TRE gives your body the opportunity to shake off what has been suppressed, retrospectively, from stressful situations such as public speaking or when angry.
Normally, it’s only in extreme situations – for example, after an accident, being held at gunpoint or after an intense birth – that we allow ourselves to tremor as the body overrides the brain.
Most people’s reaction when seeing someone shaking like this is to try to calm them down and stop them from shaking. ‘This is actually the worst thing you can, do as you’re stopping their body from naturally dealing with the stress,’ says Sylvia.
But, unlike deliberately shaking, which you see in other modalities and the ancient practices of indigenous people in Japan and India, with TRE, the tremors originate in your brainstem, which is the part of your brain that regulates unconscious, involuntary reflexes and basic functions such as your heartbeat, breath and motor coordination.
‘Tremors in TRE don’t have to be vigorous – even a micro tremor can make a big difference,’ says Sylvia. ‘No tremor is better than another, and the body does what it needs to do without you thinking about it.’
Another benefit is that you don’t need to verbalise any trauma or stress or analyse it, as with talking therapies. While Sylvia has a foundation training in regular counselling, she finds that body work gets better results.
‘TRE has produced amazing results both in myself and my clients, including more resilience, better sleep, and fewer or no more aches and pains. It’s literally the best way to “shake it off” and feel so much better!’ she says.
HOW TO PR ACTISE TRE
These warm-up exercises can help prepare your muscles for the tremoring process. Feel free to shake out your legs in-between exercises.
EXERCISE 1
● Place your feet roughly shoulderwidth apart.
● Roll to the sides of your feet, from left to right and back to centre.
● Do this in your own time, about 5-8 times.
EXERCISE 2
● Place your feet roughly shoulder-width apart.
● Like a ballerina, raise your heels high and then lower them back to the floor.
● Keep a scale from 0 (I don’t notice anything) to 10 (I’m exhausted) in mind.
● Stop doing the move when your calves feel tired, which would be roughly a 7 on your tiredness scale.
EXERCISE 3
● Place your feet roughly shoulder-width apart with one foot in front of the other – the front leg is your standing leg, the rear one is for balance.
● Bend your standing leg as if you were about to sit on a chair. Come up again.
● Repeat until your thighs are tired, roughly a 7 on your fatigue scale.
● Swap legs and repe
