Yes, I'm talking to everybody, well, every body
- Sylvia
- Jul 30
- 6 min read
People often ask me who TRE is for and regardless of how long you've been following my work – maybe you have also asked yourself this question?
When you read my recent blogs you can read about TRE and ...
- carers - the menopause - children's mental health - birth trauma - self-care - (war) anxiety - heart health - stress - the nervous system - massage chairs - sleep - burnout prevention - chronic aches and pains - digestive health - and so much more
It might look like I'm talking to everyone.
And yes, I am.
As the common denominators are tension – which many of us carry in the body – and the nervous system – we all have one and often it's running on overdrive.
Hence, I'm not addressing a specific group of people who happen to be male or female, of a certain age bracket, with a certain (stressful) job or other (parenting/caring) responsibilities, with a certain diagnosis – or, quite often the diagnosis of MUS (Medically Unexplained Symptoms).
"I had no idea how tightly I was holding myself together until I started practising TRE. Releasing physical tension seemed to create more emotional space too."
Karen
I believe everybody could benefit from learning and practising TRE, so let's discover why it's designed for every body.
TRE is the most innate response to too much stress
... and in my next newsletter I'll tell you how I recently experienced this first hand.
This innate reaction is how our bodies function when the brain doesn't override this bodily reaction, for instance:
- when receiving bad news, you can see people tremoring - after an accident, legs are shaking - before public speaking (if you find it stressful that is), hands might be tremoring
- many women tremor after childbirth, it's called postpartum shivers
These are all stressful situations where the body is winning so to speak and – most importantly – the body is not malfunctioning, it's working on regulating itself, in fact, it's supporting you and your recovery.
In our day-to-day stresses, the brain overrides the body by saying something like:
- calm down and hold it all together
- keep a stiff upper lip
- don't show vulnerability
So we suppress this most innate way of stress release, something we are designed for and that we share with all mammals.
You see it beautifully in dogs – they very quickly and briefly shake after a stressful incident and then life is good again.
I'm always trying to capture it when I'm out with friends who have dogs, but it's difficult, because it happens so quickly ... here's one example, though:
And you might have heard stories of the polar bear or the antelope who are shaking after an attack.
Here you see the impala antelope in flight – running to regulate:
[if you want to save time, you can fast forward to 3 minutes]
And here you see the impala after freeze (it literally faked death) – shaking to regulate:
So if we are genetically encoded to deal with huge stress in such a way – to me, this is the most important argument for TRE.
Thankfully these extremely stressful situations tend to be rare, but let's acknowledge it, life in the 21st century can be stressful and for many of us this is just our default as we don't know it any other way: appointments, deadlines, commitments for ourselves as well as for others we look after and so on and so on.
The World Health Organisation states that Stress is the health epidemic of the 21st century.
And while we seem to have become experts at managing stress, very few of us have ever been taught how to release it.
That's what we want, right? Getting rid of it, rather than reorganising it.
"I found TRE incredibly supportive because
it didn't require me to explain why I was stressed or overwhelmed.
It felt like my body was finally getting a chance to do
what it had been wanting to do all along."
Janet
Because – and that's the next argument – stress can be the cause for dis-ease.
Either physiological – tension headaches/migraines, teeth grinding, neck/shoulder/back pain, digestive issues or psychological – anxiety, overwhelm, irritability, anger issues …
Imagine how we could nip many of these in the bud if we regularly practised stress hygiene.
And this leads us nicely to prevention.
Stress is at the root of many symptoms, if we can release it, we don't have to wait until something hurts or irritates us.
Pro-actively working on stress release can potentially prevent many health issues from developing.
Symptoms like tension headaches or migraines, teeth grinding, back pain, digestive issues can all occur or get worse by stress. As can menopausal symptoms. I've heard so many lectures that have raised this.
"I originally came for stress, but what changed first was my IBS.
My tummy settled down long before I noticed any emotional shifts."
Joanna
Apart from stress relief, TRE is also about empowerment.
As I always say: I don't treat you, I teach you.
And I'm not here to make you dependent, but equip you with a skill you can use for the rest of your life.
I think that's a huge benefit – if you'd like to take ownership of your health and well-being that is.
I appreciate that some people want to be treated, though, and that's absolutely fine.
May I suggest to check out the other modalities I offer:
- Jikiden Reiki – Japanese energy healing in its purest form
- Silent Counselling – an energy modality, blending EFT (tapping), kinesiology and breathwork (often only a few sessions are needed)
- Laughter Yoga – a fun, childlike and joyful way to relax and de-stress
- Nutrition according to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) – food is the first aspect to consider in TCM, it's the basis of everything.
I always recommend TCM for two main reasons:
- if you want to lose weight without restrictions, dieting or calorie counting
- to address menopausal hot flushes
Another fascinating aspect of TRE is that it doesn't need a language – whatever your mother tongue, your body knows how to tremor and all bodies speak the same language.
This takes us to the mind-body-connection – an important fact to mention as many people feel so disconnected from their bodies – we tend to live in our heads most of the time, right?
And as the mind and the body are not two separate units, but one system that makes us us, it would be ideal if we can acknowledge both.
We've seen that shaking helps us to release tension – and it also supports the nervous system.
So, let's talk about TRE and the nervous system.
You've probably experienced it yourself, when you are stressed, you feel out of balance, maybe anxious or irritated and patience begins to wear thin.
That's the sympathetic nervous system in action.
And when you are in a good place, i.e. when you are relaxed, happy and calm it feels much better, right?
And this is the parasympathetic nervous system – think of it as a parachute gliding slowly and calmly down to earth.
With TRE we can reboot ourselves and re-set the nervous system so that we feel calmer, deeply relaxed and more at ease.
If you find that hard to believe – please recall how you feel after a massage treatment.
The therapist 'only' worked externally on your body, but you are most likely feeling super relaxed, sometimes even emotional, afterwards.
Again, that's the mind-body-connection and your nervous system being calmed.
And that's what happens in TRE.
Last but not least, I want to make clear that I don't want to convince anybody that they have to try TRE, far from it.
I want everybody and every body (and mind, of course) know that TRE exists.
And I want everybody to understand what practising TRE can potentially do for us.
And I say practising, rather than me treating you like a (massage) therapist – because I 'only' teach you how to learn and practise TRE safely and effectively.
Then TRE is in your hands, well, body, and you can use it for the rest of your life, which many of my clients find hugely empowering and also time saving and cost effective.
And once you experience what your body already knows and how it can support you, you may never look at stress in quite the same way.
Finally, if you are curious and want to find out more about TRE and how it can support you, I invite you to get in touch – either by sending me a message or by booking a fact-finding chat.
You deserve to feel so much better.
PS If you're unsure what kind of support would suit you best, I'd like to introduce another option.
I'm part of a multidisciplinary network of practitioners, My Triage Network, including psychologists and complementary health professionals. The network's founder, Dr. Patapia Tzotzoli, personally speaks with everyone who gets in touch, helping them explore their situation and connecting them with the practitioner who best matches their needs.
One of the reasons I'm honoured to be part of this network is that Patapia recognises the importance of the mind-body connection. As a psychologist herself, she understands that different people benefit from different approaches and that often it can be quite supportive to combine mind and body-based work.
Whether you choose to work with me or another practitioner, the important thing is that you find the support that's right for you.
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