Science of Safety: Why Feeling Safe Is the First Step in Healing

EGW LUXURY MAGAZINE | WINTER 2025 - 2026
Written by EGW Columnist Katie Potratz

You can eat the healthiest foods, take the right supplements, and meditate daily — and still not feel well. That’s because your body can’t fully heal when it doesn’t feel safe.

In my work helping clients recover from chronic pain, fatigue, and anxiety, I’ve seen a recurring theme: most people are unknowingly living in survival mode. Their nervous systems are operating as if there’s a constant threat — even when life seems “fine” on the surface. The body isn’t broken; it’s protective. And until we teach it to feel safe again, true healing stays out of reach.

This is what I call the science of safety — understanding how our biology responds to stress and how creating a felt sense of safety can unlock the body’s innate capacity to repair, restore, and thrive.

The Body’s Built-In Alarm System

Every moment, your brain is scanning the environment, asking one essential question: Am I safe?

This process, called neuroception (a term coined by neuroscientist Stephen Porges), happens below conscious awareness. The nervous system takes cues from your surroundings, your body sensations, and even your thoughts to decide whether to activate your stress response (fight, flight, or freeze) or your healing response (rest and digest).

When the brain perceives threat — whether it’s an argument, a deadline, a negative thought, or a painful memory — it triggers the stress response. Heart rate increases, muscles tense, digestion slows, and inflammation rises. In short bursts, this is adaptive. But when the system gets stuck in “on,” it becomes a problem.

Long-term activation of this stress circuitry disrupts nearly every body system — immune, digestive, hormonal, and even pain regulation. The body begins prioritizing survival over healing, which is why many people with chronic symptoms feel like their bodies are working against them.

In reality, the body is trying to protect them.

The Window of Tolerance: Where Healing Happens

Psychiatrist Dan Siegel describes a concept called the “window of tolerance” — the zone where our nervous system functions optimally. Within this window, we feel calm, connected, and capable of handling life’s challenges.

When stressors push us outside that window, we move into survival states:

  • Hyperarousal (fight or flight): anxiety, anger, restlessness, racing thoughts.

  • Hypoarousal (freeze): numbness, fatigue, brain fog, shutdown.

Trauma, chronic stress, and even prolonged illness can shrink the window, meaning it takes less to send the body into a threat state. Everyday events — traffic, a comment from a coworker, a change in routine — can suddenly feel overwhelming.

Healing, therefore, isn’t just about calming down. It’s about expanding that window, so your body feels safe enough to regulate itself again. The wider your window, the more resilience your system has to recover and restore.

Why Safety Heals the Body

When your nervous system registers safety, it shifts into parasympathetic mode, also known as the rest-and-digest state. This is when the magic happens — the body finally gets the signal: It’s okay to repair.

Here’s what that looks like on a physiological level:

  • Immune balance: Chronic stress suppresses immune function or triggers inflammation. Safety restores immune balance, reducing inflammatory markers and supporting tissue repair.

  • Digestive harmony: The gut relies on relaxation to absorb nutrients and maintain a healthy microbiome. When the system feels safe, digestion improves.

  • Pain reduction: The brain’s interpretation of pain changes depending on perceived threat. When it no longer flags sensations as dangerous, pain signals naturally decrease.

  • Hormonal regulation: Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline normalize, while “healing hormones” like oxytocin and endorphins rise.

These aren’t just psychological effects — they’re deeply biological. In other words, safety isn’t just a feeling. It’s a healing signal.

How to Help Your Body Feel Safe Again

Creating a sense of safety is both simple and profound. It’s not about avoiding stress — it’s about teaching your body that stress isn’t as dangerous as it thinks it is.

Here are a few science-backed ways to begin:

1. Ground Through the Senses

When the mind races, bring awareness back to your physical surroundings. Try the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique:

  • 5 things you can see

  • 4 things you can touch

  • 3 things you can hear

  • 2 things you can smell

  • 1 thing you can taste

This anchors you in the present moment and signals to your brain: “We’re safe right now.”

2. Breathe for Regulation

The breath is one of the fastest ways to influence the nervous system. Try 4-7-8 breathing — inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8. The extended exhale activates the vagus nerve, which communicates directly with the body’s relaxation response.

3. Visualize Safety

Your brain doesn’t distinguish much between real and vividly imagined experiences. Close your eyes and picture a safe, serene place — perhaps floating on soft clouds, surrounded by light. Notice how your body feels as you linger in that scene. This is a gentle way to retrain the brain toward calm.

4. Connect with Others

Social safety is biological. Eye contact, touch, and supportive connection with others activate the same pathways of calm and repair. Reach out, hug someone you trust, or spend time with people who help your nervous system settle.

5. Speak Kindly to Yourself

Self-talk shapes neuroception. When you think, “What’s wrong with me?”, the body perceives internal danger. Replace it with, “My body is doing its best to protect me.” This simple reframe shifts you from judgment to compassion — and compassion itself is a powerful regulator.

Safety as a Daily Practice

Healing through safety isn’t a one-time event; it’s a practice of reminding your body that the threat has passed. Over time, these small moments of calm teach your nervous system a new pattern — one of stability, connection, and trust.

In my clients, I often see this transformation: sleep improves, digestion stabilizes, pain lessens, and anxiety softens. The external circumstances don’t always change, but their internal state does.

That’s the essence of healing from the inside out — shifting from a body that’s bracing for danger to one that knows it can rest.

The Takeaway

Healing begins not with control, but with safety. Before the body can restore balance, it needs to feel secure — physically, emotionally, and socially.

When we stop pushing, fighting, or fixing, and instead learn to feel safe in our own skin, the body responds in the only way it knows how: by healing.

Because the truth is, your body was never against you. It was always protecting you — waiting for the moment it could finally exhale.

Learn more and follow @Katiepotratz