How Trauma Shrinks Your Brain (And How Exercise Reverses It)
Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik
Jim Kwik, Your Brain Coach, Founder www.KwikLearning.com
4.7 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2025
⏱️ 16 minutes
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Summary
Trauma does not just live in your memories. It reshapes your brain. It can shrink your hippocampus, disrupt your prefrontal cortex, heighten your stress response, and leave you feeling stuck in survival mode.
But the good news is this. Your brain is not fixed. It can heal. It can rewire. And one of the most powerful tools to rebuild a trauma-affected brain is movement.
In this episode, I break down the neuroscience of how trauma changes the brain and how exercise can stimulate neuroplasticity, grow new brain cells, repair damaged pathways, and restore your ability to focus, learn, and feel in control again.
You will discover why BDNF acts like fertilizer for your brain, how aerobic movement grows the hippocampus, why pairing exercise with mindfulness accelerates healing, and how to create a simple step-by-step plan to rebuild your brain even if you feel busy, stressed, or unmotivated.
I also guide you through a seven day brain healing challenge you can start today and share how sleep, nutrition, connection, and lifelong learning work together to create the ultimate environment for recovery.
This episode will show you how one small step can ignite big healing and longevity. Your brain can change at any age and any stage. And you can start rebuilding today.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Quick Brain, bite-size brain hacks for busy people who want to learn faster and achieve more. |
| 0:06.1 | I'm your coach, Jim Quick. |
| 0:08.5 | Free. |
| 0:09.7 | You're mine. |
| 0:10.6 | Let's imagine if we could access 100% of our brain's capacity. |
| 0:15.5 | I wasn't high, wasn't wired, just clear. |
| 0:18.2 | I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. |
| 0:20.6 | I know Kung Fu. |
| 0:22.6 | Show me. |
| 0:24.6 | You are going to learn how trauma rewires your brain and what part it impacts the most. |
| 0:29.6 | The science behind why exercise heals trauma on a neurological level. |
| 0:35.6 | A step-by-step action plan you could use even if you're busy, |
| 0:41.3 | and some bonus strategies backed by research that could accelerate your healing. |
| 0:46.3 | By the end, you'll not only understand how to begin your healing, |
| 0:50.3 | you'll have the tools to start rebuilding your brain today. |
| 0:54.4 | If you've ever felt trapped by your past or wondered why your brain feels like it's working |
| 1:00.0 | against you, stay with me. |
| 1:02.1 | This could change your brain and your life. |
| 1:05.6 | Let's start with what trauma actually does to the brain. |
| 1:09.6 | When you go through something traumatic, your brain's survival |
| 1:13.0 | circuits, they light up. The amygdala, your brain's fear center, goes into overdrive. It supplies |
| 1:20.5 | your body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. That's useful in the short term. It |
... |
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