Maintaining Optimism Amidst Adversity

Maintaining a positive mindset can significantly ease the emotional and physical burdens of chronic conditions, though it often requires effort to stay optimistic. Somatic therapies, which focus on the body, can enhance emotional resilience and promote natural healing processes.

According to Britt Piper, a trauma-informed therapist and author of Body-First Healing: Get Unstuck and Recover from Trauma with Somatic Healing (Avery, 2025), somatic therapy is about cultivating the ability to experience moments of activation without being overwhelmed rather than merely managing symptoms. “Healing is more about creating space to be with these moments,” she explains.

“We aren’t broken or flawed and don’t require fixing,” she asserts. “Shifting this perspective can open the door to profound healing and growth as we allow it to unfold naturally.”

Trapped in Survival Mode

The autonomic nervous system is designed to keep us safe by employing survival tactics like fight, flight, freeze, and fainting. However, traumatic experiences—which Piper defines as circumstances that exceed the nervous system’s ability to cope—can cause the nervous system to become entrenched in survival mode.

Trauma can stem from various sources, including childhood abuse or neglect, car accidents, infidelity, chronic illnesses, and other severe events.

Unresolved trauma can result in exaggerated responses to seemingly mundane situations, such as shrinking away when a close person raises their voice or feeling a panic when a partner forgets to call. In these cases, the nervous system is functioning correctly, but it misinterprets signals as threats, influenced by past traumas.

Healing Through Trauma Release

Piper guides individuals in healing trauma and managing stress-related disorders by encouraging them to look within for solutions, trusting their body’s inherent ability to heal itself rather than seeking outside quick fixes.

“We initially work to discharge their nervous system activation, then build their ability to feel more balanced, followed by establishing new patterns,” she explains.

This therapeutic approach is gradual but effective. Studies have shown that Somatic Experiencing can benefit those with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as help reduce trauma in toddlers after surgery.

“We address the outer layers of the trauma vortex first,” Piper notes, referencing the densest trauma energy in the body. This often begins with working through more recent frustrations before tackling deeper-seated traumas. “Gradually, over time, we navigate through the vortex towards the core,” she adds.

The Influence of State on Your Narrative

Piper employs nervous system regulation techniques with clients, often focusing on the vagus nerve, which links the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system.

As 80% of vagal information travels from the body to the brain, Piper underscores that one cannot will themselves into happiness or think their way out of anxiety or depression. “You must also ‘feel’ your way out of these states,” she explains.

Indeed, your autonomic nervous system influences your cognitive narrative. When in a “sympathetic state,” thoughts may skew toward anger or fear, while in a state of immobilization, self-talk may often reflect feelings of incapacity.

“Transitioning to a state of safety and connection—what we refer to as the ‘ventral state’—can help reorganize our thought patterns,” Piper notes.

Staying optimistic can be particularly hard due to the brain’s inherent negativity bias, which evolved to help our ancestors swiftly identify threats. This is why we might remember gloomy days better than bright ones or focus on the few occasions when a partner is inattentive.

Negative thoughts can intrude during the night, but cognitive shuffling—imagining random pleasant scenarios like playing with a dog, riding a merry-go-round, or taking in a sunset—can improve sleep quality by distracting the mind.