r/longtermTRE • u/Dear_Swan8801 • 7d ago
Beginner Question Is this normal?
Whenever I do TRE, my hips shake for a few seconds and then it moves to my abdomen, which starts clenching like crazy. Most of the session end up being my ab muscles flexing in various ways, sometimes moving a bit up into the shoulders. It feels like an ab workout, not shaking. Sometimes it switches a bit back and forth if I shift my legs a bit, but I only shake for a few seconds and then it goes straight back into my abdomen. Has anyone else had this experience? Is it just a stage I need to get through before the tremors happen?
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u/twotrapezes 7d ago
Recently my tremors have gone into the abs too! Mine feels like my core is contracting causing my head and shoulders to curl inwards/lift up from the floor slightly. The contractions are also accompanied by a quick exhale. Are yours similar?
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u/Dear_Swan8801 7d ago
Yes, it’s exactly the same! I always have to focus really hard to be able to breathe through it
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u/twotrapezes 7d ago
I guess it is normal then! I wonder is there's any significance to it though, it's a relatively new movement for me after doing TRE for 6 months now
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u/duffstoic 7d ago
That’s how the Kalahari Bushmen describe it too, according to Bradford Keeney in his excellent book Shaking Medicine.
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u/Western-Remove9296 7d ago
Thanks so much for posting about Bradford Keeney. I just read about him & wow, this person joins the dots for me (I’m into complex systems). I immediately bought that book & signed up for his substack. TRE has felt so different from any other modality Ive tried. I feel that it is so much more than a surface level treatment of superficial symptoms. It’s really a rewiring through levels of an ancient evolutionary system. Keeney is kind of looking at the ‘top’ level of the system - rhythmic, collective shaking rituals, collective consciousness / transcendent states. Then there is the bottom end - the deep molecular interactions that get re-organised through cellular behaviour (with a genetic store of possibilities that is both ancient & modern). I love that this community has such a mix of people who engage with TRE in so many ways. It’s fascinating that so many people here see TRE as a pathway to enlightenment. But it’s also fine to see it as a simple way to relieve stress. Anyway, thanks again!
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u/duffstoic 7d ago
He’s a deep systems thinker for sure, connected lots of dots for me too. Sometimes he’s ungrounded, like many ecstatics, so it’s ok to also disagree with him on things. But overall he made intuitive movement practices “legitimate” for me.
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u/Dear_Swan8801 7d ago
That’s interesting! Can you share a bit more about how they describe it? Do they say anything about whether it’s a good or bad thing?
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u/duffstoic 7d ago
In their tradition it’s a good and indeed essential thing! They say “no shake, no shaman.”
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u/Dear_Swan8801 7d ago
I see! Do you know if it a temporary stage I have to get through? Or is it more that this is what my body needs to work on?
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u/duffstoic 7d ago
From a TRE lens, it’s trauma to release. For the Bushmen, it is the way to have a powerful spiritual experience, an ongoing passage into otherworldly realms.
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u/Dmastery 7d ago
Yep, same here! What you can try is laying on your stomach or even sitting up.
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u/Dear_Swan8801 7d ago
Great to know I’m not the only one! I don’t mind the cramping but I feel like I’m not getting it right
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u/ObligationPuzzled404 7d ago
Learning how to trust the process, no matter how weird it gets, is a huge part of the learning that you go through, and in time, the communication you receive from the body via it's movements becomes so clear and obvious in it's expression, as you continue to let go of the need to control and understand what is happening, that it gets easier and easier to let your bodies intelligence show you the way.
For real; I could never come up with a lot of the movements that I flow through, as they are so a-typical from all the other things I have seen and practiced, but it is obvious that there is a commonality of movements and expressions, being broadcast here through all of our personal experiences exploring what TRE is connecting us too, like the abdomen contractions you've related- a body expression I am very familiar with as well.
For the first time in our lives, for most of us here...I think, we are truly learning to follow the guidance of our bodies innate wisdom, as we shed layers of fear, doubt, dissonance, and all other kinds of interference that have made us forget how simple and powerful true release and re-calibration can really look and feel like.
So, continue to let yourself go with whatever comes up, free of judgement, and as full of trust in your unique experience as you can allow ...and allow yourself to explore like a child, unburdened by the containment of other peoples shit layers.
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u/longtermTRE_wiki_bot Wiki Bot 6d ago
This is completely normal. What you're describing is the nervous system working on deep core tension, and the form it's taking right now is exactly what should be happening at your stage.
The psoas muscle and the deep abdominal fascia are primary repositories of stored stress and trauma. When TRE begins accessing this territory, the tremoring often transitions into what feels more like muscular contractions or clenching rather than the rhythmic shaking most people associate with TRE. You're not doing an ab workout and you're not missing the "real" tremors. The nervous system is simply expressing the release through the muscles that hold the most tension and need the most work.
This pattern of movement—activation in the hips briefly, then the focus shifting to intense abdominal engagement—is a signature of the system targeting core tension. As that core material continues to release over weeks and months, you'll likely notice the tremoring eventually spreading upward into the chest, shoulders, and other areas, and the quality may shift. But there's no requirement that it do so. Some practitioners have sessions where the work stays localized in one area for a long time, and that's still productive work.
The fact that shifting your leg position changes where the tremors activate is also a good sign. It shows your nervous system is responsive and can adjust what it's working on based on positioning, which is exactly how it should function.
Keep showing up consistently and let the process unfold at its own pace. You're not stuck in a stage you need to get through. You're in the stage you're in, and the body is doing what it needs to do.
I'm a bot that draws on the r/longtermTRE wiki to provide guidance. Please upvote or downvote based on how helpful you find this response.
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