Trauma isn’t just a memory. It continues to live in our bodies, affecting posture, movement, breathing, and how we relate to others — often outside of conscious awareness. Unless we find and clear that trauma, many of us stay in cycles of pain, stress, emotional reactivity, and restriction long after the original event.

Here’s why this is so important, and how the processes we use — Process 1, 2, 3 etc., IMT (Integrative Manual Therapy), and Qigong — uniquely support healing.

What Happens When Trauma Is Stuck in the Body

• Protective tension: The body holds tension, spasm, or postural compensation to guard against perceived threat. Over time, these patterns themselves become painful or limiting.
• Dissociation & “body-memory”: Some experiences are stored non-verbally — through blind spots, emotional triggers, or sudden reactions. The body may remember even if the mind doesn’t.
• Chronic physiological dysfunction: Restricted breathing, poor circulation, fascial restrictions, and misalignments can affect nervous system regulation, immune function, and long-term health.
• Isolation of spirit & agency: Pain, tension, or fear can make it hard to feel connected to aliveness, values, or sense of self.

Why Talk or Cognitive Therapy Isn’t Always Enough

Talking, telling the story, and reframing are powerful. But trauma held in the body — even when the story is understood — can keep producing symptoms. Without working with the body through movement, hands-on work, energy, and spirit, healing can stall.

What We Do to Help Find & Clear Body Trauma

1. The Peace Process (Processes 1, 2, 3…)

These video-guided processes help you feel into what’s held in the body using gentle awareness, breath, intention, and heart-centered energy. Benefits include:

• Bringing awareness to tight, numb, or reactive areas
• Moving “stuck” energy or tension safely
• Cultivating internal safety, compassion, and choice

Access the [Process videos](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal) on the Heal page to self-treat and release long-held constriction.

2. Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT)

Hands-on work targeting body structure, connective tissue, fascia, joints, and organs. Goals include:

• Finding root causes of pain or restriction
• Restoring physical alignment and ease
• Switching the body from guarding/bracing mode into relaxation and resilience

3. Qigong

Combining movement, breath, and spirit, Qigong helps:

• Move energy through meridians and fascia
• Restore flow, agency, and presence in body and mind
• Cultivate rootedness, breath awareness, and trauma soothing

How These Complement Each Other

Why Clearing Trauma in the Body Matters Long-Term

• Prevents physical breakdown (chronic pain, injury, degeneration)
• Supports mental/emotional well-being (less anxiety, more joy, better sleep, resilience)
• Restores natural movement and expression
• Reconnects to spiritual and soulful dimensions

How to Use These Tools Safely & Effectively

• Start gently; move slowly with what your body can tolerate
• Use guided practices ([Process videos](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)) before hands-on or movement work
• Be consistent — small, regular practice > occasional intense work
• Work with skilled guides: [IMT, PT, or spiritual healer](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)
• Listen to your body; stop and rest if sensations are overwhelming

Invitation: Healing Is Possible

Your body has been working for you all along — holding tension, compensating, protecting. It deserves space, compassion, and tools that reach in, not just “above.”

On the Heal page, you can access:

• Video guides for [Peace Process](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)
• [IMT structural restoration](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)
• [Qigong movement + spirit connection](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)
• [Group healing sessions](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)
• [One-on-one sessions](https://ralphhavens.com/Heal)

You don’t have to stay stuck. You can move, feel, breathe, connect — and live more freely.

Start Your Healing Journey