Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises - TRE

"...it's not the events that cause the damage to our health. It's how we respond to them." - Dr. David Berceli

I was introduced to Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises, or TRE, in the second wave of the pandemic while experiencing the deepest bout of depression that I have encountered in over a decade, following my second breakdown in fifteen years. As a Reiki practitioner working with my body and its states, to find mental, emotional and physical balance was not new to me. I was looking for a practice that released stress stored deeply in my muscles. TRE was that practice for me, to add to my self-care toolkit.

I decided to train to be a TRE provider after feeling spaciousness in my body and quiet in my mind as I chipped away at deepening my connection with my body in a series of personal sessions. The anxiety that gripped me began to melt as I practiced the technique, week-on-week. A new feeling was emerging, fleeting at first, but one that strengthened over time - safety to be in and with how my body, no matter what I was experiencing on the outside.

Why I continue with my own practice

Because a nervous-system that is not regulated, resides in fight, flight or freeze mode. Which becomes the new 'normal' for life and has an impact the hormones, my mood, how much strain my muscles hold and therefore how I respond to and can be with, Life. Research has shown that prolonged states of stress ultimately leads to disease via a weakened immune system. If you have breath and muscle in your body, the TRE method of releasing stress can be practiced anytime and anywhere with no tools required. Sounds like liberation to me. 

My TRE practice and training has given me the ability to land in my nervous system and understand how past trauma and triggers affect my life right now. Do I feel safe in my body? If I am not feeling safe, how can I ground and regulate my nervous system in this moment? How would it feel to trust my body's ability to heal and from that place of safety experience the world....

The imprint of an overwhelming situation or trauma lies in the brainstem and how it perceives the world - which is not in the control of our neo-frontal cortex or thinking mind. Which is why the experience of trauma is a felt-sensation and not a memory. In other words, trauma always happens in the body.

What is TRE?

Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) is a self-help tool developed by Dr David Berceli, that allows our natural shaking mechanism, also called neurogenic tremors, to release the stress that we hold in our bodies. TRE is the practice of bypassing the more recently evolved 'thinking brain' or the neo-frontal cortex, to work with our brainstem, commonly thought of as our older 'reptilian brain' or the brainstem. This part of our brain has evolved with other mammals over millennia and knows how to release stress by shaking or tremoring, like young children and animals-in-the-wild do.

Being human means we accumulate stress. 

When confronted with a stressful situation we have culturally taught ourselves to use our thinking brain to solve the problem. Only, it is our bodies via the perception of the brainstem that feels, stores and releases stress. Practising being with the nervous system in the form of TRE, releases elevated levels of cortisol and adrenaline stored in our muscles and fascia, to come back to a place of feeling open and safe. Over and over again.

'Am I safe right now?' That is the question your body is asking all the time.

In a world that is in a constant state of mental, emotional and physical stress, the over-activation of our survival mechanism dysregulates the nervous system. 

A threat can be perceived not only to the body, but to what we say, think, do and yearn for. When processing danger and safety our rational mind is third in line - our body and reptilian brain being the main parts that process our experience of the world. From the point of view of the body, safety and danger are physical and visceral feelings, not based in logic or cognition.

Working with our brainstem to release stress stored in the body through our autonomic nervous system lowers elevated cortisol (the stress hormone), adrenalin and opioid levels. This allows us to come back into feeling safe in our body which then allows us to heal. Physiological safety is essential for the nervous system to stay in a place of curiosity and openness and defines how responsive we are to the world. 

What happens in a typical TRE session? 

We do a series of simple exercises to warm up the muscles in your legs and your psoas muscle. The psoas muscle connects the upper half of the body to the lower half and stores the stress that we feel and are unable to release. Once warmed, if the body is feeling safe, it will release, by shaking from the psoas muscle (the muscles that connect the upper half of the body to the lower half). The tremors will move to any other muscles groups  in the upper and lower half of the body that is holding stress.

This lowers elevated cortisol, adrenalin and opioid levels, to come back into balance. Warmed muscles connect the shaking or tremors you might have experience after a strong workout to the neurogenic tremors that are connected to the brainstem- the part of the brain that releases accumulated stress and stress-related pain.

Who is TRE for? 

If you are experiencing difficulty sleeping, have anxiety, depression, poor concentration, are feeling either fearful or angry, TRE is for you.

If you are experiencing vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue or post traumatic stress, TRE could be for you.

What are the benefits of TRE?

Relief from stress-related pain, less anxiety and worry, focus and clear thinking, restful sleep, deeper body-mind awareness, a better sense of clarity in stressful situations.

The nervous system work, in my experience, is foundational work. An important component in a set of practices that tend to the physical, emotional and mental body. It is a s.l.o.w gentle and deeply effective practice to connect with your body's innate mechanism to release accumulated stress and trauma, over time. Working with the oldest part of your brain in this way, deepens the body's ability to heal. 

It is a practice of integrating, overwhelming and traumatic experiences that lie unresolved in the muscle and fascia of the body. A practice of re-building connection and safety with your body by checking in with the sensations that tell you what your body needs in the moment. Go at your body's pace, slow down to learn how to listen deeply and learn the language of your nervous system to build resilience.

As a provider, my intention is to create a safe space for you to connect deeply with your own nervous system in order to learn how to self-regulate or ground yourself, and enable you to come back into a space of curiosity and openness within your body. This no-talk method of reacquainting yourself with your body's in-built stress release mechanism can be learnt with a provider to add to your personal practice for life. Building resilience from the perspective of the nervous system to meet the world, not from a place of constant flight, flight or freeze but from a place of curiosity or grounded-ness is a lifelong practice that you will gift yourself.

How I Work

I begin with a free 20 minute video chat (contact details below) after you've read this webpage, to see how TRE can help you on your healing journey and answer any questions that might not be answered here. This chat, allows you to see if TRE is for you at all at this point in time and to see if you'd like to work with me. 

:: After we chat, if you choose to experience TRE, I will send you a 5-minute questionnaire to fill out online - since we are working with your body's physiology and neurology. The information I ask for is kept completely confidential.

:: A bank transfer is then made for a session/s. Sessions are priced on a sliding scale with a suggested minimum and maximum. 

:: Upon receiving the transfer, a time is scheduled on a Wednesday or Saturday for each session/s. 

Please note: General enquiries are responded to within 24 hours Monday - Friday

Session & Package Details

:: Single 1:1 Introductory session or Gift-a-Session

Either in-person (if we are in the same geographical space) or online

:: Packages ~ Learning TRE to practice for yourself. For life.

In each of the two packages below, I teach you to safely meet your nervous system, learn how to self-regulate to continue releasing tension from your body anytime and anywhere in your own practice.

3- Session Package

This package will teach you how to safely practice TRE for yourself and needs to be completed in 4 consecutive weeks or less.

Time ~ 1hr 15 minutes long each

Sliding scale of INR 11900 - 16900

5-Session Package

This package will teach you how to safely practice TRE & Ground yourself and needs to be completed in 6 consecutive weeks or less.

Grounding sessions are meant to teach you simple techniques, a combination of breath and gentle body-work to gently move you out of fight, flight or freeze mode whenever you find yourself in it. It can be practiced safely anytime and works in tandem with TRE to rebalance the nervous-system.

Time ~ 1hr 15 minutes long each

Sliding scale of INR 19800 - 24400

** The sliding scale is to make learning TRE for life affordable to people with different financial means. It also keeps in mind the marked difference in the earning capacity of folk from the global south vs global north. If you are from the global south but have the means to contribute a higher amount or pay it forward for less financial able folk to learn, please do so. If it is still difficult financially to access this deep work, scroll on below for free resources in the form of books recommendations and video's, as well as a (paid INR 300 or less) app to begin your self-healing journey. 

What each package includes:

• Each session in both packages is 1hour 15 minutes long.
• Follow-up emails tailored to your session will be sent after each session keeping in mind your specific nervous-system needs. 
• I am available via email, to walk you through anything that might come up in the integration time while you are learning. 
• Lifetime access to printable formats of the resources we work with during the session, to enable you to continue deepening your own practice.
• Journal prompts to allow you to deepen your connection with your body.
• Extra support when you feel stuck via email or a voice-note.

A few housekeeping notes to keep in mind...

• Sessions are scheduled only on Wednesday and Saturday.
• Cancellations without at least 48-hour notice will be charged at the session price. 
• A session can be re-scheduled once within a package with a minimum 48-hour notice.
• Packages can be had in-person and online exclusively or as a combination depending on your needs.

:: Refresher OR Stand-alone Session/s

Time 1hour

If you've learnt TRE with a provider and simply want support with a single TRE or grounding session and to chat about aspects of your practice, this is for you. 

OR

This option is also for those of you who'd simply like to reap the benefits of releasing from the muscles without learning the practice and have experienced TRE with either me or another practitioner before. Choose one session or more at any time.

Time: 1 hour OR 1.5 hrs

INR 3000/- OR INR 3500/-

Blog posts | Click on any of the links below 

What I enjoy about practicing TRE  |  'Felt-sense' as a Superpower  |  On Memories and Inter-generational Trauma

Testimonials

I feel I've come a really long way from where I was when we started our first session. All the depressive features have gone completely. I find myself being able to slowly get back to all the things that were part of my routine earlier and were a big part of my self care. Things like resuming my yoga kriya practice, gym workouts, a small meditative practice before I go to bed, sitting in silence for 15 minutes are all slowly happening now. I remember telling you how I had almost stopped work and was not taking up new clients. This has also been reversed entirely and I'm enjoying work (thank God!). A part of me had become numb (and perhaps a bit hardened). I can see that numbness melting and giving way to a softness that feels so light. My sense of overwhelm with my father's health condition is also a lot better. It's disturbing (as it should be I suppose) but not overwhelming all the time. 

Sometime before starting TRE I had a conversation with my former boss (a Psychiatrist) about my mental state and the possibility of starting antidepressants. Recently I told him that I was totally out of that zone and the only change that had happened that could've possibly led to it was TRE. 

In-person + Online sessions

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Thank you so much for your encouraging words and the helpful content.

I think these sessions have been really helpful. I know something has shifted..its visible in my life in small ways. 

- Poonam, In-person sessions

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Thank you for joining us and sharing your wisdom and life experience. It was an incredible session and we've learnt a lot (not only the practices, but also the concepts behind it). I'll really amazed to see how much strength and passion you brought to the session....hope you keep sharing it far and wide!

- Renata Minerbo,  Be the Earth Foundation

Testimonial for Body as Antenna group session

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Thank you so much for your incredible work...including your ability to laugh and simply be real.   

- Eve Annecke

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My TRE experience with Nomita was truly a gift in so many ways. She guided me through the exercises with deep care, patience and compassion, and following our session she has been supportive, nurturing and present for me in so many generous ways.

About two days after I had my first session with Nomita, I was waiting at a bus stop when I felt neurogenic tremors in my hips happening spontaneously but since I was in a public place, I chose to suppress the tremors. The following day, I felt the same thing but this time I was safely at home, so I let myself just go with it. I let myself shake for as long as my body wanted to, and afterwards I felt so ecstatic, it was like I was intoxicated.

When I woke up the next day, it was like being my old self again – reconnecting with parts of myself that I couldn’t even remember I’d lost. I felt like we awakened something my body was craving and it has been profoundly healing and restorative. I am in awe of the power of this technique, I could not have believed this was possible had I not experienced it myself

- Jessica, Online Session

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"Nomita is a competent and caring practitioner. She teaches thoroughly so that you can practice TRE confidently on your own. That is the key to her work. She is committed to giving her clients the tools and self-empowerment they need. I had such a rewarding experience with Nomita and will continue to work with her going forward. She gently observes and guides you back into your felt experience, which is helpful as I tend to be in my head. I highly recommend Nomita’s work and support." 

- Care Motika, Online sessions

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I was very apprehensive at first about my ability to be vulnerable enough to tremor in front of someone. Surprisingly, it was the most natural and freeing thing. Nomita holds space in the most gentle and kind way, making you feel at ease to allow your body to do what it already knows how to do if you let it. Like any good trauma informed provider, she also reminds you to go gently and slowly so as not to retraumatise yourself, that healing is as much in the resting as it is in the tremouring. As a type one diabetic and someone who has never had a regular menstrual cycle, TRE has helped me with both lowering my blood sugar levels and regulating my menstrual cycle for the first time ever. TRE has given me the space to return to myself on a weekly basis by releasing what is not meant to be carried, to make more space for joy, peace and a longer pause between trigger and reaction. 

- Riola, In-person sessions

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I had my first TRE session last year after a particularly difficult period of anxiety and restlessness. I have been seeing a therapist for a few years and I'm now able to observe my patterns and triggers but still feel unable to literally shake off and release the tightness and energy I am holding in my body. 

I began working with Nomita last year and not only am I now able to practice TRE on my own, but her ability to hold space, to start with simple, grounding practices and to bring my attention back to my body, has been so empowering. In a world where everything feels external-facing, I feel deeply supported by this practice which says over and over again, 'your body has wisdom- trust it.' I wish TRE were taught in school and that I had found my way to it much sooner. If you're looking for a practice to enable yourself, try this. And you will be in excellent, safe hands with Nomita.  

- Deepika, Online sessions

Library of Resources | Book Recommendations & Talks

• The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process by Dr. David Berceli

• My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathways to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Manekem

• Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine

• Breath by James Nestor

• When the Body says No by Gabor Mate | A talk by Dr. Gabor Mate - 'Caring for Ourselves by Caring for Others'

• Decolonizing the Body by Kelsey Blackwell

• Inflamed by Rupa Myra

• It Didn't start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How To End The Cycle by Mark Wolynn

•  The Nervous System in 9 minutes

• For those of you who'd like to build your own practice by yourself, or have learnt the practice with me and would like video's of each of the exercises, do check out the app Shake if Off. The app includes journalling prompts to help you deepen your practice.

• Dance. Dance. Dance. Move your body to music that you delight in. Movement is medicine to get out of fight or flight and back into the body. It is one of the oldest forms of dealing with stress the worldover.