Discharge & Completion: Releasing Stuck Survival Energy in Somatic Experiencing
After orienting to the present, resourcing your system, tracking internal sensation, moving between activation and ease through pendulation, and working with activation in tiny doses through titration — the nervous system becomes ready for something profound:
Completion.
Also called discharge.
Completion is not emotional flooding or dramatic catharsis.
It is the body’s quiet, natural release of tension — the finishing of a stress cycle that once got interrupted.
As Peter Levine teaches, trauma is “frozen action.”
Completion is the moment the body is finally able to finish what it started.
What Is Discharge / Completion?
Discharge is the body’s instinctive release of stored survival energy.
Completion is the spontaneous movement, breath, or impulse that arises when a previously interrupted fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response is allowed to resolve.
This might look like:
a deep, spontaneous sigh
trembling or shaking
soft tears
gulping or swallowing
yawning
tingling in the limbs
heat or cold releasing
subtle stretching
an urge to push, curl, kick, or turn
a softening that wasn’t possible before
These are not random.
They are completion impulses — the body finishing something it began long ago.
Why Completion Happens Only After Earlier Steps
Completion requires capacity and safety.
The body must first:
Orient
Resource
Track sensation
Pendulate
Titrate
Only after these skills are in place does the nervous system trust it can release survival energy without overwhelm.
Completion is not created by recounting trauma.
It emerges when the body feels safe enough to finish a once-interrupted response.
What Completion Actually Feels Like
Completion is subtle, involuntary, and often surprisingly gentle.
It often feels like:
a wave moving through the body
a deep, instinctive exhale
mild shaking or trembling
warmth or cooling
a loosening around the chest or diaphragm
tears that feel soft instead of overwhelming
the body reorganizing itself from within
something “finishing” without effort
Clients often say:
“It feels like my body is unwinding.”
“Something just completed inside me.”
“I didn’t make it happen — it happened through me.”
Completion is the body’s natural intelligence expressing itself.
Types of Completion You May Notice
Fight Response Releasing
heat in the chest or arms
softening of the jaw
pushing or bracing impulses
arm trembling
the urge to stabilize or orient around strength
Flight Response Releasing
legs shaking
tingling moving downward
cold-to-warm waves
subtle impulses to run the legs
energy leaving through the feet
Freeze & Dorsal Shutdown Releasing
When the body comes out of immobilization — whether it’s the high-energy stillness of freeze or the low-energy collapse of dorsal shutdown — the release may look like:
small tremors or shivers
breath returning after being held
warmth or tingling moving into previously numb areas
soft tears without overwhelm
deeper spontaneous sighs
subtle shifts in facial expression
a sense of “coming back online”
gentle reanimation of the limbs or spine
Clients often describe it as:
“I feel like I’m thawing.”
“My breath is waking back up.”
“My body is coming back.”
This is the nervous system re-emerging from immobilization — safely and slowly.
Fawn Response Releasing
relief tears
boundary impulses
a sense of returning inward
more clarity between self and other
subtle emotional “coming home” sensations
These represent the nervous system reclaiming agency and self-protection after people-pleasing or appeasement patterns.
How Completion Unfolds
Completion often follows a natural arc:
Mild activation
Pendulation between activation and ease
A small titrated increase
A spontaneous impulse or movement
A release (sigh, shake, yawn, tears)
A settling or reorganization
Completion is not something you perform — it is something your system allows when it’s ready.
A Gentle Way to Support Completion (Without Forcing It)
Completion cannot be forced, but you can create conditions that support it:
Track a small sensation with curiosity.
Let your awareness pendulate between activation and ease.
Stay with 1–2% more activation (titration).
Notice if a spontaneous impulse or movement arises.
Allow shaking, sighing, stretching, or tears if they come.
Rest and integrate.
The rest is where reorganization happens.
Final Reflection
Notice your breath.
See if anything inside wants to sigh, soften, shake, or release.
If so, allow it — gently.
This is completion: the body finally finishing a cycle it once had to interrupt.
A natural, intelligent release.
A return to flow.
Join the Somatic Circle
If you want to experience completion within a supportive community and guided somatic practice, I’d love to welcome you into Somatic Circle — my weekly group devoted to nervous system healing and embodied restoration.
Your first session is free.
Sign up here: https://www.bodyandmindcollective.com/somaticcircle
Use code: FIRSTFREE
Your body knows how to complete the story.
I’d be honored to help you listen.
