safe, Skilled Touch Matters

In trauma-informed massage therapy, we understand that:

• Touch can be deeply healing, but also potentially activating if rushed or misread

• The client leads the pace, and consent is ongoing, not a one-time form

• The nervous system will only release tension when it feels safe enough to do so

This kind of bodywork isn’t just about muscle relief. It’s about building trust between you and your body. Sometimes, that trust starts with just being present without trying to fix anything.

How Massage Therapy Supports Nervous System Regulation

When done with trauma-awareness and somatic sensitivity, massage can help:

• Encourage vagal nerve activation, moving you out of fight/flight and into rest-and-digest

• Unwind chronic bracing patterns in the fascia and musculature

• Offer safe, nonverbal touch that rebuilds a sense of comfort in your own skin

• Create space for emotional integration, not by forcing release, but by allowing it if and when it comes

You don’t need to explain your story in words.Your body already knows. And it knows how to heal, when given the right conditions.

What You Can Do Between Sessions

To support your nervous system in daily life, try:

• Slow, diaphragmatic breathing (inhale 4 counts, exhale 6 counts)

• Body scans to notice and meet sensations without judgment

• Grounding techniques (bare feet on earth, warm bath, holding a warm mug)

• Gentle movement like yoga, stretching, or walking

• Saying “no” when needed... self-boundaries support nervous system safety too

Final Thoughts

You’re not broken.You’re not too sensitive.You’re a human being with a body that adapted to survive. And now, maybe, you’re ready to heal.

Massage therapy can be part of that healing, not because it “fixes” you, but because it helps you feel again~ safely, gradually, and with support.

Your nervous system is always listening. Let’s help it feel safe enough to soften.