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Why Trauma Buries Memory—And How the Body Brings It Back

July 8, 2025
| Breathwork, Sound Healing

Introduction:

Have you ever said, “I know something happened… but I just can’t remember”?
Or maybe you remember everything—too much—and can’t seem to stop replaying the moment in your mind.

Both are common responses to trauma. What many don’t realize is this:
Trauma can both bury and burn memory into your system.

As a trauma-informed Introspective Breathwork® therapist and Master Sound Healer, I often work with clients who feel stuck, anxious, or disconnected—yet can’t explain why. Underneath these symptoms, unresolved trauma may be silently living in the body, even when the conscious mind has forgotten. Earning my Neuroscience Certification brought everything together.

In this post, we’ll explore:

What is traumatic amnesia?
How trauma rewires the brain and nervous system
Why memory disappears—or returns—at unexpected times
How body-based healing like Breathwork can restore what was lost
Signs your body is carrying unprocessed trauma
How to begin gently reclaiming your story

What Is Traumatic Amnesia?

Traumatic amnesia is a term used to describe partial or complete memory loss resulting from psychological trauma. This isn’t the same as forgetting where you put your keys. It’s a profound, protective shutdown of memory systems in the brain—especially during events of intense fear, helplessness, or shame.

There are several types:

Localized Amnesia: Loss of memory for a specific event or time period
Selective Amnesia: Remembering parts, but not all, of a traumatic experience
Dissociative Amnesia: Loss of autobiographical information, often due to psychological shock
Generalized Amnesia: A rare condition where someone forgets their entire life history (usually temporary)

In each case, the nervous system is trying to protect the individual from emotional overwhelm by disconnecting awareness from the event.

Why the Brain Erases Memory During Trauma

Trauma is not just what happened to you—it’s what happened inside of you as a result.

When faced with a threat—emotional, physical, or psychological—the body launches into a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response. During this survival mode, the brain prioritizes protection, not perception.

Here’s what happens:

The Amygdala Activates
The fear center goes on high alert, preparing you to react, not reflect.
The Prefrontal Cortex Goes Offline
Logical thinking and time awareness fade. You can’t “think your way out.”
The Hippocampus (Memory Center) Shuts Down
This disrupts the encoding of coherent memories—making it difficult to store the event as a narrative. This is why trauma memories often feel fragmented, missing, or frozen in time.
Stress Hormones Flood the Brain
Cortisol and adrenaline interfere with brain function. High cortisol can even shrink the hippocampus temporarily, blocking memory formation.

Trauma Is a Body Experience, Not Just a Mind Event

Even when you don’t remember, the trauma is often still stored in the body—as tension, anxiety, avoidance, gut issues, insomnia, or emotional dysregulation. As the author and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk says,

“The body keeps the score.”

So while the mind may forget, the body continues to send signals:

“Something happened. We’re not safe yet.”

Why Buried Memories Sometimes Return Later

Many people feel confused—or even ashamed—when memories resurface years later.

They wonder:
“If it really happened, why didn’t I remember it sooner?”

The truth is, memory returns when it feels safe enough to be felt.
This may happen gradually, through therapy, dreams, bodywork, or breathwork. It may surface as images, physical sensations, or emotions—not always words or storylines.

This is not your brain betraying you. It’s your subconscious trusting you enough to finally let go of what it’s been holding in the dark.

How Breathwork Gently Unlocks Buried Memory

As a trauma-informed Introspective Breathwork® practitioner, I often describe Breathwork as a bridge between the mind and the body—between what we know and what we’ve forgotten.

Here’s how it helps:

1. Oxygen Reawakens the Brain

Deep breathing floods the brain with oxygen, which improves function in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus—the very regions trauma often disconnects. This supports memory retrieval and clarity.

2. Breath Calms the Fear Center

Breathwork down-regulates the amygdala, reducing the sense of threat. When the body feels safe, suppressed emotions and memories can surface without panic.

3. Body-Based Healing Accesses Nonverbal Memory

Not all memory is verbal. Breathwork taps into somatic memory—how your body holds the trauma, even if your mind can’t describe it.
Clients may experience:

Sudden emotional waves
Trembling, tingling, or crying
Vivid imagery or symbolic scenes
Deep realizations or a sense of release

4. Integration Happens Without Forcing

Unlike traditional talk therapy, Introspective Breathwork® doesn’t demand that memories come forward. It creates space for whatever is ready to surface—and that may be clarity, emotion, or simply peace.

Real Client Experiences

“I didn’t know I had blocked so much out—until I started breathwork. I didn’t see the whole picture, but I suddenly felt it. The tears just came.”

“I kept telling my therapist I didn’t have trauma. But my body told a different story.”

“I thought I had dealt with everything. But Breathwork helped me meet the parts of myself I had left behind.”

Signs Your Body Is Holding Unresolved Trauma

You don’t need to remember a traumatic event to know it impacted you. Here are some signs:

Persistent anxiety or hypervigilance
Unexplained chronic pain or illness
Emotional numbness or shutdown
People-pleasing, overworking, or perfectionism
Panic in safe situations
Triggers you can’t explain
Memory gaps around certain years or events
A sense of being “haunted” by something you can’t name

If you relate to any of these, your body may be asking for healing—whether or not your mind remembers the cause.

Do I Need to Remember to Heal?

This is a common fear, and the answer is: No.

You do not need to remember everything—or anything—to begin healing.
In fact, trying to force memory retrieval can be harmful and retraumatizing.

What you do need is a space where your body can feel safe enough to:

Express what it’s been holding
Integrate what was once overwhelming
Reclaim parts of yourself that got buried in survival

How I Can Support You

In my work with Introspective Breathwork® and sound healing, I guide clients through gentle, embodied journeys designed to restore connection between the body, brain, and soul.

You are not broken because you can’t remember.
You are resilient. And when the time is right—healing begins not in the memory, but in the moment.

If you’re curious about exploring your inner world in a safe, guided way, I invite you to join a session or reach out.

Final Thought

“The memories you buried weren’t lost. They were waiting for the day you felt strong enough to hear their story with compassion.”

You don’t have to go searching.
Just breathe.
And trust—when your body is ready, it will speak.

Ready to Explore?

👉 Read more or book a session at: www.introspectivewithamy.com
👉 Follow on Facebook or Instagram for more trauma-informed healing tools: [@introspectivebreathwithamy]