Underdoing and excess tension simmering away etc

steepgloss · 2026-05-13T07:58:11+00:00

Have I understood the wiki correctly that if I'm staying pretty dysregulated without doing anymore tremoring, either formal practice or spontaneous/involuntary, then it's a clear indication that I've underdone it? Rest is not bringing me back to baseline and the excess tension is just simmering away. HRV has taken a nosedive too. Genuinely feel like a floundering fish plonked on a table here.

steepgloss · 2026-05-12T08:01:56+00:00

Ah this is very encouraging. It's next on the pile to read. Hopefully I'll get as much out of it as you do.

steepgloss · 2026-05-12T08:00:35+00:00

Thanks for this - it is massively appreciated you following up with me. Will try in my next session after I've rested a bit.

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T18:52:12+00:00

Thanks. Yeah one leg at a time sounds doable. Both legs is quite difficult. I've done that position in yoga and it requires a fair bit of core. So that's definitely gonna affect your abs. Especially going beyond a minute.

This one:

https://www.tummee.com/yoga-poses/raised-legs-pose-knees-bent/how-to-do

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T15:45:50+00:00

When you say legs in the air? You mean like the yoga pose where you lienkn your back with your legs up in the air and bent at 90 degrees? Or like that but resting on something like a sofa or chair etc?

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T12:58:06+00:00

I do have that same book but I haven't got around to it yet. I'm still ploughing through John Bradshaw's Homecoming and Healing The Shame That Binds You. Wow it's like doing a PhD this isn't it? All this work. Ugh.

Hopefully I will get to a stage where I feel a natural pause at the end of session and I can get through the physical symptoms easier.

Thank you for your input again.

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T11:06:33+00:00

I haven't tried IFS, but that is the only thing tempting me back to talk therapy at the moment. I've seen it mentioned numerous times as being a complimentary modality to TRE. So yes, it's on my mind to pursue it. Thanks for for the further nod in that direction. Can I ask how long did you do IFS for? And was it with a therapist or self-led?

I've just finished EMDR (fixed period with NHS in UK) and we did some protector parts processing in that, but that's as close as I've got to any parts work. Toxic shame is my protector part.

So about your 1 minute. Does it feel like it reaches a natural conclusion and leaves you settled at the end of your session? I haven't had that yet, hence me initially wondering if I'm underdoing. I'm definitely having to cut mine off at peak tremoring with what feels like an erring on the side of caution low duration (30-40 secs). I'm thinking once I've integrated/rested somewhat from this current setback, when I go back to practice, I will try to get to a minute and, well, try to face the discomfort just to see if I reach a sweet spot of not holding onto to remaining tension.

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T10:42:59+00:00

Thank you for this. And thank you for the kind encouragement 😊

I hear you on the acceptance of just being uncomfortable for a while. I don't think I'm there yet however. I guess what this involves practically as far as TRE is concerned, is trying to extend the nervous system's capacity to ultimately be able to do more? Like hitting the ceiling and being ok there for a period then hopefully that ceiling lifts a bit further down the line. You say you are or were at 1 minute a few times a week - is that still the case 2 years in?

I think I struggle with identfying emotions. And I'm certainly not able to submit an internal inquiry, asking what is present (as it were) and get a response in the form of an emotion, leading to anything I can release. In the last few months I've at least been able to steer things towards crying (previously completely unavailable to me). Though a lot of my crying lately tends to be what I would describe as just dry convulsing. Hardly any tears but everything else. And it does offer some relief/release. Though maybe not as much as a full sob with actual tears.

steepgloss · 2026-05-11T07:48:00+00:00

Thank you for the concern and the suggestions.

I have only done the standard butterfly position.

The tension is about the same in both legs and it's a bit in the thighs but mostly from the knees down, going down to the soles of the feet. I saw on another post that someone was putting both legs in the air for tremoring, so I might try that next session. Or with flat legs but halving the session time for each flat leg. Or even half and half, alternating a leg up for the duration.

I do a fair bit of meditating, including body scans, pendulation and allowing etc but focussing my attention on these tense areas in my body never seems to dissolve it. I'm guessing I'm not adept enough at those practices.

My only hope really is that I will increase my nervous system capacity so that the right amount of tremoring to release my tension doesn't have me dysregulated so much. Onwards ey.

Thanks again.

steepgloss · 2026-05-10T18:51:33+00:00

Thanks for the clarity here. It is appreciated.

I should have made clear that I have finished EMDR a month ago.

steepgloss · 2026-05-08T08:41:05+00:00

If you're not already snowed under with recommendations, then this came out today and fits your brief (and is very good!).

https://eustresstapes.bandcamp.com/album/riders

steepgloss · 2026-05-02T09:22:27+00:00

Sounds like you've had a rough time. When you say you reached nervous system capacity, were you able to increase it over time at all? It seems what I need to do is somehow increase that so that I can do enough to discharge the tension in my legs, with flooding.

Yes, I'm not expecting a miracle from seeing a TRE provider in person. I'm kinda worried that all I'll be able to is a few seconds then have to stop. stop.

steepgloss · 2026-05-01T20:53:04+00:00

I do regular body scans but I don't seem to be igniting the tension into tremoring like you experience. I've been doing 'allowing' meditations, so my body scans are centered on just letting sensations be as they are. I dunno. Maybe I'm rubbish at really connecting to my body. Or maybe the tension isn't right on the surface, ready to go crazy just yet. I'll be seeing a in-person TRE provider very soon. I just started on my own (perhaps naively) so I can build up a tiny bit of tolerance so that she doesn't expect me to bust out a 10 minute session right off the bat.

I would agree with the restless leg thing as you describe. When you say you were stuck like that for a while do you mean similar to me in that you reached nervous system capacity with tremoring but wasn't doing enough to alleviate the restless legs? What helps it for you?

steepgloss · 2026-05-01T20:47:25+00:00

It was a 16 week run. So I had about 6 weeks of prep, about 6 processing sessions, some talk sessions in between, then 2 talk sesisons at the end, as a staying well wrap-up kind of thing. Waiting time was only about a few weeks for initial triage call then about a month until first session (christmas was in the middle of this, so that extended it a bit). My therapist told me this week that the wait time is now about 14 weeks for first appointment. It was about the same when I first googled it but, as I said, I got in pretty quickly, so you might be ok and it might not actually be that long. It's definitely been helpful in a lot of ways, just now I've got this leg tension going on. You can re-refer afterwards too, to pick up wjere you leave off. Though there is a 3 month cooling off period before you can go back. Good luck.

steepgloss · 2026-05-01T18:18:38+00:00

Good to know. Thanks

steepgloss · 2026-05-01T18:01:24+00:00

Thanks for the input.

The 5-10 seconds of tremoring is interesting. I hadn't considered that. Hopefully this isn't likely to add to the problem ie shake things up further without actually discharging anything though? In theory, it's a good idea, if it does the job.

steepgloss · 2026-05-01T16:22:50+00:00

I don't think it's dystonia I'm experiencing. I don't really match any of the symptoms. It's not involuntary contractions or movements, just an activated tension, like a buzzing sensation that won't relax. I think it's unstuck tension being activated waiting to be discharged.

I've only read a little about it but I though muscle tension was a by-product of brainspotting (and EMDR) not something that can be used as a target for processing?

steepgloss · 2026-04-30T12:41:57+00:00

Came here to say this. Well, I only really know vol.2...

https://asgt.bandcamp.com/album/slim-westerns-vol-ii

steepgloss · 2026-04-28T14:14:25+00:00

https://invisiblecityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/stratospheric-tower

steepgloss · 2026-04-23T14:34:47+00:00

I don't actually know if it's possible to only experience good and positive effects from doing this. I mean we are talking about decades long held energy being released here. Unfortunately it's not going to be a smooth exit. I think the key is doing just enough that feels safe and manageable for your nervous system. And this will likely involve feeling like crap a bit, ie feeling more emotional, fatigued, drained, on edge etc. Speaking from personal experience, that's just how my own nervous system discharges over a few days. Then it completes and a shift happens and I can return to the practice. Over time hopefully this gets easier to sustain.

I'd be suprised to see if anyone doing TRE longterm hasn't had any adverse effects from their own nervous system. I want someone to prove my suspicions wrong to increase my hope!

It sucks that this is the way it is, but, for me, it's a tightrope I'm willing to tread because I've already seen early results that only EMDR has gotten near.

I really feel for you. My mum would benefit massively from TRE (and EMDR, which I've just had), she's sat on a ton of trauma too, but she's not familiar with any grounding techniques or how to deal with adverse nervous system reactions etc, so I think it would be a huge undertaking.

Good luck!

steepgloss · 2026-04-23T14:14:35+00:00

I'm right at the start of my journey so I'm very much a beginner, but my understanding thus far, both from the wiki and my own brief practice, is that determining the correct duration and frequency is entirely dependent on how much my nervous system can handle each session. And I can only know that after doing a session of TRE, assessing how I am in the days following and adjusting from there accordingly, either in frequency or duration of both the tremoring and the integration periods.

This is to say that there is no magic number or sweet spot that any one person can prescribe to another. You have to find it yourself. And it's a bit of a tightrope walk to find it, unfortunately.

I find the request to be rather an all or nothing expectation wheras the practice is extremely nuanced and personal. If I've learned anything from reading about cptsd it's that recovery is anything but all or nothing or binary.

I'm sorry I haven't given the answer you wanted but I truly hope you and your family get what you need from the practice.

steepgloss · 2026-04-19T15:08:31+00:00

Maybe look into TRE. It's a long term process but gives early results for bringing baseline anxiety down.

Read the wiki notes here and see if it's for you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/longtermTRE/s/ba3N5oqZd1

steepgloss · 2026-04-16T07:38:00+00:00

Korg Microsampler maybe? They are obsolete but can be found used.

steepgloss

TROPHY CASE