Let's go back – say about 60,000 years and discover what the hunter-gatherers
got up to.
Picture them – either peacefully picking berries or waiting to kill their dinner – and suddenly … the wild beast appears.
What happens?
Heart and breathing rates increase
blood pressure rises
muscles tense up
pupils dilute
stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are being produced
and the body goes into fight or flight mode, utilising all the energy to run away or fight the beast.
A very clever and supportive body reaction, don't you think?
Nothing else was more important in that moment than providing the energy to fight or run away – and that's what homo sapiens did.
In doing so, the body brought the stress hormone levels back to the normal baseline and the body and nervous system relaxed.
Fast forward to the 21st century and not much has changed.
Well, OK, the wild beasts have – now it's all about, e.g. arguments, deadlines, forgotten appointments or the fear of public speaking.
Our bodies react in the same way, i.e.:
Heart and breathing rates increase
blood pressure rises
muscles tense up
pupils dilute
stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are being produced
... but we are not running or fighting.
This doesn't give our bodies the chance to process the excess stress hormones and they can linger in our system, often for a long time.
In addition, as we are trying to hold everything together and keep a stiff upper lip … we are holding on to all that tension – which can manifest as, e.g.
tension headaches
teeth grinding
neck/shoulder/back pain
gastrointestinal issues
anxiety, irritability, anger
the list is endless
Only in extreme circumstances is our brain not able to override the innate body reaction – such as after an accident, when getting really bad news and sometimes after childbirth.
What's happening then?
Legs start to tremble, hands to shake, jaws to quiver.
Great!
The body is reacting in the most helpful and innate way – studies show that people who shake in these situations are able to process and get over these shocks much better.
So whenever you see somebody tremoring, e.g. after an accident – DO NOT stop them or try to calm them down!
Their body knows what's best.
And what does that all have to do with TRE?
Well, in TRE we give our body a chance to release all that tension that has accumulated in our bodies - sometimes over decades - we can also down-regulate the nervous system and relax deeply.
As you might know, I've shaken off my own lower back and hip pain and so have some of my clients, some are not teeth-grinding anymore, in fact, one client felt her face so relaxed after her first TRE session, she hadn't even noticed that she was clenching her jaw.
I've worked with people who suffer from constant pain and were pain-free for a few hours after practising, many people report much better sleep patterns and others feel more relaxed and not as irritable or anxious as before, hence their relationships (with self, their bodies and their family/colleagues) improve … and so it goes on.
As always, I want to point out that TRE certainly isn't a cure all-and-everything, but if tension is the root of the issue – and in a vast number of cases it is – it is most certainly possible to find relief.
What would you like to shake off?
Are you ready for the biggest transformation of your life?
Let's start with a fact-finding chat to find out how TRE can support your health and well-being.
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