Even the body remembers

If our brain stores traces of life experiences, our organs and muscle cells also participate in this memoryMemory is a fundamental cognitive function that consists in ... More archive, preserving fragments of our history through somatic emotional memory and proteic muscular memory, including via epigenetic mechanisms.

The Body’s Dual Memory

Scientific research is confirming what some ancient traditions had already intuited: the body has a memory, intimately connected to that of the brain. When we talk about “body memory,” we mainly refer to two valuable “archives” of experience: somatic emotional memory and proteic muscular memory.

Somatic Emotional Memory

This is an embodied emotional memory: every intense experience – whether joyful or painful – leaves a mark not only in neural circuits but also in tissues.

Affective neuroscienceThe human brain is one of the most complex and fascinating s... More research shows that the most difficult emotions, especially unprocessed ones, can remain encoded in our bodies, altering muscle tension, posture, and even breathing. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory has deepened the understanding of this phenomenon, showing how the autonomic nervous system records and retains stressWhat is stress? From a clinical perspective, stress is a phy... More response patterns. Chronic tension can therefore result from accumulated anticipatory anxietyAnxiety is an emotional response characterized by feelings o... More, a clenched jaw may store unexpressed anger, and a contracted diaphragm may reflect ancient fears.

Proteic Muscular Memory

Recent scientific research has also focused on cellular memory in muscles, which seem to possess an epigenetic memory of anabolic stimuli: in other words, they can “remember” the levels of hypertrophy previously achieved.

A recent study from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, published in May 2025 in the Journal of Physiology, demonstrated that resistance training causes significant changes in muscle proteins. Some of these persist up to two and a half months after training cessation, suggesting a “proteic memory” that helps muscles regain strength and mass more quickly when resuming physical activity. Muscles, in short, remember past training and are ready to restart, even after a break.

Epigenetic Mechanisms and Lasting Changes

Training also induces epigenetic changes in the activity of specific genes, which are correlated with increased muscle volume and explain the effects of retraining.

This is a form of “cellular learningIl termine apprendimento - con i sinonimi imparare, assimila... More”: even if DNA sequence does not change, the way it is read and expressed is modified. It is a biological demonstration that experiences truly shape who we are, at the molecular level.

Neuromuscular Memory: The Brain-Muscle Relationship

Alongside cellular memory, we also have neuromuscular memory. When learning a movement – like playing the piano or performing a dance step – the brain creates maps in the motor cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellumThe cerebellum is a structure composed of two symmetrical ce... More. Once consolidated, these neural circuits become very stable.

This is why, even after many years, we can ride a bike or swim with relative ease, even if not practiced often: the brain stores motor skills while muscles retain structural changes, allowing faster recovery of strength and coordination compared to initial learning.

Good News for Training

Relying on our muscle memory is a real incentive to exercise, which is essential for global health, even if we don’t have as much time as we’d like:

1. You don’t start from zero: even after months or years of inactivity, those who have trained before retain a significant biological advantage, with faster recovery than beginners.
2. Activity rewards over time: each training session creates a cellular modification, and even brief periods of activity leave lasting beneficial traces.

Naturally, even if we can count on muscle memory, it is essential to awaken it correctly, respecting the body’s recovery times and resuming movement gradually, to reduce the risk of discomfort or injury.

Pedagogical Implications

The complex nature of body memory has profound implications for mindful teaching, which should consider that:

1. Movement becomes embodied learning: each learning experience should integrate the body. A child learning geometry by manipulating shapes in space incorporates knowledge more deeply and durably than by studying theory alone.
2. Early physical activity is essential: muscles retain this “developmental memory” in DNA, creating a lifelong biological heritage.
3. Somatic memory participates in learning: bodily states of tension or comfort directly influence cognitive abilities. Education involving the body is therefore more effective.

Body Memory for Psychological Well-being

Becoming aware of body memory and language develops embodied emotional intelligenceThe first definition of Emotional Intelligence as such was p... More, allowing us to read the messages and signals from our body, to embrace, understand, and process them safely, especially in a therapeutic context.

In daily practice, we can pay attention to our breath, an autonomous yet partially controllable process. Working with breath, through techniques such as Square Breathing or Yoga Pranayama, allows gentle dialogueDialogue: When Words Become Relationship Dialogue is one of ... More with somatic memory, modulating emotions and thoughts, one breath at a time.

A Conscious Body Language

Often, without noticing, we use somatic language to express our emotional states. When we say “I feel light” or “I feel a weight on my heart”, we are describing real bodily states that simultaneously influence and are influenced by our words.

Our body influences language, but language also speaks to the body. Simply saying the word “run” slightly activates motor areas in the legs, or thinking of a hug activates tactile circuits.

Thus, working with the body can modify inner language, and consciously choosing inner or verbal language can modify bodily responses through this “cerebral simulation.” Changing posture can change mood, while naming pleasant emotions or situations can release muscle tension. Body and words co-construct continuously.

Embodied Consciousness

Our body remains a mystery, studied daily by science, revealing surprising secrets. The body remembers challenges and successes, training, and the benefits of sacred restorative pauses. Each cell participates in an archive, our “biological library.”

Recognizing the potential of body memory means understanding that every bodily experience contributes to reshaping the perception of the present and even the future. Brain plasticity and the epigenetic memory of muscles remind us that we are constantly evolving organisms, capable of continuous learning at any age.

Paying attention to our body – listening, educating it with care, honoring its memory, and nourishing it mindfully – builds our global health, a state of complete and integrated well-being, transcending the mind-body separation and embracing embodied consciousness: life experiencing and evolving through matter, in constant interconnection between body, mind, and environment. Embodied consciousness invites reflection on secrets revealed by science and those yet to be discovered, leading toward connection where well-being is a shared dance.