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| # 2022-01-05 - TRE, Tension or Trauma Releasing Exercises | |
| TRE stands for Tension or Trauma Release Exercises. It is a set of | |
| exercises that helps to evoke the psoas muscles--a major set of | |
| muscles where we often store physical, emotional, and mental stress | |
| in our bodies over the course of our lives--to release neurogenic | |
| tremors. This combination of neurological and physiological | |
| involuntary tremors can lead to a release of deep tension, stress and | |
| trauma, helping the body to return to a calmer and balanced state. | |
| In other forms of stress-relieving practices such as mindfulness | |
| meditation, we use our neocortex to monitor our bodily function (i.e. | |
| breathing). This is an example of a "top-down" approach. In | |
| somatically based approaches such as TRE, they tap into our autonomic | |
| nervous system and reach out to the limbic system and neocortex | |
| creating a "bottom-up" approach. TRE is not just a physiological | |
| exercise, but also a neurological workout. | |
| TRE was created by Dr David Berceli, an expert in trauma intervention | |
| who used to work in war-torn places. Over the years, he noticed how | |
| people often responded to crisis by curling into a foetal position, | |
| which contracts the psoas muscles. Observing that children would | |
| shiver (or tremor) and shake, but adults would not, Dr Berceli found | |
| that adults stopped themselves from shaking because they were worried | |
| that they would frighten the children, or were afraid of embarrassing | |
| themselves. Interestingly, animals in the wild respond to stress or | |
| predators in a similar way, collapsing into a frozen position in | |
| extreme danger, and getting out of such a position through shaking | |
| and tremoring. Wanting to help people tap this natural mechanism to | |
| release deep tension and stress, Dr Berceli discovered more about the | |
| human anatomy and other body-related therapeutic modalities, and | |
| created TRE. | |
| In the first few exercises we stretch hip and leg muscles then while | |
| lying down on the back, with feet together and legs apart, most of | |
| the shaking will take place. | |
| # Exercise 1 | |
| Stand with your feet hips-width apart. Roll your feet onto the outer | |
| edge of one foot and inner edge of the other foot. Put all your | |
| weight equally on both feet. Then role your feet to the other side. | |
| Repeat x10 on each side. | |
| # Exercise 2 | |
| Stand with one foot forward, put your full weight on that foot, using | |
| the foot behind for balance. Rise up on your toe, let your back foot | |
| leave the ground. Stand on your toe for a few minutes (you can hold | |
| on to something for balance). Repeat x10 on each foot. | |
| # Exercise 3 | |
| Stand on one foot, bend the other knee behind you in the air. Put | |
| both hands down on the ground, on either side of the foot for | |
| balance. Bend and straighten the leg that you are standing on. | |
| Repeat x10 on both legs. | |
| # Exercise 4 | |
| Stretch your feet wide apart. Put your fists on the small of your | |
| back. Bend knees, push your pelvis forward and lean your head back | |
| and breathe. Repeat x3 times | |
| Straighten up then turn and look as far as you can over your shoulder | |
| and breathe (legs still apart, hands still on back). Change and look | |
| over the other shoulder. Repeat x3 for each side. | |
| # Exercise 5 | |
| Legs wide apart bend forwards, stretch your arms out with your | |
| fingers touching the floor. Bend one knee and walk your hands to | |
| that foot and breathe. Bend other knee and do the same. Repeat x3 | |
| for each foot. | |
| # Exercise 6 | |
| Shake body out. Stand with your back against the wall, feet apart | |
| and bend your knees--you should be able to see your toes. Rest your | |
| hands against your sides. 5 minutes. | |
| # Exercise 7 | |
| Lie on the floor, push the soles of your feet together, legs apart. | |
| Left pelvis about 2cm off the ground and hold. 5 minutes or for as | |
| long as you can make it without pain. | |
| Drop pelvis, with soles of your feet touching lift knees 5cm off the | |
| ground for 5 minutes, then 10cm for 5 minutes and finally 15cm for 5 | |
| minutes. Rest. | |
| The tremors varies from person to person. You may feel furious | |
| trembling or barely feel a thing. The more you do it the more the | |
| trembling will spread starting in your legs and hips, moving to your | |
| stomach, then chest and head. To see any difference you may do the | |
| exercises every day for ten days. | |
| One central tenet of TRE is that our bodies innately know what to do. | |
| However, our culture lacks bodily trust. In the beginning it is | |
| very important for it [TRE] to be a pleasant experience, and that | |
| means self-regulating. | |
| Three self-regulating tools: | |
| * Slow down the tremor by either opening arms and legs in clamshell | |
| position, or stretching legs out. | |
| * Stop the tremor by puting legs out, locking the knees, and | |
| flexing the feet. | |
| * Modulate the tremor by changing the distance between the knees. | |
| TRE is not an extreme sport. Sometimes less is more. Moderation | |
| shows leadership to your nervous system. | |
| tags: article,health | |
| # Tags | |
| article | |
| health |