Why practice TRE?
TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises) is a practice designed to reset your nervous system through the activation of neurogenic tremors. ‘Neurogenic’ means arising from the nervous system. They are completely different from pathological tremors, as seen in Parkinson’s, dystonia etc.
These tremors, when experienced in an environment of safety, reset your stress cycle and provide a corrective experience to your nervous system, allowing a sense of balance and ease. Being able to come back to rest, digest, growth and repair more easily each time you practice.
TRE is taught as a self- help tool- meaning once you have had tuition by a qualified and experienced teacher such as myself, you can safely and effectively practice by yourself. This means it’s a very sustainable skill to acquire. Regularly practiced, you can use TRE for anxiety, pain, trauma and stress relief. It will release tight muscles, especially parasitic tension caused by stress and trauma..
The practice is divided into 3 parts- the first part is the 7 simple warm up exercises that create the conditions for the tremors, the second part is the tremors themselves, and the third part is the integration period afterwards. The tremors aren’t under voluntary control- they do come from your brain, but not the neocortex- they come from the brain stem, the same part of your brain responsible for other involuntary actions such as your heart beating and your digestion.
You can however control when you start and stop them, and you can choose to stop at any time.
Practicing TRE regularly will dial down any overactivation in your nervous system, meaning you can come back to the healing state of parasympathetic dominance. This state is where the magic happens. Because your nervous system is a bit like a see-saw- you can only have one side active at a time. Spending too much time in fight/ flight/ freeze/ fawn is damaging and promotes disease.
Fight/ flight is really useful in the face of an acute stressor- nobody wants to be calm and relaxed when running away from a tiger. When activated this way, our muscles tighten, our digestion turns off, and we become hypersensitive to threat- all useful if in actual danger. But nowadays, there are no tigers chasing us- instead, we deal with chronic, daily stressors such as deadlines, money worries, the news, social media, and demands of work- but our bodies react in the same way.
This, especially when combined with trauma stored in our bodies from difficult childhood experiences, causes our stress activation to remain stuck on ‘on’. Which means it’s harder to sleep, digest food, feel relaxed, or recover from illness. Being in low grade fight/ flight can cause shallow breathing, anxiety, restlessness and hypervigilance, and can exacerbate autoimmune disease , as there is a close link between the immune system and the nervous system.
The thing is- the aim isn’t to be calm and relaxed all the time. The aim is to keep that see-saw well oiled and fine tuned, meaning we respond in an appropriate way and can easily switch sides as needed. So regularly doing TRE for anxiety, stress, tension and trauma is a brilliant way of healing the body and bringing the whole self back to a state of natural balance.
If can also have some unexpected and welcome effects too- below is a recent update from a former client-
‘I thought you might appreciate an update on my TRE practice at home, for your own interest or in case it's of use to anyone else. I have been continuing to do the practices twice a week where I can - a minimum is once a week.
When I came to you this time last year, I was also experiencing menstrual issues, possibly associated with perimenopause, and probably also associated with my severe fibroids. I was having quite heavy mid-cycle bleeding, my periods were extremely heavy and painful and I was having hot flushes and night sweats.
I wanted to report that it is the TRE that has made the biggest difference and shows that clearly the trauma held in my body has most certainly affected my hormonal balance. By the start of the summer, all of the above symptoms had stopped. All of them. No more mid-cycle bleeding at all - not even light spotting. Hot flushes and night sweats stopped. Completely. By the end of the year, all cramping had stopped. This year, my periods are lighter.
During the summer, when I eased off the frequency of the TRE practices, the spotting and hot flushes returned for a couple of months - this was motivation enough to get right back into the TRE twice weekly again, and it has all stopped again.
I have been amazed by the effect - and very grateful! And very fascinated by it all. It wasn't a consequence I expected or even hoped for - I had no expectations really; I just appreciated the theory behind it and wanted to see how it would work for me. Just thought you might be interested to hear a follow up on the effects of the practice.’
How interesting is that? I hadn’t anticipated TRE being able to eradicate menopausal symptoms! Who knows what other benefits await? In just 2 lessons yu could have this self help tool at your fingertips. And the other good news is, learning TRE online is just as good as learning it in person- if you are interested to try this innovative practice, why not get in touch?
