QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

What will happen during a TRE™-session?

  • In the first session you will get some backround information about TRE™. We will then start with a moment of grounding for you to arrive in the present moment.
  • We will do the seven TRE™ exercises together and the last one will transition into your neurogenic tremors on the mat (5-15min to begin with). You will learn how to self-regulate your autonomous movements and we will practice how to pause and stop the process. I will support you in keeping your awareness on your embodied experience and give advice on how you can release that energy flow in your body. 
  • At the end you will have time to relax and integrate your experience. There will be the possibility to share thoughts and ask questions.

How does neurogenic tremoring help with trauma and PTSD?

  • Since neurogenic tremoring is happening autonomously, we can get access to our unconscious processes. It can help us regain trust to a disconnected or dissociated body and to relax a dysregulated nervous system.
  • Usually, the trauma-response does have different steps: surviving the situation, releasing an excess of traumatic energies (once the danger has passed) and a state of rebalancing or relaxation (‚feeling safe again‘).
  • Unfortunately the second part of physical tension release and tremoring is often suppressed or withheld in our culture. We have learned via processes of socialisation that this is seen as a sign of weakness. If the amount of tension and stress in our bodies cannot be down-regulated sufficiently, we carry accumulated embodied traumatic energies around with us. 
  • In this case we may have physically frozen body parts (freeze-response) or dissociated states, in which we are disconneted from our bodies. Additionally, we might not feel safe or are chronically tense because our brain does still receive signals of being in survival mode.
  • Neurogenic movements allow the body to release those stored tensions. Many traumatised people have also experienced that old triggers dissappear slowly. 
  • With TRE™ it can also be possible to release certain traumatic contents directly or let go of high emotional stress. Mostly it is enough to stay with a focus on pure physical experience. A lot of the traumatic stress does resolve naturally without having us to remember or talk about any memories. This is because the body is able to let go of physiological components of past traumatic events, uncoupling them from embodied memory. 
  • Additionally, there might be unresolved traumatic stress and tension from the past which we cannot remember consciously (e.g. early childhood traumata). In this case TRE™ is a very helpful tool for healing trauma. 

Can children do TRE™ ?

  • Yes, TRE™ works very well for children and adolescents. I recommend parents to try TRE™ too, especially if they wish their children to do it. 
  • Past experiences have shown that it can help children and adolescents with regulation of emotions. Nervousness, fear/panic, fidgeting, aggression or anger are all signs of an overload of stress in the nervous system. 
  • Often, children do not shake as long as adults because they don’t hold as much tension yet. They usually find it easy to let go of the reflex to let their body tremor autonomously.
  • TRE™ can help adolescents to develop a positive physical awareness, to reduce stress and pressure, to relax and to find emotional balance. Especially since they have to sit for a long time in school. 
  • Shaking together as a familiy may also be a great contribution for a harmonic family climate. 

Can you do TRE™ while being pregant?

  • There are no studies so far about TRE™ and pregnancy. However, it is a natural ability of the body. Unborn babies also show spontaneous movements.
  • Some women have reported about their experience with using TRE™while pregnancy. They found it to be helpful as a way of supporting the autonomous process occuring while giving birth. 
  • It is possible to try TRE™ during pregnancy, but ideally you are under medical care and listening to your intuition. If you feel unsafe it is best to wait until you have given birth. TRE™can also help with healing from birth trauma.
  • In the Swahili midwife tradition it is common knowledge that women should be shaking after giving birth in order to make a complete recovery. 

→ Video about TRE™ and birth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKiugnftoII

→ More information: https://www.treaustralia.com/for-birth/

What makes TRE™ unique compared to other relaxation techniques (e.g. Yoga)?

  • TRE™ is different to other consciously directed relaxation techniques: it is initiated by our autonomous nervous system which allows the body to access unconscious deeper tensions and traumatic patterns in the body.
  • Neuorgenic tremoring is a process during which we are partly letting go of our control (in the frontal lobe) allowing our body’s physiology to move freely. 
  • This creates a form of auto-regulation where the movements are an unconscious regulation driven by the autonomic nervous sytsem.
  • Other techniques we use to relax or regain balance are usually using self-regulation, it is always a conscious process of deciding and directing what we do. Auto-regulation begins where we let go of self-regulation. 
  • TRE™ helps to let go of our control in order to allow auto-regulation in a balanced way. In other words: we let our bodies act out its innate wisdom to release tension, blockages and to let energy flow freely. 
  • Yoga and TRE™ can be a great combination: we can also shake in different positions to access different parts of the body. 

How much TRE™should you do ?

  • General guidelines recommend to do TRE™ about 3-4times a week. This allows you to observe how you react to it and how well you are able to integrate it into your life. 
  • Later on you may do TRE™ more often and it is best to try how much is best for you indiviually. Once a day seems to be a good way to support your body (e.g. as a routine in the evening, after work or after doing yoga/other sports).
  • Most people shake for about 10-15min. Some tremor for only a few minutes and others need a longer, more intense time (up to 1h). You can always stop or pause the tremors and continue another time. 
  • As a general rule: do as much as feels good to you and in a way that it helps you. Don’t do more than you can integrate into your life. Always listen to your body ;)

Are the seven exercises necessary to start neurogenic tremoring?

  • No, but especially at the beginning they can be helpful to stabilize the tremors or to acces deeper muscle tissue. 
  • If you have enough experience you can simly lift your pelvis to activate the movements. 
  • Doing sports our other kinds of exercise before shaking can be helpful too (e.g. yoga, pilates, jogging, etc.) because your muscles are already activated. 
  • If you are well-practised in doing TRE™ you can easily integrate it into your day whenever you feel like rebalancing.

Who should not do TRE™ ?

  • If you have had a medical procedure like a surgery you are advised to wait for 6-12 weeks before doing TRE™.
  • Please try TRE™ only with extra caution if you have epilepsy, any serious injuries or a cardiac pacemaker.
  • General advice is that you can do TRE™ if you are able to do other sports. It is however possible to practise the neurogenic tremors with various physical restrictions. The exercises may be modified accordingly.