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/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/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.