Why Do I Feel Out of Body?
Have you ever felt like you're floating outside your body, disconnected from your physical self, or as if you are watching yourself from the outside? This sensation is known as disembodiment and is a form of dissociation. Feeling out of body can be quite unsettling and confusing. This is commonly seen in individuals with trauma, PTSD, or chronic nervous system dysregulation.
You may be reading this because you have been asking yourself, “why do I feel out of body?” If so, this article is oriented at helping you understand what is happening and offers solutions on how to reconnect with your body and restore a sense of presence and safety within yourself.
Why do I feel like I am out of my body?
Why do I always feel out of body or Disembodiment is the experience of being disconnected from your body’s felt sense — its sensations, emotions, and inner landscape. This is a state of being disconnected from interception which is the ability to sense our internal world. This can show up as numbness, feeling checked out, spacey, or even living mostly in your head. You might struggle to know what you want or need, override your limits, or feel trapped in cycles of stress and burnout.
From a nervous system perspective, this often indicates dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze/dissociation) — a state of collapse, disconnection, and hypoarousal, where the system conserves energy by numbing sensations and dampening aliveness.
But what if I have this out of body feeling with anxiety?
The out of body feeling with anxiety typically happens when the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) is highly activated, but the intensity of the activation is too much and overwhelms the system. If the body and brain perceive that fight or flight isn’t possible, the system may simultaneously bring on the dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze/dissociation)— the state associated with collapse, numbing, and disconnection.
This creates a blend of states:
Sympathetic charge (racing heart, hypervigilance, fast breathing, fear/panic)
Plus dorsal vagal disconnection (numbness, floatiness, disorientation, feeling unreal or detached from the body)
This blended state is what creates that confusing, surreal, “I’m floating outside my body” or “this isn’t really happening” sensation.
Important Note: This is a Spectrum
Not all out-of-body experiences are this extreme. For some people, it’s subtle — they feel “foggy” or “spaced out.” For others, it can feel like full-blown depersonalization (feeling detached from oneself) or derealization (feeling like the world around you isn’t real). These are nervous system protective responses, not signs of personal weakness or something broken.
Know this isn’t a personal flaw. It’s a protective response rooted in evolutionary survival. If the body registers that the situation is too overwhelming, threatening, or inescapable, it defaults to the dorsal vagal response (freeze/dissociation) — essentially ‘checking out’ to protect you from the intensity of the experience.
What Causes Disembodiment?
Disembodiment most often occurs from body-related trauma, but not always. Body trauma involves any instance where the physical body is assaulted, attacked, injured, etc. This can be caused by another human, or an object such as a car, medical surgical procedures, or even from a slip or fall. When the body becomes a site of pain — through abuse, neglect, illness, or injury — the most instinctive response is to leave or disconnect from the body.
It can also begin in childhood. Growing up in environments where emotions were dismissed, punished, or ignored, children learn to turn away from their own internal world. In order to survive they prioritize external cues — the moods of others, the unspoken rules of the family, or the pressure to perform and achieve.
But disembodiment doesn’t only happen in the context of trauma. It also happens in a culture that conditions us to prioritize thinking over feeling, doing over being, and productivity over rest. In this way, disembodiment becomes a collective experience — not just a personal one.
How do I stop feeling out of my body?
Feeling out of body may feel surreal but it can also be is deeply concerning, as the body and being are experienced as separate. Because this is a mind-body experience it is important to engage the mind and body in somatic based practices. Somatic Experiencing Practitioners are highly trained in trauma resolution and nervous system regulation. Their methods don’t force the body back online — that would just recreate the overwhelm that caused disembodiment in the first place. Instead, the focus is to build capacity — gently expanding the nervous system’s ability to stay present with sensation, without overwhelm. This process is called titration — working with small, manageable pieces of sensation until the body and the being feels safe enough to stay present.
Here are ways to begin using somatic experiencing approaches:
1. Orienting to Safety
Start by orienting — letting your eyes and body scan your space for signs of safety. Noticing the colors, the textures, the support of the chair beneath you. This simple act brings the ventral vagal system (the social engagement system) online, sending signals of safety to the brain and body.
2. Micro-Doses of Sensation
Instead of trying to feel everything at once, practice sensing one small thing — the warmth of your hands, the gentle weight of your feet on the floor, the coolness of air entering your nose. Let it be simple and safe.
3. Pendulation
SE teaches us to pendulate between states — gently visiting sensation or emotion, then returning to a sense of safety or ease. This back-and-forth builds tolerance and resilience.
4. Vagal Nourishment
Support your vagus nerve with practices like humming, sighing, gentle rocking, or self-touch (like placing a hand over your heart). These practices invite the body back into ventral vagal regulation — the state where embodiment naturally unfolds.
5. Repair Ruptured Boundaries
Practice feeling the edges of your body — where your skin meets air, where you make contact with your environment. This helps rebuild a sense of “I am here” — essential for embodied safety.
6. Somatic Support
Healing deep disembodiment often requires safe relational support. Working with a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner offers a safe container to explore sensations, titrate stored trauma, and gradually restore your capacity to be fully present in your body. You can learn more about somatic experiencing sessions here.
Final Thoughts
Feeling out of body is often a sign that our system is stuck in an overwhelm and seeking protection. While it can feel distressing, it’s also an invitation to slow down, tune in, and gently guide yourself back into connection with your body. Through mindful practices, somatic awareness, and compassionate self-care, you can cultivate a deeper sense of presence and safety within yourself.
If this resonates with you and you’d like more support in reconnecting with your body, consider working with a somatic experiencing practitioner because of their specialized education in nervous system regulation. You can learn more about this here.
Brianna Anderson, SEP
I’m here to help you heal so you can begin to live the life of your dreams
My private practice specializes in helping people who have endured trauma, resolve the symptoms out of their body, mind & spirit so they can feel comfortable in their skin, find inner peace and live the desires of their heart.
I am based out of South Orange County, Ca and offer online therapy sessions. Whether you are just starting your healing journey or ready to try something new, I am here to help.
is trauma holding you back?
Perhaps you experienced a specific event that left you feeling different, disconnected, or stuck. Or maybe you carry a sense of unease in your body, struggling with anxiety or a feeling that something isn’t quite right.
As a somatic experiencing practitioner I specialize in helping people process and release stored trauma through gentle yet effective methods.
Download my FREE guide “Get Unstuck! The Truth About Body Trauma and How to Break Free’ and learn how to create the future you deserve.