Your Body Doesn't Need to Be Fixed: Why Doing Less Can Help

We live in a culture that's very good at telling us what to do with our bodies.

Stretch more. Train harder. Release the tension. Correct your posture. Push through. Fix the imbalance.

Sometimes that's exactly what we need. But there's another possibility: sometimes we need to do less.

The "more" mindset

A lot of us bring the same push-and-force attitude to our wellbeing that we bring to work.

We brace through the day, then we brace through our workouts, our stretching, even our relaxing. It's no one's fault. It's what we've grown up with, and it's how our culture teaches us to measure effort.

But a body that's constantly being managed, corrected and overridden doesn't get much chance to be listened to.

What "doing less" doesn't mean

It doesn't mean giving up, or waiting passively for your body to heal itself. It means paying attention to pace, capacity and choice, and creating the conditions where your body can respond.

Doing less in TRE®

This matters a lot in TRE®. The goal isn't to produce the biggest tremors, the most dramatic emotional release or the most intense experience. More isn't necessarily better.

The tremor is your body's own mechanism, and it's self-limiting. My job as a facilitator is to help you find a pace that works for you. Some people shake a lot. Some barely at all. Both are fine.

Often the most useful thing you can do is pause. Feel your feet. Notice your breath. Let your system settle. Then decide whether to continue.

Working at a gentle pace, and building up slowly, is often called titration. It means taking things in small enough amounts that your system can handle them, and it's one of the most important principles in good somatic work.

The window of tolerance

The idea of a "window of tolerance" is a helpful way to think about this. When we're inside the window, we can feel what's happening and still think clearly. When we push too far, we can tip into overwhelm, or shut down and go numb.

Doing less keeps you inside the window, where change is more likely to stick. Polyvagal theory, developed by Stephen Porges, is a popular way of describing these states. It's widely used in somatic work, though it's also debated among researchers, so it's best treated as a helpful map rather than settled science.

What it can look like

• Stopping an exercise after a minute because that's enough for today

• Choosing to rest between rounds

• Noticing your breath instead of chasing a big release

• Letting a sensation change by itself instead of trying to fix it

We don't have to force change for change to happen. Sometimes we create the conditions, and we listen.

A complement, not a replacement

TRE® is a complementary practice. It isn't a substitute for medical care or talking therapy, and the research is still relatively young. If you have a medical condition or complex trauma history, please speak to a health professional before trying it.

I'm running Nervous System Reset with Yin & TRE® at MoreYoga on Saturday 21 November (Canary Wharf). I also integrate TRE® into my one-to-one sessions and retreats. Find out more at whoislikemike.com.

Sources

• Berceli, D., Salmon, M., Bonifas, R., & Ndefo, N. (2014). Effects of self-induced unclassified therapeutic tremors on quality of life among non-professional caregivers: a pilot study. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 3(5), 45–48.

• Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton.

• Siegel, D. J. (1999). The Developing Mind. Guilford Press. (source of the "window of tolerance" concept)