As I shared with you before, I discovered TRE many years ago, but then abandoned it and sadly lost all these years. Probably because I didn't understand its power or totally dismissed it as I was under the impression that I had never experienced trauma – how wrong I was!
But when Covid hit and experts were talking about the collective trauma we were experiencing, I remembered TRE again.
I'm still grateful that I had a really pleasant lockdown experience. I was on furlough, enjoyed plenty of me-time, started all kinds of training, discovered a whole new world of online conferences, lectures, virtual meet ups and was constantly asking myself how I could help people who experienced the lockdown in a very different way.
I was determined to start my TRE training in order to support people who were struggling, i.e. people working in healthcare, living in challenging (family) circumstances, not able to access counsellors or physiotherapists.
I have a foundation training in counselling, although working with a counsellor myself didn't help me much. But when I learned about the mind-body connection and how clever our bodies are, I found it mind-blowing.
I also clearly remember one of my first questions on day one: “Could TRE help my own back pain at all?”
The answer was: “Yes, if it's tension-related!”
Well, I didn't know if it was, to me it was just an annoying lower back and hip pain that I had already tried to tackle with meditation, breathing, yoga and the official NHS back pain exercises, but I hadn't seen any improvement at all.
After my first tremoring experience I remember that it felt strangely weird but very, very relaxing and I slept like a log.
And after a few weeks, I noticed my back pain getting better and better. I was delighted – this must have been the solution I was looking for.
Success!
I tell every client that TRE is neither a cure-all-and-everything nor a quick fix. But TRE can most certainly help with any health issues where tension is at the root of the symptom, e.g.:
tension headaches/migraines
back/shoulder pain or tech neck
teeth-grinding
gastrointestinal issues
anxiety/irritability
Just don't expect to tremor once and expect all your tension to melt away immediately – consider how long your body has been building up that tension, so it'll need time to slowly release it.
Patience is key!
This is also the reason why I teach TRE as a course. We meet for four sessions over two months and this gives you time in between to practise yourself, establish a routine and notice results.
In a future blog, I'll tell you about the fizzy drink analogy and why we shouldn't release too much tension too fast.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to book in for a fact-finding chat, please get in touch with me and I can't wait to talk to you.