Practical Tools to Support Your Post-Traumatic Growth
I fell down a neuroscience rabbit hole—and I’m bursting to tell you what I found out about Post-Traumatic Growth.
I’m going to make this ultra-digestible (no jargon, I promise) and share the actual studies in case you’re a fellow brain-nerd like me.
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While research on the outcomes of post-traumatic growth has been around for decades, what’s brand new is research on the brain mechanisms that might support it. There are only two well-designed studies so far—one with a small sample size—so we’re still in the early days of understanding this.
But the early data is fascinating.
And what’s most exciting? It suggests that we might be able to support these growth pathways on purpose—through practices that shift our attention inward.
Sound fun? Let’s dive in.
What Post-Traumatic Growth Is (and What It Isn’t)
Let’s start with a working definition.
Post-traumatic growth is the process through which someone experiences positive psychological change as a result of struggling with a traumatic or highly challenging life event.
It doesn’t mean the trauma was good or necessary. It means that through the pain, a person may discover new strengths, perspectives, or meaning that were previously inaccessible. But—and this is crucial—we can’t use the concept of post-traumatic growth to hijack a survivor’s healing process. Phrases like “everything happens for a reason” or “hard times make you stronger” can make a person feel like it’s not okay to be right where they are.
Healing still requires space to feel, grieve, and be fully witnessed—right here, as they are. True support meets people in their pain. Just because growth is possible doesn’t mean we should rush someone toward it.
If you’re someone doing the healing, my goal is to help you feel empowered in that process. Having agency over your healing—being able to choose your pace, your tools, and your path—is a core part of recovery.
And that brings me to something new and exciting: what neuroscience is beginning to show us about post-traumatic growth—and how you can intentionally support it from the inside out.
What Brain Waves Reveal About Post-Traumatic Growth
Post-traumatic growth
A 2024 study found that people who experience higher post-traumatic growth also show more alpha brainwave activity (1) (2).
So what do alpha waves tell us?
They’re associated with a state of calm, focused alertness—not zoned out, not hypervigilant. Just present. Think:
- Resting with your eyes closed, but awake
- A meditative or reflective state
- Deep focus without anxiety
But here’s where it gets even more interesting:
The increase in alpha activity shows up in specific parts of the brain—regions involved in movement and interoceptive awareness (your ability to sense what’s happening inside your body).
That means we may be able to support post-traumatic growth by learning how to tune in to our internal world on purpose.
Isn’t that wild? That something as simple as feeling your heartbeat, breath, or gut signals might actually help reshape your brain toward healing?
Why This Matters: Trauma Pulls You Outward
- One of trauma’s most adaptive responses is hypervigilance—a powerful shift of attention outward. You scan for tone, threats, tension. You become fluent in reading the room.
- But this constant watchfulness comes at a cost: You lose access to inner cues—the subtle signals from your body that help you know what you need, want, or feel.
- Healing, then, is not just about “calming down.” It’s about reclaiming the ability to go inward.
Interoception as a Healing Pathway
Interoceptive awareness is your ability to sense internal cues—hunger, tension, breath, warmth, shakiness, stillness.
Research has already linked it to better emotional regulation and resilience. Now, we’re beginning to see that it may also play a role in how the brain grows after trauma.
In other words: reclaiming your inner awareness may support the very brain processes that foster post-traumatic growth.
How You Can Support This Shift: Practices That Build Internal Awareness
If alpha brainwaves in this region are associated with growth—and if that region lights up when we’re aware of our internal world—then let’s play with how to support that.
🍽️ Reconnect with Hunger
One of the most powerful ways to build interoceptive awareness—your ability to tune in to internal signals—is to reengage with your hunger. Hunger is a signal from your body’s deep intelligence. It’s not just a cue to eat—it’s a message from a wise, living system that says: “I’m here. I know what I need. I’m working on your behalf.”
But many of us miss the early, gentle hunger cues and only recognize hunger when it becomes intense—when we feel foggy, irritable, shaky, or ravenous. For some, hunger carries a painful history. For others, it was trained out of us entirely. (I talk more about that in this blog.)
When hunger is ignored, especially repeatedly, it can mirror trauma patterns: the body learns its needs won’t be heard—and it gets louder, more frantic, more disconnected.
Let’s change that.
🌿 Try this: A Gentle Hunger Check-In
Step 1:
Before you eat, pause for a moment and check in with your body.
Step 2:
Ask yourself: Where am I on the hunger scale? (You’ll find one below.)
Ideally, try to begin eating around a 3—a place of pleasant hunger, not urgency.
But don’t aim for perfection. This is about curiosity, not control.
Step 3:
Notice: Can you experience hunger as a pleasant cue—a sign that your body is working, alive, and ready to receive care?
Step 4:
Repeat regularly. The more you check in, the more fluent you become in your body’s language.
🧭 The Hunger–Fullness Scale
Adapted from The Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch (2017)
0 – Painfully hungry
Primal, urgent hunger or a numb, disconnected state. You may feel nauseous or foggy. Nothing sounds good.1 – Ravenous
Anxious to eat, possibly shaky or irritable. Your body is demanding nourishment.2 – Very hungry
Strong hunger. You’re thinking about food and ready for a satisfying meal.3 – Pleasant hunger
Ready to eat, without urgency. This is often the ideal time to start a meal.4 – Subtly hungry
Slight emptiness. Beginning to notice cues.5 – Neutral
Neither hungry nor full. A baseline, steady place.6 – Just beginning to feel full
Still eating, but noticing satisfaction. You could stop comfortably soon.7 – Comfortably full
Content, well-fed. No discomfort.8 – Slightly too full
A bit sluggish or uncomfortable. You might want to move or rest.9 – Very full
Over-full. You may need to loosen clothing or take a break.10 – Painfully full
Stuffed to the point of nausea. Eating has gone beyond comfort.
✌️ Tension Scan: You Are Supported
This simple check-in helps you reconnect with your body and release hidden tension—gently and with care.
🌿 Try this:
Step 1:
Sit or lie down comfortably.
Bring your attention to the sensation of the chair or floor beneath you.
Step 2:
Let yourself release into that support—even just a little.
The more you allow your body to rest into what’s holding you, the more that support becomes available.
In that way, you are held. You are supported.
Step 3:
Now gently scan through your body, from head to toe or toe to head.
Ask: Where do I feel tension?
Step 4:
Wherever you notice tightness, see if you can soften—even by just 5%.
You don’t have to force it. Just bring awareness and offer an invitation to let go.
I often find I’m clenched in my psoas, shoulders, or jaw without even realizing it.
This kind of embodied noticing is a way back to your internal cues—a kind, grounded invitation to be present with yourself.
Alpha waves, activated? 😉
💓 Pulse
This one is simple—but powerful. It helps grow your interoceptive awareness by training your ability to feel what’s happening inside your body.
🌿 Try this:
Step 1:
Sit quietly. Close your eyes or keep a soft gaze.
Set a timer for one minute.
Step 2:
Find your pulse—on your wrist or neck—and count your heartbeats for one full minute.
📝 Write the number down.
Step 3:
Reset the timer for one minute. This time, don’t touch your pulse—just sense it from the inside.
Count again for one full minute.
📝 Write that number down too.
Step 4:
Compare the two numbers.
It’s completely okay (and very common) if the second number is lower. That’s expected.
This is one of the science-backed ways to improve your connection to internal cues (3).
Try it regularly—and notice whether your ability to sense your inner world begins to grow.
🧠 In Closing: What This Means for You
The idea that the body plays a role in trauma healing isn’t new.
What is new—and exciting—is that we may now be identifying one of the brain mechanisms that changes with post-traumatic growth.
Early research suggests that increased alpha wave activity in specific brain regions—particularly those linked to interoceptive awareness—may be part of how the brain reorganizes in ways that support growth after trauma.
That’s not just fascinating from a scientific perspective—it gives you additional pathways to healing.
You can choose to engage in practices that support these neural shifts.
You can cultivate the capacity to feel hunger, breath, tension, and pulse—not just as data, but as language. As participation in your own transformation.
These are just three practices I’ve found to be especially effective—but there are many more.
The point isn’t to follow a rigid protocol. It’s to stay in relationship with your body. To be curious. To choose the practices that help you listen inward.
Your brain is adaptable. Your body is wise.
And your healing? It can be deliberate, embodied, and truly your own.
💌 Stay Connected
If this kind of grounded, science-backed approach to healing speaks to you, I’d love to have you join me over in Reclaim & Remember—my biweekly newsletter where I share somatic tools, mindset shifts, and new research to support your healing journey.
It’s warm, insightful, and always built with your nervous system in mind.
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🌿 You might also enjoy:
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[Reconnecting With Your Body: 3 Lessons From Ecstatic Dance] — How I stopped performing and started listening to my body.
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[What Your Belly Tension is Telling You] — Exploring how stored emotion in the body shows up in the fascia, especially around the gut.
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[What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat] — A book review and valuable lessons learned.
Resources
- Maples-Keller, J. L., Call, C. D., & DeGutis, J. (2024). Toward neuroscientific understanding in posttraumatic growth: Scoping review identifying electrophysiological neurofeedback training targets for brain-based research. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 159, 105631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105631
- This is the inventory they use to measure post-traumatic growth: Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305
- Schillings, C., Weidenfeld, V., Brähler, E., & Michalak, J. (2022). Effects of heartbeat perception training on interoceptive abilities and emotional experience: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 838055. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.838055
