What is Stress?
There is a common misconception that stress needs ‘managing’, but this misunderstands the role that stress plays in our mindbody. Stress is the way in which our mindbodies communicate to us that we are moving outside of our safe zones, physically, emotionally or mentally. Stress bids us to beware. It’s a warning signal that this direction can lead to harm, overwhelm and trauma.
Stress triggers a highly sophisticated and coordinated neurophysiological response that includes the limbic system (emotions), endocrine (hormones) nervous and muscular systems.
The ‘stress response’ is the same as our ‘survival response’. It evolved to rescue us from life-threatening situations, so when triggered the body activates ‘survival mode’: the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) propelling us into fight or flight mode, contracting the psoas (our survival muscle), raising our blood pressure, quickening our breath, flooding us with adrenaline & cortisol, sensitising our nervous system to be hypervigilant, and narrowing our focus to see only ‘escape routes’. We are now viewing the world through a lens of threat, enemies and suspicion.
The body is thus armed, pumped and ready to take all kinds of defensive or aggressive action. Clever stuff. Now, hold that thought.
The 3 Main Types of Stress
- Acute Stress – everyday short-term stresses such as a sudden work deadline, or engaging with a person, place, or thing that could ‘harm’ or distress us (this includes having a physical accident like a car crash). It’s usually a single, identifiable stressor and once this has passed, healthy homeostasis returns.
- Episodic Acute Stress – working in a high-stakes job such as: pilots, doctors, teachers, businesspeople with constant deadlines, repeated health issues, or chaotic lifestyles.
- Chronic Stress – long-term situations such as ongoing financial instability, marital or family struggles, toxic work environments, toxic relationships, long-term health issues.
Acute stress is something that the body is highly efficient at dealing with. The stress response is activated, the body is primed to take the appropriate level of protective action and then once the situation is passed, the body down-regulates using the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), aka the ‘rest and digest system’, and returns to a state of calm.
However, episodic acute stress and chronic stress are damaging to the body. In both these situations the stress/survival response is either being repeatedly triggered or it’s jammed on. This means the psoas is continually springing into and out of contraction or permanently stuck in contraction mode.
The body is now trapped in stress since ‘stress’ describes the combined effects of a number of collaborating neurophysiological systems. The result being these systems are either flicking on and off like a faulty fuse box, or in the case of chronic stress, the metaphorical fuse box is slowly smouldering, leaving muscles contracted, a hyper-aroused nervous system, elevated emotions, and powerful hormones running amok inside the body. But this not the worst part.
The Psoas Muscle (pronounced “so-as”)
- aka: Survival Muscle
- Deep core muscles connecting spine to femur.
- Integrated with autonomic nervous system (ANS)
- Primary function: spring the body into action against any physical threat.
- If stuck in contraction health issues include: sciatic nerve pain, lower back problems, cramp, hip and leg pains, plus impaired ability to act when needed.
Life or Death
Since the stress and survival response is the same, even if our mindbodies are reacting to a work deadline, the body responds as if it were life or death.
The WHO calls stress “the health epidemic of the 21st Century”, because so many of us live in chronic or episodic acute stress, continually cycling between stresses from work, finances, health, marriage, children etc. These are never-ending, so the PNS is never activated, and we are stuck living in the red zone of the diagram.
Now here’s the worst part; since the body believes it is prioritizing life over death, it does something very clever. ‘Survival mode’ requires a lot of energy, so to keep this running, the body starts to down-prioritize non-essential systems and uses that energy to keep us ‘alive’.
So, the mindbody redirects blood flow away from the ‘talkie’ part of brain (Broca’s area), digestive system, skin, in favour of muscles and internal organs. Then it gradually reduces our internal immune protection and will keep deprioritising until the threat has passed.
This is a great short-term, life-over-death plan, but if we are stuck in a continual or chronic stress cycle, then the reset is never coming.
We are now beset by constant ill-health affecting skin, digestion, sleep, and feeling perpetually angry or anxious, and in the long-term we are exposing ourselves to life-threatening diseases: strokes, heart attacks, cancers, autoimmune diseases.
It’s a smart system, but it’s meant to be deactivated as soon as we are safe from threat of death.
Neurogenic Tremors – the Body’s Master Key to Releasing Stress
Dr. David Berceli is an international expert in trauma intervention and conflict resolution. His research into the human stress/survival response revealed the role that ‘neurogenic tremors’ play in downregulating these systems.
Neurogenic tremors are innate to all mammals, they are the body’s own de-stressing mechanism, but Berceli noted that humans suppress the process, or, in terms of our modern stress epidemic, the body is denied access to it.
Dr. Berceli created TRE® Tension Release Exercises as a way to help the body access this process.
TRE® regulates the autonomic nervous system
and releases neuromuscular tension
below the level of conscious control.
TRE® comprises a set of exercises that therapeutically activates the PNS, triggering these natural stress-releasing neurogenic tremors. These are gentle, involuntary shaking movements that usually start in the area of the psoas and move through the body releasing contracted muscular patterns and trapped emotions.
The beauty of TRE® is that the body directs where these tremors move and how they express themselves below the level of conscious control. It is a deceptively simple activity that holistically reintegrates our mind-body and allows our ‘stress’ systems to reset to a point of safety.
The US Defense’s Center for Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain
Injury has identified TRE as one of the 5 most promising techniques to regulate
the nervous system and has been studied for its potential use in treating PTSD.
The Benefits of TRE®
TRE® leads the body into a healthy reset, so the benefits are widespread. However, immediate effects include: a deep sense of well-being, calm, peace, mental clarity, feeling connected to oneself and joy. Improved sleep is another common report.
TRE® is recommended for anyone working or living in a high or constant stress environment – parents, teachers, journalists, pilots, doctors, business professionals – as well as those who’ve suffered a deeply traumatic event either recent or in the past.
Since the process does not involve retelling stress stories or reliving trauma, TRE® has been adopted by military personnel, frontline aid workers, and incorporated into The New York Fire Fighters’ Corporate Wellness Program.
Students specifically benefit from practicing TRE® because ‘stress’ prevents access to the brain’s learning centre. A study by TRE® Provider Wendy Scurr from South Africa reported:
“If a child is emotionally frozen they’re not able to access their prefrontal cortex…. TRE® (is a tool to) help these children unlock their frozen state… so they can access their prefrontal cortex. When that started happening it was just the land of miracles!”
Other studies indicate TRE® alleviates the symptoms of PTSD (Kent 2018), Multiple Sclerosis (M Lynning et al. 2021) and Parkinson’s Disease, with more in-depth studies underway.
Photo Credits:
First image: freepik
Second image: freepik
References
https://www.academia.edu/96420267/Therapeutic_Neurogenic_Tremors_for_Treating_Neurogenic_Pathologies
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8427467/ Tension and trauma releasing exercises for people with multiple sclerosis – An exploratory pilot study. (M Lynning et al 2021)
https://tre-nederland.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Revised-disssertation-for-publication.doc-Berceli.pdf (Dr. D. Berceli 2009)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377712805_The_Effect_of_Tension_and_Trauma_Releasing_Exercises_TRE_on_Trauma_Symptoms_in_East_African_Refugees (Jan Parker et al, 2024)
A Proposal for a Mindfulness-Based Trauma Prevention Program for Social Work Professionals. Complementary Health Practice Review, 11(3), 153-165. (Berceli, D., & Napoli, M. (2006).
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
Lisa Glasgow
About the author
Lisa Glasgow is a certified Advanced TRE® Tension Release Exercises Facilitator, Stress Therapist and Author of “Why Being GOOD Is Bad For Us – the science behind how to be our healthy best selves.” She is a regular volunteer speaker for the Kely Support Group and talks at schools on how to relieve exam stress. As founder of TREforProfessionals, Lisa runs private and group TRE® classes, plus TRE® workshops as part of Corporate Wellness Progammes.
Recently Added
The power of self-confidence We’ve all been there. Moments when we “feel unstoppable” Moments when we can’t help but compare – “I …
For women, development occurs across their lifespan. Therefore, their health should be viewed based on their age, social environment and life experiences. …
Sibling relationships are among the longest relationships that one has across their lifespan. What develops at birth moves through childhood, adolescence, adulthood …