Why does my body freeze or feel numb during meditation when I have trauma history?

Your body isn't broken — it's doing exactly what it evolved to do. Trauma teaches the nervous system that immobility keeps you alive. When you sit still in meditation, your system might misread this as danger and lock down. That freezing or numbness you feel? It's an old survival strategy. Patanjali taught that the mind settles when the body feels safe. But for someone with trauma, the body's default is *not* safe. The practice becomes gentler: movement before stillness, sound before silence, external focus before internal. Try this: before seated meditation, move. Walk slowly, shake your limbs, do gentle yoga. Let your body know it has agency. Then, when you sit, keep your eyes slightly open and focus on something external — a candle flame, the sound of breath. This tells your nervous system you're alert, not trapped. If numbness arises, notice it without judgment. Can you feel your feet on the floor? The weight of your body in the chair? These micro-connections rebuild the bridge between mind and body that trauma severed. The transformation isn't about forcing yourself to be still. It's about patience — waiting for your system to trust stillness again, one breath at a time.