ABOUT TRE®

Stress has become part of our everyday lives. We experience it on a daily basis through most facets of our being, yet we don’t really realize how much it has affected us.

The facts about tension and stress:

  • Nearly 90% of all doctor’s visits are due to stress
  • Our health is compromised when chronically stressed – Increased anxiety, depression, pain (headache/migraine, muscular pain, phantom pain), high blood pressure, digestive issues, weight gain, sleep problems, pregnancy complications
  • Decreased immunity to infections, viruses, or disease
  • We become easily susceptible to self-inflicting harmful behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug use, overeating, cutting, suicide
  • Our professional or personal/social relationships suffer – becoming irritable or by socially isolating ourselves
  • We have decreased focus or impaired memory function

 

What is stress?

The most common definition of stress is that it is a conscious or unconscious psychological feeling or physical situation which comes as a result of physical or/and mental 'positive or negative pressure' to overwhelm adaptive capacities.  A simpler explanation would be, any experience that requires a change in our normal coping mechanisms.

When we are faced with a stressful circumstance, our bodies respond with physical changes to help us cope with the circumstance at hand. Imagine while out for a peaceful walk and suddenly coming face to face with a tiger.  What physically happens to your body is that your heart will beat faster, your  blood pressure and blood sugar rises, your digestion slows, your muscles tighten, all to cope with meeting  the tiger, but once the circumstance has passed, our bodies should quickly return to homeostasis (its equilibrium).  The problems start when stressful events become a constant (the tiger is now following you) and we don’t have the ability to return to homeostasis; instead we stay chronically stressed.  Maybe it's not a tiger we are facing, but a difficult boss,  arguments with a loved one, or perhaps even the beast of everyday traffic. Stress is everywhere!

    How can TRE® help relieve stress?

    Tension Release Exercises (TRE®) were developed by David Berceli, PhD, during a long career working in areas afflicted by war and natural disaster. After witnessing trauma on a mass scale, he came to a deep understanding of the trauma cycle and recognized a desperate need for effective recovery methods. He designed a series of simple exercises to turn on the natural human shaking response that signals a return to safety and calm. By activating this self-induced therapeutic tremor with mindful attention to physical and psychological comfort, there is usually no need to actually talk about the original stress to achieve lasting, positive results.

    “Because the therapeutic tremor is effective in intense trauma, it easily works with daily stress and tension.”  

    For more than 20 years, Dr. Berceli has been teaching people across the globe how to harness this innate ability to heal trauma, release stress, and reclaim health. The TRE® mechanism, or shaking ability, exists in all mammals and humans.  It is the body's most organic and natural way of unravelling contracted or tight stress patterns, as well as reducing the charge of stress hormones and un-healthy chemical build up, bringing the body back to homeostasis. 

    Benefits of TRE include:

    • Release of chronic tension and emotional or physical stress
    • Increased energy and stamina
    • Less anxiety
    • Relief from body aches, including back pain, headaches/migraines, and TMJ
    • Enhanced ability to stay focused and connected
    • Improved sleep
    • Better mood
    • Greater mobility

    Group workshop or private session?

    This depends on your levels of stress, tension and possible trauma in your life.  Some of us are very stiff in our bodies, and may need a few private sessions to work with gently moving some of this tightness, or contractedness out through the body in a safe and supervised manner.  

    Certain people enjoy the energy of a TRE® group class while others enjoy private sessions working with a TRE® Provider facilitating the space one-on-one. Once learned, it is helpful to join a group a few times a year; this assists in supporting your growth, and creates support from a growing community.