When Your Body Remembers: Black Nervous Systems and the Weight of Racial Trauma

As Black people, we learn from a young age that the world does not always see us with safety, softness, or neutrality. We grow up navigating systems that were not built for our protection. Over time, these experiences shape more than our identity—they shape our nervous system.

The body begins to anticipate judgment.

The mind becomes alert.

And sometimes, we don’t even realize we’re bracing until someone asks why we look “tense,” “cold,” or “serious.”

But what looks like attitude is often survival.

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Why Our Nervous System Is Activated

The nervous system is designed to protect us from danger. But racism—whether overt or subtle—creates a state of ongoing vigilance. Over time, this can lead to chronic activation, where the body is always preparing for the next threat, even if no threat is physically present.

This shows up as:

• constant alertness

• tension in the shoulders

• difficulty relaxing

• emotional fatigue

• anxiety

• irritability

• feeling watched or evaluated

This isn’t “overreacting”—it’s your nervous system doing exactly what it was trained to do.

And that training began long before any of us were born.

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Historical and Generational Layers

Many of us carry responses our ancestors needed to survive:

staying quiet, staying alert, scanning, protecting, anticipating, proving, enduring.

These patterns were adaptive then.

They kept us alive.

But today, those same survival instincts can feel like a never-ending internal alarm.

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Grounding the Body in the Present

While we cannot control systems overnight, we can learn strategies that help the nervous system return to a sense of safety—even for a moment.

Try:

• slow, paced breathing

• grounding your feet on the floor

• stretching your jaw or shoulders

• noticing five things you can see, hear, or feel

• placing your hand on your heart and breathing slowly

These practices may seem small, but they signal to the body: in this moment, you are safe enough to breathe.

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How Therapy Can Help

Racial trauma is not only psychological—it is physiological. It lives in the body. Therapy can help, but not every therapeutic space is culturally safe.

When looking for a therapist, seek someone who:

• understands the impact of racism

• uses cultural humility

• validates your lived experience

• doesn’t minimize racial trauma

• understands intergenerational trauma

• centers your identity as part of healing

A culturally responsive therapist won’t ask you to “prove” racism happened. They will recognize that your nervous system already knows.

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You Deserve More Than Survival

We are taught to endure.

To be tough.

To be strong.

But strength isn’t the goal—healing is.

We deserve rest.

We deserve softness.

We deserve spaces where our nervous system can exhale.

Healing racial trauma is not about pretending racism doesn’t affect us—it’s about finding ways to stay grounded, supported, and affirmed while moving through a world that still hasn’t fully made space for us.

Your body has been protecting you for a long time.

Maybe now, it deserves to rest.