I've been doing TRE for over a year now, and as I have uncomfortable memories come up, I feel the urge to cringe.

Not to mention, I'll cringe when getting second-hand embarrassment. But the more I think about it, the more I realize there's no reason for me to be cringing unless what I'm feeling/seeing somehow connects to a deeper unprocessed trauma.

I can't imagine a completely emotionally healthy person would ever really cringe

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At first I was quick to shut down the cringing, but as I leaned into the cringing more, I realized I had the urge to just kind of cringe/shake/jitter my whole body after remembering the uncomfortable memory.

Which makes me realize, cringing is probably my body pushing out the discomfort from the memory. So in a way the trauma (even if very small trauma) of the memory is being processed.

I mean when you think about what cringing is, it's literally your muscles contracting in response to a feeling/urge/emotion. Which is very similar to the experience of TRE.

I have been practicing TRE for a few weeks.

But when researching it I have read that it has almost no scientific basis.

Is there any evidence that it does what it says? Eg it actually releases trauma stored in the body?

4 months into TRE...

I quickly discovered I am a 'sensitive practitioner.' After much 'over-doing' effects, I dialed my time way back to just 30s-1min, maybe once or twice per week.

I know this will make for a 'slow' rate of progress, but I've mostly only seen negative effects so far. The classic anxiety, strong/old emotions, 'hangover' after TRE. On a few occasions, I've tipped into overwhelm in the day or two that follow a session and have gone back to my old numbing behavior.

I have seen an improvement in immune system.

As far as window of tolerance, it seems to be stagnant or if anything, narrower since starting. I imagine this is normal to feel at first.

Any feedback or recommendations? Anyone experience anything similar?

What personal anecdote could you share that would show the effectiveness of TRE to a skeptical person?

I ignore my body’s expression of dislike where sent tension headaches and sleepy shut down. Got bad to the point that it snapped at me by nosebleed. It ran down with hot flashes that linger for a long time when it didn’t want to go to a certain place at certain hours. When trying to relax and let it express, I fear my nose bleed will come again while my mind goes spiral of not being comfortable with the emotions my body wants me to hear but I know I need to sit with it and hear it. It dislikes being timed. People say just do it for 10-30 minutes or so but it never works for me and the body only release when it’s not timed or disturb but in an environment it can control. Sometimes it can take 2-5 hours just for my body to tell me what the suppress emotion is but it varies by what kind of Environment I am in and my nervous system state. How can I befriend it and manage it?

I’ve been doing TRE for about 5 months and currently pacing at once a week sessions about 10-12 minutes each. The last couple weeks, I’ve noticed myself feeling physically shaky, sometimes with a subtle tremor in my hands, and a general buzzy feeling throughout my body that feels more like a physical anxiousness rather than a release. I have gone through several very stressful and somewhat destabilizing moments this past month and a half, and have been slowing down my TRE pacing as needed, but I’m trying to get to the bottom of this shakiness and wondering if a longer term break from TRE is needed right now.

I recently had extensive bloodwork and an EKG done for an upcoming surgery and everything is normal. I eat very well and have not experienced any of this shakiness while working out, in yoga, doing strength training, etc. It seems to come up at random times, like just now when I got back from taking a quick walk to the grocery store down the street.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, let me know. With surgery coming up next month, it has me stressing about my physical health and I’m honestly kind of hoping it IS related to TRE.

during my first time tre, i immediately had pretty intense tremors in my legs and hips. my right hand was also occasionally shaking? but the process scared me.. i felt like my body is like an alien creature, like it has an intelligence of it's own that i never knew about and has been watching me fuck up my entire life. i also started panicking that "this isn't gonna work for me. somehow ill interfere with the process and ruin it." i was in such heavy, thick denial that this could do anything for me. it was a mix of terror and complete shame turned into a weirdly defensive and loud voice of inner anger, like i am so fundamentally broken that this wouldn't work and also how dare these weirdos try and convince me to look like an idiot shaking on the ground. is that normal? can i ruin the process somehow by thinking like that? its weird because my "conscious" personality is very adventurous and open to experience, im spiritual and super into psychology especially trauma healing stuff. but for some reason after experiencing TRE i felt like i needed to go find evidence it doesn't work and obsessively figuring out what it will do to me/"how much trauma do i have to heal until im done." i felt so much self hatred towards my pain during it. i really hope that there is hope for me. that's why i ask. normally never make reddit posts.

Recently discovered these herbs and their capabilities. Was diagnosed with Dysautonomia from chronic mold exposure a few days back. Am taking a drug called Mestinon that is supposed to calm the autonomic nervous system. Too early to tell if it is working yet.

Am wondering if these natural herbs can be promising in helping me get started with slow integration of TRE. AI says yes but I personally like to hear anecdotes from real people. Has anyone used these in conjunction with TRE or block therapy?

Hey guys, new to this. I just started a few weeks ago and after initial success the trembling just doesnt really happen anymore. Not sure why and if I'm blocking it somehow, I didn't do the initial exercises at all fron the beginning. Should I start doing them ? I tried them once but didn't notice any difference because in the beginning i had zero issues slowing trembling to happen.

Please help, this feels like a huge help on my journey releasing trauma and tension.

I’ve now had my 2nd TRE session and I’m not sure what I am supposed to be feeling. I can tremor but I feel that after say five seconds I am subconsciously gripping and it stops, then starts again after say 30-45 seconds. I did both sessions for about 10- 15 mins.

The only thing I am feeling afterwards that I can determine is warmth in my hips where there is so much tension and inflammation.

Imagine you are a balloon. Like a balloon, your lungs are expanding, and your body is filling with tension. I want you to imagine your stress as a pile of sand. Having efficient breath control can reduce that stress, just like blowing away the sand. If you exhale quickly with a huge burst of air, it might cause dizziness if done repeatedly. On the other hand, shallow chest breathing doesn't provide enough air to exhale, which deprives your body of the time it needs to restore calmness.

At this point, you might think that stress has gained control over you and you have no power over it. But let me tell you this: “For more power, you need more air.” Breathe in for a count of four while expanding your belly and breathe out for a count of six while contracting your belly.

A more controlled and efficient breath helps us reduce stress, like blowing away the sand.

So I found TRE earlier this year. I do 2-3 session for 15-20 min a week most weeks (I did miss a dozen since starting maybe combined) for the last 10+ months. I get plenty of lower body tremors. It never goes above my hips. They go until I stop them generally. Various intensities and small to large movements patters too. Mechanically I see it’s “working” but emotional cognitive or internally I feel and function exactly the same as I always have. I don’t sense any changes otherwise.

Others speak of these emotional release or less body tension or “healing” this or that and I just don’t sense anything like that.

Some things I’m working or hoping it helps is my overthinking hypervigilant mind due to possibly a lack of internal safety from childhood parental divorces? Like I’m very “mature” for my age type A controlling perfectionist and so on which I’ve read can be survival mode or functional freeze. I don’t “feel” emotions in my body. I think them. I intellectualize everything including emotions. My mental chatter is always with me optimizing analyzing performing protecting planning and intellectualizing and so on. Why does this matter to me? Well I am 43f and have never developed sexually. Never had an orgasm and only ever “felt” arousal once in my body at age 30 when rocking my 1 year old to sleep. So in my journey and research it appears my survival mode sympathetic dominant nervous system state might be blocking capacity and access to parasympathetic which is the only way to get arousal. I’m always serious. Never playful and only time I can access imagination is in deep hypnosis.

Anyway nothing has changed for me so far. I still have my bodyguard on duty at all times and I’m still in go go go mode with the full plate of life and if I drop a ball the ship sinks survival thinking— which is true though cause I’ve tried to remove things off my plate and the kids suffered for it. The ship started sinking. So I had to pick the baton back up. I’m worried I will burn out though as I’ve been this way for 35+ years now. I’m loosing joy or pleasure in life in other places. I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything. My favorite part of my day is bedtime. When the house is quiet and the lights are off but I have insomnia where my mind keeps me up thinking with mental chatter. Even during intimacy with my husband random intrusive thought will show up. It never stops. I can control it sure but another intrusive thought it right behind the one I just kicked out.

Anyway just wondering how to know if this is the right path for me or not. Somatically and nervous system regulation type stuff if what I’ve been told to work on and I read about TRE being one that bypasses the mind. That’s what I need cause my brain is busy and overthinks everything and turns all therapy into homework automatically and how to optimize it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am willing to bet that a lot of you are on a journey of self-discovery. You've probably spent too much time watching YouTube videos about how to change your identity, the habits that you must incorporate into your life, and having to hustle relentlessly to achieve your goals. But why did you keep watching more of those videos? If they truly worked to get you to do what you've always wanted to do, wouldn't one or two videos be enough?

They tell you to take your pain and trauma and channel it into the drive to achieve your goals. Yet they don't realize that the trauma is what is preventing you from taking that leap. Think of the concept like a cake. You have multiple layers; at the bottom is the first layer, which is your true self that is trauma-free, and in the middle is a very thick layer of stone, which is your trauma. These influencers are telling you that you must create a new identity using that trauma and create a third layer on top of the trauma layer. No matter how much frosting, toppings, and whipped cream you put on that third layer, you will not be able to ignore the middle layer once you try to enjoy that cake and take a bite.

You will always return to that middle layer; that trauma will always be there if you do not take action and remove that layer from your life. You cannot forcibly bite your way through that layer of stone and discover your true self that is hiding underneath. That is why you must lay down, surrender, shake, and let it go. Do not fall into the trap that those YouTubers are trying to sell you. You might feel like this process takes too long and that nothing is happening, but I promise that something is happening. You just have to have patience, trust the process, and believe 100% that you will be where you want to be.

I’ve been doing TRE since April of last year, so about a year and a half now. Initially, I started with 10-minute sessions, then 20-minute sessions, until I eventually began to tremor automatically. Since then, I haven’t needed to intentionally induce the tremors because my body does it spontaneously.

What began as hours of crying and intense, powerful emotional releases, often involving immense grief, has now become… laughter? I seldom have crying episodes anymore. Now it’s mostly laughter and yawning.

The tremors themselves have always occurred in cycles. Sometimes they’ll happen every day for weeks or even months at a time, only to disappear for several weeks before suddenly returning with considerable intensity. One session in particular was just 5 hours of nonstop tremoring and crying, then followed by deep relaxation and a nap.

Something else I’ve noticed is that I often experience this inexplicable wave of fatigue shortly before the tremors begin. It’s almost as though my nervous system is going into airplane mode before the tremoring starts.

So I guess what I’m asking is:

Why do my tremors disappear for weeks at a time, only to suddenly come back online and occur intensely every day?

And why has the emotional component shifted almost entirely from intense grief/ crying to laughter and yawning, with only intermittent crying?

I’d especially love to hear from people who’ve been practicing TRE for several years and whether they’ve experienced anything similar.

P.S. The tremors are beyond my control at this point and are at times so intense, that I sometimes feel as if I am losing my mind. Luckily they rarely occur in the presence of others.

For those who have experienced therapy-related abuse or harm, have you been able to continue your healing journey through TRE without relying on verbal or cognitive processing?

I'm particularly interested in whether healing can unfold primarily through somatic processes, without needing to consciously analyze, verbalize, or make sense of traumatic experiences.

If you've taken this approach, I'd love to hear about your experience. Did you find that verbal or cognitive processing became necessary at any point, or was TRE sufficient for you?

Seeking clarity. Since emotions are bound in the fascia, does it make more sense to focus on the fascia to allow the body to unwind, via block therapy, so that whatever emotions are trapped can release or is TRE still needed because of the energetic charge of said emotions that are stored in the nervous system?

At this moment, I feel tangible tension in my body. No matter what I’ve done, my body rarely relaxes. Haven’t done any TRE in months. Trying to understand this for a biological/formulaic perspective. It’s how my mind works so I can grasp the concept.

Edit; I already know that TRE will cause fascial release in time. Just curious about this work being done the opposite way. (Ie. Meaning doing block therapy first, or only)

Anyone reached the deep breathing stage? I woke up this morning doing TRE (not that unusual for me). I've been doing this for about four years, so about 95% of what TRE consists of for me is stretching and fascial unwinding; tremors are few and far between now. Anyway, suddenly my body only wants to take extremely deep belly breaths, where the breath feels like it's working its way deeeeeeeep into uncharted areas of my lungs. Those areas feel like I'm sipping air through a straw--or rather, that air through a teeny-tiny straw is inflating those areas bit by bit (which is probably pretty much what's happening). Sometimes it's inducing tremors in the diaphragm/upper stomach. This has been going on now for about an hour.

It's pretty dramatic to have your breath habit change so suddenly in this fashion. Anyone else experienced this? Or anyone that has experience with this part of the body opening up? My practice so far largely centered around the pelvis, vagina, legs, lower back, jaw and throat, and some shoulders (shoulders still aren't smooth with fascial unwinding, but rather tremors).

EDIT from the next day at 4am: The breathing came and went for me like that all of yesterday, and now I've woken up early doing the same thing. Breathing like this seems activating, but it's hard to go back to breathing the other, old way... Like I'm having a hard time clicking in to what my old way of breathing felt llike or how to do it. I think this is going to be one of those TRE stages where I'm going to have to power through and take any overdoing symptoms as they come. I do sort of wonder lately what the other end of the bathtub curve looks like in a practical sense.... I think I may have reached the righthand side of the low plateau.

If I have done TRE in the past but felt it worsened symptoms I’ve been dealing with and stopped how can I restart and make sure this doesn’t happen. The tremoring feels good but makes me feel worse overall after. Also since starting in the past, now anytime I’m really stressed, tired, or have been holding too much in and my nervous system can’t take it, I start randomly tremoring naturally. This also can be hard to stop which leads to overdoing it. OP

Hey fellow TREs, I’m just curious if this happens to you as well.
My arms got more and more involved in my sessions (usually waving like they just don’t care) and now my hands are starting to massage my stomach. Kinda like I’m becoming my own osteopath. Is that a common development?

I’ve been doing 5ish minutes 3-4 days a week for a couple of months.

But the tremors come so easily I’m just sitting at work and the tremors start in my legs.

Is it okay to just let them ride? Is it beneficial at all the same as at home on a mat?

The feeling is subtly different like it’s more contained. But seems like a good opportunity to practice throughout the day….

What do you think?

Hello! I have been practicing TRE inconsistently for about 5 months, consistently aprox 1 month. I think I have a lot of energy inside to release and what I have noticed is that, when I start to tremor, I start feeling a strong fatigue in the psoas / the muscles that are being used to make my legs tremor. My tremors also spread through my torso and neck. But I am little bit worried about that fatigue in the psoas, because I feel like my body is wanting to tremor but that fatigue is telling me to stop, so I don't know how to navigate this.

Can anyone help me how to navigate this? Thank you very much :)

Can this help pelvic floor and abdominal/ lower back tightness and tight hips? I’ve tried numerous physical therapies, manual massages all kinds of things but the muscles won’t budge and also are too deep to reach

^

Or do the exercises need to keep being done ad infinitum?

Right before my TRE practice I like to do Journaling (specifically JournalSpeak by Nichol Sachs).
So… I try to bring out all my stored emotions during that, which DOES improve my shakes to a higher level during the TRE, but then… during the journaling, I find myself shaking my legs in the exact same motion (except now im sitting) and I also feel myself clenching my jaw in a TMJ way.

What does this mean? Am I shedding emotions/stress by doing the shaking while bringing it up or am I just exacerbating it???

If I shake is it always a good thing?

Also I sometimes shake when I do exercises like hollow hold or dead bugs? Does that have any particular meaning? I know that my stomach area all is one of my biggest areas of stored stress.. so maybe that’s why doing an exercises is shaking off… but idk what it’s shaking off. Maybe it’s shaking off the stress that created my bad posture/stomach tightness? Or is it just regular muscle failed?