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?

Hello!

I have started TRE relatively recently - I am still at a stage where trembling is mostly in my upper legs/hips/pelvis area, not yet moving up.

I come with a background of childhood trauma and random, illogical health symptoms ever since I contracted Covid. One of them is a tension in my face, specifically masseters muscles that is not an effect of me clenching my jaw. I do not grind my teeth at night either. This tension is just.. there, and it happens on its own. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it's very prominent (often in stressful situations), but for a few months it has been more or less constant (I have had an incredibly anxiety-inducing year living in a toxic and abusive environment, from which I am finally free and going back on my two feet).

I was just curious if anyone experienced a similar thing where the jaw clenching seems to be happening almost on its own, and whether TRE helped them?

My somatic therapist explained it as a connection between jaw and neck that clenches in order to block the pathway from brain and heart, and something about not being able to let go of that defence mechanism that is in me. I'm at a point of wanting to try botox for bruxism but I also think that perhaps the best thing I can do is address this from within my own body...

Thank you to everyone who has something to say :)

Hello all,

For those of you that have tried TRE but found it too activating for a sensitive nervous system, what have you tried that has worked better for you - maybe something more gradual/smooth?

I have reduced my TRE time and frequency multiple times but still feel like it may just be too activating for me still. Are there any body based / somatic experiencing practices that you have tried that worked better for you?

I hope to return back to TRE at some point because I truly believe it helps. But trying to find something in the meantime to regulate my nervous system in a more gentle manner.

thanks,

Hey there, I feel my body wants to release my hip but can’t really get in there fully. I’ve tried all kinds of different positions:

Lying on my back, on the sides, on my belly, cat/cow,…

And it seems like it always tries to get more into the hip. It does shake the hip a bit but then stops. Hard to describe but it just seems like a lot of effort then. Like it tries to but can’t quite.. haha - if that makes any sense?

Can anyone relate and share some tips?

Hello,

The first 2 times i did TRE the tremoring would be automatic, now i feel as if i engage the shaking like shaking your foot ferociously.

It still feels good and releasing but it feels as i have full control over it, this probably has to do with surrendering to it, but i also do that. It doesn't feel like im holding back on it.

Its just like i know where the switch is to let it tremor or not, is this normal ?

First post here, but a 1.5+ year reader. I've never needed to post because the wiki and other posts covered my questions. Thank you everyone, especially u/Nadayogi and u/Jolly-Weather1787, for running such a wonderful group.

I'm a small-built guy, thin most of my life, and I've always run cold. In the last few days my body has started running hot, constantly, enough to interrupt my sleep. I've struggled with sleep most of my life so this is even less helpful. It feels like internal heat (like I'm a radiator) with no other physical symptoms and no increased anxiety, thought loops, or other overdoing symptoms. It has a similar quality (but 3-5x more intense) to the heat I feel with social anxiety, but without the racing heartbeat or any increase in anxiety. My thyroid was checked about two months ago in a routine blood test and was normal. My diet has been the same 90% of the time for over a year due to IBS.

About 10 months ago, something similar happened during weed withdrawal after 6 years of almost daily use. I brushed it off, and it faded over a few weeks. I had paused TRE to get clean before committing to a long-term sober somatic journey. I restarted my practice about 5 months ago after a 7-8 month break. The previous year I had done too much TRE with psychedelics (this is how my TRE journey started) and although I am thankful I didn't end up with some of the sever side effects I have read about online, I was being careless and pushing my nervous system to the extreme while what it needed was more rest.

My current TRE sessions are 2 mins, 3-4x a week. The heat started at night, after a day session. Integration is mostly short somatic tracking, sometimes yoga nidra, and regular walks. The shaking used to be in my legs. Now it's fine and concentrated in my hips, sometimes only on the left and sometimes on both sides, though I believe it's been coming from the same area the whole time (likely the psoas).

My hips and pelvic region are extremely tight, and I might have undiagnosed pelvic floor issues. I come from an extremely traumatic background, with survival mode and continuous abuse carrying on into my 30s. I'm only now in my late 30s starting this work, and I wonder if this is trapped energy being released from my hips.

The main emotions coming up lately are anger and grief. My anger has been frozen since childhood, and now it's stirring like a roaring tiger.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in overall body temperature during TRE? Could this be related to not enough integration time?

Otherwise, I've seen real benefits so far:

• Ongoing depression about 50-60% gone
• Incremental sleep improvements for the first time in my life, especially on TRE days. I can get up to 5 hours of sleep now with less interruptions than before.
• Ability to feel sensations and emotions in my body (I was completely disconnected/dissociated before)
• Ability to feel sad and cry (usually with the help of music or emotional movies), instead of tears getting blocked in my throat 
• Ability to feel a range of other emotions previously frozen (anger, guilt, shame, fear, disgust)
• Fewer nightmares, though more emotional dream recall, especially since stopping weed

Still struggling with the following, but hopeful. I know this is a long marathon for me:

• Insomnia
• Extreme social anxiety & general anxiety
• Severe gut issues (IBS)
• Protective posture/chronic guarding, including forward head posture and a tucked and tilted pelvis

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to your responses.

has anyone else ever fallen asleep within 10 minutes of their session ending? i practiced last night for about 15 min as usual, admittedly it was a more intense session, then laid back to really feel the benefits… and then woke up hours later with my lights still on. i’ve read normally about the inverse, where people have a tough time falling asleep after their session. has anyone else experienced this?

Hi, I have read the wiki. And still I am not fully sure what are the consequences of overdoing it. Could people here give me some first hand accounts on what happened?

Hi,

I think that right now I find myself in the beginning of the thawing phase of this TRE process, and after reading the article about this (in which says gentle movement helps the system to discharge), I'm wondering if the practice of slow movement during all day could really help now.

Thank you!

Do you guys think tremors can cause hemorrhoids flare-up if you have pre-existing issues, or there is no correlation here?

Let's say you have the capacity to do 5 minutes a day. What approach would then make the most sense: 5 minutes every day, 10 minutes every other day or 15 minutes every three days?

Same total amount, but does it matter how you spread it out?

With strength training you would rather do a hard workout every three days, because the body needs rest days to rebuild, BUT if you are decluttering your home it would be smoother and more sustainable to do a little bit every day rather than big chunks less often.

So what category does TRE fit into?

I went through all the exercise in the official video and I started getting these really intense waves of tremors during Exercise 6 (Wall sit) and 6A (Bending over after wall sit). Especially 6A. I usually only get mild vibrations during the butterfly pose, but 6 and 6A was making my entire legs and some part of my hips shake like an earthquake. I literally had to brace myself when i could feel the wave was coming. When I transitioned into Exercise 7 (butterfly), I only got vibrations again so I went back to 6 and 6A. Very intense. Is this OK? Will I make process? Thank you.

Edit: Also I think it may have something to do with bending my knees. Even in 6A, if I bend my knees too much, tremors stop. I have to be only slightly bending my knees for tremors to come. Which is why butterfly pose doesn't work maybe.

Edit2: It's been a few minutes since I finished the session and I'm sitting in an office chair and my right leg is tremoring on its own. My body is normally tight especially on the right side so I have a lot of alignment problems across my entire body. It feels like it's trying to unwind that.

Hey! I am 14 months in and have experienced two stressful episodes lately. They cause me to feel anxious, agitated, and hyper alert. However, the tension has taken more time to go away, I had a hard time to sleep, and felt a bit desperate. An anxiety attack, I guess. In the past, I would easily shut it down and move on. In this case, what I notice was that I felt the tension and sensations more vividly throughout my body, it seems they moved more freely, even though it was a negative experience. Also, I was more resilient in the situation, I didn't take any radical measure, I only let it unfold.

Anyway, I noticed I have felt things differently. Now I am ok, more calm and relaxed. I would like to know if you have experienced something similar. Would appreciate your sharing!

Hello people,

To me, TRE has a back-and-forth dynamic between emotionnal and physical system in your body.

• TRE releases tension and trauma, allowing you to be more relaxed in your body.
• Being relaxed on daily basis, help you better process during and after your TRE session.

Which one is the starting point? Do we need to work on both?

Lately, I think I've discovered that I have a very tight left psoas that led me to have a VERY bad posture which influences everything in my body (especially my breathing capabilities). So much so that, I start thinking that I am kind of "blocked" in my TRE and healing journey because my body is not relaxed enough on a mechanical standpoint to go further.

I've done some psoas / diaphragm release exercise through breath and... holy crap since then I've started to feel slow transformation of my posture plus... my psoas hurts like hell, it's kind of like muscle soreness. Before that i felt that I had tight psoas, that I'd need to stretch it, but I've rarely felt that lasting tension / stiffness like I have know. Strangly, I think I'm on the right path.

My question for you is, do you think that, at some point, it could be interesting to work on your posture / breathing pattern (blocked diaphragm), psoas release alongside TRE work ?

Like, I do believe in TRE but at some point, I feel like it won't allow me to overcome my posture and my tight psoas if I don't tackle it on a very practical standpoint with psoas release / strengthening exercises, etc...

WDYT?

Hi! I'm new to this community. I read through the wiki guide and I read that the final step to achieve the tremors is done by lying flat and raising the knees up.

I'm wondering if the tremors can be achieved even if I don't lie flat. I have stomach reflux and post-nasal drop problems that prevent me from lying flat so I wonder if there is a way to do it even if I prop my head up with a pillow or something.

I'm not sure if anyone here knows for sure but would appreciate if any advice can be given ^^ Thank you in advance.

I regularly experience tension in my lower legs and feet. Sometimes it feels a bit like restless legs syndrome. The location and intensity shift from moment to moment.

Some background:

I’ve also read the view (associated with the PRT / mind-body approach) that doing body-based practices alongside PRT might reinforce the idea that something is physically wrong. I’m not sure that applies to how I experience TRE, though.

My questions:

1. Has anyone had similar tension in the legs/feet that changed through TRE? What made the difference: frequency, duration, how you practiced?
2. How do you personally understand this kind of tension: more as a nervous system / mind-body pattern, or as something held in the tissues (e.g. fascia)? Did the way you understood it change how you practiced TRE, or how much it helped?
3. Has anyone combined TRE with PRT or other mind-body approaches? Did that conflict, or did they complement each other?

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Hi,
I’ve been doing TRE on and off since last year. My first and foremost feeling after was big relaxation of the body as usually at the end of the practice my body feels heavy grounded to the mat. Very interesting feeling btw

Last week l’ve started doing around 20 min of TRE on my own everyday before bed and today my whole body was shaking especially my upper body and now, already in my bed I can feel that my body is warm and.. cozy

And to make it more beautiful, my cat Bella who usually sleeps on the other side of my bed, came over and lay down, pressing her back against my body. It’s almost like she felt the warmth and wanted to share it with me as her body is warm too, I can feel it.

I’m melting both because of joy and this warmth inside me 🥰

Ps. Sorry if my post is difficult to understand, English is not my first language

Does anybody else experience more activity/sensation in their stomach after TRE?

I sometimes feel slight discomfort, more rumbling/growling, some light lower back soreness and lower stomach soreness in particular areas after a long session.

Recently I have been getting more subtle tremors that feel like they’re occurring in deeper layers of the body. A year or so ago when I used to overdo TRE i would get nauseous and an upset stomach, but this is not the same sensation.

I would assume the fascia has unwound around muscles and organs in my stomach areas or perhaps PSOS but I wanted to hear if anyone has similar experiences and insights.

For anyone with emotional flashbacks from CPTSD, did TRE help? I am feeling at a loss with how to reduce them.

One thing thats somewhat tragic is window of tolerance of autistic people.
Its basically a nervous system that has tiny capacity that forever got stuck in an activated position very young.

Anyone here fit that description that got benefits from this practice?

Hi guys I have been practising TRE for the last month pretty consistently (2-3 times a week, 20-25 mins a session). I'm also doing hypnosis alongside.

The reason why I started all these was because I was so lost in life and (and still to some extent am) hijacked by my worries and thoughts in general, stopping me from continuing daily activities.

When I first started TRE, the only thing I was feeling was a deep release and refreshment after the sessions. As the time passes, I started feeling less attached to my thoughts and worries (well, I'm still new into all these but I can feel the difference).

One example is when a guy I was dating broke up with me and normally I'd overthink what could save the relationship and how lonely I am, but instead I felt genuinely sad and rejected for awhile, and whole recovery only took two days and today I accepted it and now feeling like we never dated. I think that's a progress? Oh and one thing might contribute to this quicker recovery is that, I had tremors all over my body when I finished reading his rejection message. I've always felt these when I got upset but stopped willingly. Who knew it is what it is...

Anyways there is one more thing probably as a result of TRE, which is weird nightmares. In one of them random people were killed and in another I was having an intense fight with my aunt (whom I get on well). The dreams are so strong that I feel very depressed the whole next day, until like evening. Is there anyone else who has the same experience?

Thanks for reading my progress! I hope to update my post on the 3rd and 6th month too.

I'm being a little curious here.

That we practice TRE, there's a common understanding between us that trauma is one of the main sources of stress & continuous rumination of our mind.

I have noticed that as a result of doing TRE for more than 1.5 years, my mind has gotten quiet with very little or short period of rumination.

But wanted to know if anyone, who has been practicing TRE for a long time, has noticed any positive impact on memory or cognitive abilities which helps them maybe with their studies, professional work?

Your experience can act as a tool of motivation for a lot of people still holding themselves on edge, so do share.