Coming Home to Your Body: The Felt Sense and Gentle Trauma Healing

By Nisarga Eryk Dobosz · 27 October 2026

In my work as a Biodynamic Breathwork facilitator, Biodynamic Craniosacral therapist and Compassionate Inquiry practitioner, one thing moves me again and again: the quiet power of the felt sense. It is such a simple thing – feeling what is happening inside the body – and yet it can lead us all the way home to ourselves.

Memories are stored in the body

Each of us carries a treasure of memories – not only in the mind, but in the body itself. In the way we hold our shoulders, in the breath, in the belly, in the tissue. Our life story is written into us.

When something traumatic happens, the body protects us in a clever way: it disconnects. We stop feeling certain sensations, certain emotions, sometimes whole parts of the body. This is called dissociation. It helps us survive the moment. But if it stays, we slowly lose contact with our authentic self. We may feel numb, foggy, "not really here", or live only in the head.

Why understanding trauma matters

Trauma can split parts of our psyche away from each other. We may function well at work and still feel strangely far away from our body and our feelings. Many people come to me with back pain, chronic tension or poor sleep, and only later discover that the body was holding something much older.

The felt sense is like a light in this darkness. It offers a gentle path back.

What is the felt sense?

The felt sense is our natural ability to notice the subtle sensations and emotions inside the body: warmth, pressure, tingling, heaviness, space, movement, a knot in the stomach, an opening in the chest.

When we turn toward these sensations with curiosity, several things happen. We regain sensitivity. Old wounds can begin to heal. And the window of tolerance – the range in which our nervous system can handle experience without shutting down or exploding – slowly becomes wider.

Feeling becomes the key to reclaiming ourselves.

Pendulation: moving between charge and resource

Trauma work asks for patience and compassion. We don't throw ourselves into the deepest pain. Instead we move gently, like a pendulum, between two places:

• a place of charge – where something difficult is felt, maybe tension, fear or sadness;
• a place of resource – where something feels okay, safe or even pleasant: the feet on the floor, warm hands, the breath, a kind face.

We touch the difficult a little, then return to the resource. Then again. This is called pendulation. Each swing teaches the nervous system: I can feel this and come back. I am safe. Step by step, resilience grows and emotions integrate.

Titration: one drop at a time

Together with pendulation, we use titration – taking small, manageable steps. Like adding one drop of a strong substance into water instead of pouring the whole bottle. In trauma healing, too much too fast can overwhelm the system and even re-traumatise. Small doses, felt fully, create real and lasting change.

This is why trauma-informed breathwork and bodywork are slow. Slowness is not a lack of depth. Slowness is safety.

You can practise this at home

The felt sense is not only for therapy rooms. You can practise it yourself, every day.

• Sit comfortably and close your eyes, or let them rest softly.
• Watch your breath without changing it.
• Notice the sensations in your body. Where do you feel contact with the chair? Where is there warmth, coolness, tension, ease?
• If you find something uncomfortable, notice it for a few breaths – then find a place in the body that feels neutral or good, and rest your attention there.
• Stay for five minutes. Listen to the quiet messages from deep inside.

It's as simple as that. If at any point it feels like too much, open your eyes, look around the room and name a few things you see. That is also part of the practice.

Coming back together

Over time the felt sense brings us back to a more integrated way of being, where body, mind and heart work together. With this awareness we can stay with an experience in the present moment without being overwhelmed. Self-trust grows. Inner peace grows.

And on this journey we meet forgotten parts of ourselves – parts that were left behind long ago, still holding wisdom, sensitivity and truth. When they come home, we discover a beauty and strength that were always there.

If you would like support, our breathwork, craniosacral and MER bodywork sessions at the Body Awareness Institute in Tallinn are always trauma-informed and gentle. This kind of work complements, but does not replace, psychotherapy or medical care when it is needed.

May your journey back to your body be one of tenderness and awakening.

Nisarga Eryk Dobosz is a bodyworker and trainer (BBTRS®, MER®, BCST, Lomi Lomi) and founder of the Body Awareness Institute. This article is for education and self-care. It is not medical advice and does not replace care from a doctor or therapist.