TRE® includes a series of easy stretches using the muscles of the lower body and builds up a little shaking in the legs. Once the body is shaking, you lie on the floor, and encourage these natural vibrations to move through the body, without trying to control them.
Best Types of Exercise for PTSD
Strength/resistance based exercise, aerobic exercise and mindful-based exercise practice such as yoga can all help. So realistically, all exercise is beneficial! It comes down to what you enjoy and ultimately, what you want to achieve. That's why the goal setting process is so important.
What Are Trauma Release Exercises (TRE)? Trauma and Tension Releasing Exercises (TRE) engage the muscles to produce tremors. These vibrations are believed to release tension in the body that has accumulated from nerve-wracking experiences, aiding the healing process.
TRE can also be practised alone as a self-help tool, once you've tried it out with an experienced provider.
Many people can learn TRE by reading books and/or watching the DVD. However, some may benefit better if guided through the exercises by a Certified TRE Practitioner. One might have an immediate result from the exercises and others might not experience the results until after practicing the exercises a few times.
Ever since people's responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response.
TRE® includes a series of easy stretches using the muscles of the lower body and builds up a little shaking in the legs. Once the body is shaking, you lie on the floor, and encourage these natural vibrations to move through the body, without trying to control them.
Somatic massages have been found to be helpful for people who suffer from PTSD. The therapist will work with the client to help them to identify and release areas of holding in their bodies. This can help to reduce the symptoms of PTSD, such as flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety.
The trauma-informed approach is guided four assumptions, known as the “Four R's”: Realization about trauma and how it can affect people and groups, recognizing the signs of trauma, having a system which can respond to trauma, and resisting re-traumatization.
Massage therapy for trauma release seeks to help the nervous system regulate itself to move out of the constant state of hyper-vigilance. It also releases tension brought on by this state of fight or flight.
Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas. Traumatic stress is associated with increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to subsequent stressors.
When a person experiences a traumatic event, adrenaline rushes through the body and the memory is imprinted into the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system.
The most common areas we tend to hold stress are in the neck, shoulders, hips, hands and feet. Planning one of your stretch sessions around these areas can help calm your mind and calm your body. When we experience stressful situations whether in a moment or over time, we tend to feel tension in the neck.
Intense Fear or Hypervigilance:
Sometimes people experience unexplained fears. This can include people or places. This often results in hypervigilance and a constant feeling of being on guard. Both fear and hypervigilance are clear indicators of unprocessed trauma.
Reported side effects include mild nausea and headaches if you overdo it, but TRE is generally considered to be as safe as other exercise-based stress-release practices, such as yoga.
Are there any side effects? Yes, some people who have used TRE too much found that they became angsty, anxious and easily restless. We tend to think that “the more, the better”, but that is not the case with TRE. Part of the objective of doing TRE is learning self-regulation.
The exact mechanisms of action of TRE have not been scientifically demonstrated, but it is believed that the neuromuscular tremors release deep-rooted muscular tension and that it regulates the nervous system so that a state of relaxation and calm is obtained.