TRE (Trauma Release Exercises) in London
What is TRE?
TRE stands for Tension and Trauma Release Exercises. It's a series of seven simple movements which, done in an environment of safety, invite the body's natural tremor response, helping to release deeply held muscular tension.
Doing TRE can help you to shake off tension, trauma, stress and pain. It can help you to become more resilient, by allowing your nervous system to release stress and return to a flexible state of balance and calm.
It can help you connect to, and find safety in, your body, move out of chronic and acute states of fight, flight or freeze, and build a greater capacity to tolerate difficult feelings.
It can help you relax, by letting go of muscular bracing and guarding.
TRE is designed as a self help tool. Once you've experienced the process in the safe hands of a competent therapist, you can take it with you and practice by yourself for life.
I teach TRE in London online, working with people across London and the rest of the UK. Most people can learn the basic TRE sequence over a small number of sessions and, if appropriate, continue practising independently.
Here’s a brief explanation of TRE by its founder, David Berceli.
Online TRE works well alongside Pain Neuroscience Education and Cognitive Hypnotherapy for anxiety, trauma, stress, insomnia and chronic pain. It complements the broader Breath Body Mind Method, supporting nervous system flexibility alongside cognitive and subconscious work, and other types of Somatic Therapy.
What can TRE help with?
People use TRE for many reasons, and some find the tremoring can release tension that hasn’t responded to other approaches.
Many are living with anxiety or the ongoing strain of chronic stress, and TRE can provide an outlet for that sympathetic activation.
TRE is also widely used alongside trauma and PTSD recovery and for insomnia.
“Ella was amazing in supporting me to feel safe and comfortable whilst doing TRE. She also helped me find parts I had lost in myself.
I’d highly recommend her services to anyone”
What happens in the body
TRE works by selectively tiring the muscles of the lower body, especially the calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, adductors and psoas. Lying down in a receptive position after the exercises allows neurogenic tremors to arise. They usually start in the hips and upper legs.
This kind of tremor is a normal part of how warm blooded animals complete a stress response, and is very different to pathological tremoring (such as in Parkinsons or dystonia).
Why TRE is beneficial
The core condition of a TRE practice is feeling safe.
Learning the exercises and experiencing the tremors/ integration period whilst being taught by a trained practitioner sufficiently skilled, empathic, and regulated to hold space for people is a vital part of the process to begin with, before a personal practice is established.
By being compassionately witnessed, and feeling present in one’s body whilst connected to their environment and the people around them, the person doing TRE can feel safe to let go, be curious about and trust the process, trust their body, experience the tremors as enjoyable, and allow the nervous system to move out of survival states into a more parasympathetically dominant state.
“I recently had my first TRE session with Ella. I really didn’t know what to expect but Ella explained and demonstrated everything really clearly.
I have been suffering with very constricted hips and lower back that stretching and massage was not really helping. After doing the very straightforward preparation exercises I then started to experience the release tremors.
Ella was very supportive and kept explaining everything that was happening as it is a quite unusual sensation at first.
I ended the session on a high! With my hips feeling considerably better. I have continued to use the method to maintain the release.
I would highly recommend Ella to anyone who is suffering any physical or emotional stress. She is very empathic and kind and offers the perfect level of support throughout” - Nicky
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Yes, its one of the main purposes of TRE. Many people find TRE supportive for nervous system regulation because tremoring can discharge accumulated stress and tension from the body.
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Yes. When practiced regularly, TRE can help you feel calmer, more grounded and more connected to your body, by reducing accumulated physiological stress and tension.
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Yes TRE can be very helpful for relieving chronic stress.
Many people use TRE to support recovery from chronic stress and nervous system overload. The tremoring process can help to promote a greater sense of safety and relaxation.
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TRE tremors are natural muscular vibrations generated by the body. People experience them differently, though many describe sensations of release, warmth, relaxation, emotional relief or reduced physical tension.
They can feel like waves, wobbles, shaking, rocking or bouncing. Not everybody experiences them the first time they try, although most people do.
For more info about TRE from PTSD UK, click here.