| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| njoy |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 03:44:02
I tried to search this forum for more information on the Berceli's Trauma Reduction Exercises but had no luck except for a great thread from 2009 with lots of input from RageSootheRatio and others. I would really appreciate hearing from folks who have tried these exercises. Do they work? Long term?
I also checked the comments on amazon but Berceli's book has very few. This seems odd. If it works, why hasn't it caught on more? Sounds like an ideal addition to the tms-ers toolbox. 
If it works.
*****
"It's worth considering that tms is not a treatment but rather an unfolding of the self, and a way of living as an emotionally aware and engaged soul." Plum |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| njoy |
Posted - 07/10/2013 : 02:51:51
Thanks to everyone who responded. Sorry to have neglected the thread after starting it but I have a very good set of excuses if that helps.
Oddly, I feel the need to get more into body work to counteract TMS. I have ignored and neglected my body all my life and am becoming convinced that is the source of much of my trouble. I totally agree that obsessing about body and its pain is no help at all. Moving and shaking, well, that might just be useful.
I wonder if the TRE approach offers long term benefit to the traumatized populations the author is paid to work with. I certainly hope so. Perhaps it works better with "real" trauma (war, earthquakes, etc.) than it does with the (often) self-induced trauma suffered by a typical tms-er.
*****
"It's worth considering that tms is not a treatment but rather an unfolding of the self, and a way of living as an emotionally aware and engaged soul." Plum |
| RageSootheRatio |
Posted - 07/03/2013 : 07:53:09
quote:
That polar bears do it doesn't convince me.
hahahaha pspa! funny. 
For myself, I hadn't thought of it in terms of "muscle relaxation" at all. In fact, I would put it more under the category of "skilled relaxation" in the sense of triggering a "relaxation response" for me, in a more consistently, easy-to-do effective way than anything else I've tried over the years.
I agree that re the mindbody loop sometimes as you say, "it is a good thing to disrupt it at whatever entry point works" with an emphasis on whatever works for ourselves as individuals (no one-size-fits-all from my point of view!) ... and I still believe that while the MIND affects the BODY, the BODY affects the MIND. It's a dynamic, two-way street with messages and reactions going both ways. ~RSR
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| pspa123 |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 21:05:45
I am a bit skeptical of the animal model that seems to be the basis of this modality and the notion that induced muscle spasms can really heal the psyche. That polar bears do it doesn't convince me.
At the same time if it promotes some muscle relaxation I am not so sure that's a bad thing. I know the dogma that anything to do with focus on the body sends the wrong message to the unconscious etc. etc. and therefore perpetuates psychogenic pain etc. etc. But I think sometimes we get caught in a vicious mindbody loop where it is a good thing to disrupt it at whatever entry point works.
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| pspa123 |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 20:56:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i407tCabAFg
Also from his website.
Psoas Muscles
TRE stands for Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises. They
help individuals release stress or tension as a result of difficult life
circumstances, immediate or prolonged stressful situations, or traumatic
life experiences. TRE consists of six simple exercises that help individuals release tension from the muscles, which in turn relaxes the anxiety of our minds, by evoking a muscular shaking process in the body.
The exercises elicit this shaking in a controlled and sustained manner. When evoked in this way, this shaking, also called neurogenic tremors, begins to release deep chronic muscular tension held within the body. They come from the center of gravity of the body (S3), which is protected by the psoas muscles. When shaking is evoked at this powerful center of the body, it reverberates throughout the entire body, traveling along the spine, releasing deep chronic tension from the sacrum to the cranium. When tension is released anywhere in the body, the brain registers a reduction in pain signals and produces new hormones for relaxation and comfort. Often, this release of tension is much like receiving an internal massage.
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| gailnyc |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 18:23:58
Is it at all similar to Peter Levine's program for releasing trauma from the body? I have not had success with that because it focuses a lot on the body, which I feel I am already focusing too much on.
Can you summarize briefly what the exercise consists of? |
| RageSootheRatio |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 08:01:51
njoy, I still do TRE from time to time (this morning before I saw your post, actually!) and do find them a helpful addition to my "toolbox". I no longer have any "discipline" / regular schedule around it and just do them when I feel like it. I still find it a good way to offload some stress.
I believe when I started TRE in 2009 I had a dreadful problem with almost 24/7 severe hyperarousal, which is no longer a regular issue for me. (Of course I was doing /have done many things to resolve the hyperarousal and so hard to say exactly how much credit to give to the TRE alone–we are complicated beings!– but I do find TRE a very helpful thing to have in my toolbox, because it is very easy to do, and because it has a low "cost" but high reward for the effort involved.)
oh, and to address your q about "long term" ... hmmm.. I guess I would say they had long-term effects in a way ... but also kind of like any exercise, in that I still use them and find benefit. Not really sure how to answer that question... but in general, I would say yes they "worked" for me and have had a long-term effect (not on my sleeping, as I still sleep quite poorly) but on my general state of hyperarousal, I would say I had some success, which was my goal at the time. Now that you have me thinking about it, I wonder if I were to practice TRE regularly again, whether I would get even more results (in terms of my quality of sleep). Thanks for bringing up this topic!
~RSR |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 06:53:27
He has a newer book on which there are more comments. Usual range. Robert Scaer is an advocate and he seems very respectable. As it appears to be a body based modality one suspects many here would reject it. From a quick read the theory appears to be that trauma and stress are stored in muscles and these exercises supposedly induce a type of shaking that is seen in animals that counters that. |
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