Many people struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, or a lingering sense of unease without realizing that their nervous system may be stuck in a chronic dysregulated state. Our bodies are designed for movement, yet modern life often forces us into sedentary and stressful routines, limiting our ability to process and release stored tension.

Many people, without even knowing it, are operating in a state of burnout or functional freeze. Running, in particular, has the potential to help people regulate their nervous systems and allow the body to complete a “stuck” flight response.

Based on my personal experiences, a scientific understanding of trauma and the autonomic nervous system, and my professional expertise as a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, I argue that running is more than just an exercise—it is a powerful healing tool for embodiment. If more people understood the benefits of running, nervous system healing, and balance, they could experience a deeper sense of calm and vitality in their lives.

Understanding the Stuck Flight Response

To understand why running is so effective, it’s important to know the concept of a stuck flight response. When faced with threat, stress, or danger, the autonomic nervous system initiates a survival response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

Ideally, we would be able to run away or fight back, allowing the nervous system to return to balance. However, when we can’t escape—such as in childhood environments where we feel trapped, or social settings where we must suppress our instinct to flee—the flight response remains unfulfilled.

The body, unable to act on its impulse, shifts to a freeze state, where energy is held in but not released. Over time, this can become habitual, leading to functional freeze, a state where a person feels “cut off” from their body and unconsciously ignores its impulses. This often manifests as chronic tension, exhaustion, dissociation, and a persistent feeling of being trapped.

Running provides a way to complete this unfinished response, allowing the body to restore its natural ability to move, discharge stuck energy, and return to balance.

My Personal Journey with Running

I know this firsthand. As a child, I often felt trapped—at home, at school, in many situations where I wanted to escape but couldn’t. I carried a deep sense of unease without knowing why.

As a teenager, I dreaded gym class, particularly when we had to run. I could never finish a mile without walking and had convinced myself that running simply wasn’t for me. The truth was, I felt deeply disempowered in my body and had internalized the belief that I was incapable of running long distances.

Looking back, I now see that my resistance was more than just physical—it was nervous-system based. My body was in a state of functional freeze, which made running all the more challenging.

The Shift: Running as a Tool for Healing

The thing was, I had always dreamt of becoming a runner—intuitively, something about it felt empowering. Everything changed in adulthood when I began running on my own terms, for strength and empowerment.

At first, it was difficult. But as I kept practicing, something shifted. Running didn’t just make me physically stronger—it unlocked emotions I didn’t even know I had suppressed.

Some days, I would be running, and a deep sense of sadness would well up in my chest, as if my body was finally processing emotions that had been frozen for years. Other times, I felt overwhelming relief, joy, and elation, as if I had been given an opportunity to move in a way I never had before.

Through these experiences, I realized that running was not just an exercise—it was a way for my body to reclaim its natural rhythm and discharge old, stuck energy. The more I ran, the better I felt—not just afterward, but in my everyday life.

I became more balanced, more in touch with my emotions, and more deeply connected to myself. For the first time, I felt truly embodied.

The Science Behind Running and Nervous System Regulation

These personal experiences are backed by neuroscience. Studies show that rhythmic, repetitive movement—particularly running—engages the body’s natural capacity for self-regulation.

Running stimulates the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in shifting the body out of fight-or-flight mode and into a state of social engagement and balance. It also increases endorphins (the body’s feel-good chemicals) and promotes neuroplasticity, helping the brain rewire old patterns of tension and stress.

Trauma researchers like Dr. Peter Levine, the creator of Somatic Experiencing, emphasize the importance of completing behaviors that were once inhibited as a way of healing—allowing the body to do what it wanted to do. Running provides a structured way to reclaim a healthy flight response and feel more empowered in life.

Addressing Skepticism: Is Running for Everyone?

Skeptics might argue that not everyone can or should run, which is understandable. Some may find running too strenuous, while others associate it with stress rather than relief.

The key takeaway is this: running is not the only way to regulate the nervous system. The underlying principle remains the same—movement is essential for releasing stuck survival energy.

For those who can’t or don’t want to run, other activities like dance, swimming, cycling, hiking, or even visualizing running or flying can provide similar benefits. The goal is not running itself, but rather allowing the body to move in a way that completes unfulfilled impulses and fosters a sense of freedom and empowerment.

That said, running is uniquely suited for this process because it mirrors the natural flight response—an instinct deeply woven into our evolutionary drive for survival and escape.

Movement vs. Stillness: Why Running Matters

Some might argue that yoga or meditation are better suited for nervous system regulation. While these practices are undoubtedly beneficial, they focus primarily on stillness and internal awareness rather than the active discharge of stuck energy.

For individuals in functional freeze, feeling shut down, or stuck in survival mode, movement is essential. While meditation may calm the mind, it does not complete the body’s natural need to move. Running, however, allows the physical body to come online, increasing energy and reducing freeze.

Being less frozen means being more present—in the body and in life. This presence can even enhance meditation practices.

Why This Matters

Many people are unknowingly living in a dysregulated state. Chronic stress, trauma, and societal pressures leave so many feeling trapped in their own bodies.

Recognizing the power of running and other movement practices to restore nervous system regulation can help people reclaim a sense of agency and calm. This shift isn’t just about personal well-being—it also impacts mental health, social connections, purpose, and productivity.

A regulated nervous system allows people to show up more fully in their relationships, work, and daily lives.

Conclusion: Running as a Pathway to Freedom

Running is so much more than exercise—it is a tool for emotional release and nervous system regulation.

For those who have experienced chronic stress, trauma, functional freeze, or burnout, running offers an opportunity to reclaim their flight response and restore balance.

My personal experience, along with research in somatic healing, supports the idea that movement—particularly running—can be deeply transformative.

I urge those who feel disconnected from their bodies or trapped in unhealthy cycles to consider running—not as a task to be endured, but as a pathway to freedom.

In doing so, they may find, as I did, that movement is not just about physical fitness, but about restoring their relationship to themselves.