Why Taking Care of Your Body and Nervous System is the Greatest Gift to Your Child
In the tender, demanding journey of motherhood, it’s easy to forget one essential truth…that your own body and nervous system need care and healing too. Before the deep, nourishing connection you long to give your baby can grow, your own felt sense of safety and restoration must be tended.
Why Mothers’ Healing is the True Root of Nurture
The science is clear and undeniable, when a mother’s nervous system is regulated and her body feels safe, the nurturing connection she offers becomes a powerful catalyst for her baby’s brain development and emotional wellbeing.
Decades of research confirm that consistent, responsive care builds the architecture of a child’s brain (especially in areas governing emotional regulation and social connection). But that care is rooted in the mother’s ability to be present, calm, and attuned.
When a mother is calm and regulated, her baby experiences co-regulation that shapes their stress response and supports healthy brain connectivity1.
Simple nurturing practices, like skin-to-skin contact, support physiological regulation for both mother and infant, strengthening heart rate stability and sleep patterns2.
When trauma or tension lives unhealed in a mother’s body (often from birth, postnatal stress, or cultural conditioning) it can make slowing down and trusting closeness feel challenging.
Why Healing in the Body Matters So Deeply
The emotional and physical wounds mothers carry aren’t just psychological, they are held somatically in posture, breath, and nervous system patterns. These unprocessed tensions can silently shape how we relate to our babies.
Somatic therapy offers a gentle, powerful way to heal these wounds by tuning into the body’s felt sense. It supports mothers in reclaiming their capacity to soothe, soften, and fully engage in connection.
Here’s why somatic healing is transformative:
It cultivates body awareness through breath, movement, touch, and grounding which in turn helps mothers rebuild a felt sense of safety3.
It releases trapped survival energy from fight/flight or shutdown responses, creating space for relational capacity to grow4.
It’s backed by decades of trauma recovery research that highlights the mind-body link5.
When mothers regulate their own nervous system, this calm radiates through their babies, fostering secure, co-regulated connection6.
Practical Ways to Begin Healing Your Nervous System
You don’t have to wait for formal therapy to start this work. Even simple somatic practices can build safety from within:
Place a hand on your heart and breathe slowly, inviting your body to soften.
Take grounding walks, noticing your feet connecting with the earth.
Offer yourself the permission to rest and slow down, even amid exhaustion.
Every moment you tend your own felt sense of safety is a seed of deeper connection for your child.
Nurturing Yourself
Your healing is not separate from your baby’s wellbeing. It is the foundation of it. When you come home to your body and nervous system, you create the conditions for your baby’s brain to flourish and for connection to deepen.
As you nurture yourself, you nurture the roots of your baby’s emotional and neurological growth.
Internal links:
Learn more about nervous system regulation for mothers
Read about how pregnancy, birth, postpartum and past trauma can deeply impact a mother's connection to her body
Footnotes
Co-regulation and brain development research: Schore, A. N. (2001). The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1-2), 201-269.
Skin-to-skin contact benefits: World Health Organization. (2003). Kangaroo mother care: a practical guide.
Somatic therapy basics: The Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute
Trauma release and somatic therapy: Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma. North Atlantic Books.
Mind-body trauma research overview: van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Penguin Books.
Nervous system regulation in parenting: Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology.
