Today I will write about a method that a friend of mine recommended to me regarding the treatment of persistent atopic dermatitis (thanks Rachel 💜). It is used, e.g. in PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - under the supervision of a therapist, as such sessions can become a bit intense. However, it applies to practically everyone's life, because each of us regularly experiences stress, which very often creates tension in our muscles. This can be the cause of all kinds of illnesses as well as chronic pain.
TRE combines the elements of yoga, bioenergy and qi-gong through a system of exercises designed to cause uncontrolled muscle twitching, which releases this tension. If we look at the animal world, a natural behaviour is, for example, for swan to flap its wings after a fight - which allows the animal to function perfectly normally right after the event. Unfortunately, in the world of people, we have learned to simply block these natural reflexes, because it is not appropriate, because what will people say, because I will not show that I am weak... We suppress fear, anger and sadness, and since our body is a reflection of what is happening in our mind, these emotions are, as it were, stored in the muscles. Children do not have a problem with this, we often see them shaking when crying after an unpleasant event. Hence, Dr. David Berceli, creator of this method, complied a sequence of exercises that release the negative energy stored in our bodies.
Sometimes the practice becomes so emotional that you cry or get irritated. It is good, as long as we can distance ourselves and do not let these emotions carry us away. However, if the trauma is too intense, or we feel very uncomfortable giving control to our body, it is good to do it under the supervision of a TRE therapist. A list of therapists available in each country can be found below my post.
The set includes 7 exercises that are good to do after other physical exertion, such as yoga or running - the vibrations will appear faster when we are tired. As a rule, the more athletic a person is, the more difficult it is to induce them, but typically 10 minutes of exercise should be enough for everyone. Initially, it's a good idea to do them every other day and watch your reactions the next day. If you feel irritable it may be a sign that you have overworked and it would be worthwhile to shorten the exercise/vibration time. Ultimately, it is recommended to do exercises every day.
- While standing, lean on the sides of your feet - one side, then the other.
- We rise on the toes of one foot, until we feel tiredness of about 7 on a scale of 0-10. The other leg can support us at the back, as long as the entire body weight is on the exercised leg. We repeat the same with the other foot.
- Then we strain the thigh muscles. 😉 With the weight of the body on the front leg, do squats until your muscles are tired at 7/10. The rear leg can support us if needed. Of course, we repeat with the other thigh.
- Bend forward with your legs spread as far as possible, 3 full breaths (inhale+exhale). Then we reach with our hands to the right foot, take 3 breaths, then to the left, again 3 breaths. We go back inside and reach back with our hands as far as possible, making another 3 breaths.
- Backward lean - while spreading, we lean on our hands on the lower back (or around) and tilt the torso and head back, we stay in this position for 3 breaths. Then we lean back, turning the torso to the left - 3 breaths, then the same thing to the right.
- We "sit" in the air with our backs to the wall, knees at about right angles. At the moment of fatigue on 7/10, we move the torso a few centimeters up and we are stuck there until 7/10 again, then a little higher again. After the exercise, stand up straight and bend forward. At this point, the first vibrations may appear!
- Lying supine on a yoga mat or rug, bring your feet together and open your thighs outward. We lift the pelvis up as in the bridge. We stay like that for about a minute or as long as we can. We put the pelvis back on the ground, repeat the bridge after a minute. Then, with the pelvis on the floor, place the feet flat on the ground and wait for the vibrations to appear. We can try to change the position of the knees inwards by a few centimetres until we feel tremors. Sometimes moving your feet forwards or backwards helps to achieve this - if it didn't happen, I recommend repeating the bridge until it does, and then enjoying this slightly weird experience of trembling (or crying because of it, but it's good tears!) for 5-10 minutes initially. If tremors are too intense, or when we are ready to end the session, we can do so by straightening our legs and flexing our feet upwards. Finally, by staying lying down, we integrate changes, enjoying mega relaxed muscles!
In my case, only the thighs were trembling at first, but after a few sessions other parts of the body joined them. I recommend experimenting with positions, lifting your feet or hands, etc.
Finally, I would like to add that my first experience of releasing emotions in this way was during a difficult yoga sequence. Muscle twitching from exertion just made me cry, something came off me! Amazing relief, so for some time now I have been regularly allowing myself to tremor with the help of TRE. Interestingly, those skilled in this method will be able to cause these uncontrolled vibrations at their own request, without the need to exercise - this is what happened to me after a few weeks of practice.