The nervous system is one of the most intelligent systems in the body-always listening, always responding. Like a thermostat sensing environmental shifts, it adjusts before we even become consciously aware. Yet in our comfort-focused culture, many of us have learned to interpret tension as something wrong, something to be avioded. But in nature-which is the very fabric we are made from-tension is not a problem. It's a signal. A mechanism for growth.
Flowers must push through soil. Trees reach toward the light by stretching through resistance. Nothing living evolves without some form of pressure. Why would we be any different?
In this light, tension becomes an invitation
Still, the nervous system-with the ego at its side-acts as a gatekeeper. Its job is to protect us from harm, real or preceived. So when we begin to make changes-new habits, new identities, new levels of being-the nervous system often reacts. It scans the archive of our past and says "Have we done this before? Was it safe?" If the answer feels uncertain, it sends a signal-tightness, fear, shutdown. Not because something is wrong, but because something is unknown.
And we confuse the unknown with danger.
This is where TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises) offers a profound oppertunity. Not only as a release mechanism, but as a way to build a conscious, trusting relationship with the body's protective systems. It is a practice of embodiment, of listening, of honoring what arises without rushing to fix or surppresst it.
Through TRE, we learn to stay present with what trembles. We develop a felt sense of safety-one that isn't dependant on circumstances, but cultivated from within. As we learn to observe our own shifts and shakes without judgement, we begin to reclaim the intelligence of our own body. The tremor becomes not a symptom to treat but a message to honor.
Spiritual traditions teach that the soul speaks in subtle language. In many ways, the nervous system is one of its messengers.
When we meet our discomfort with curiosity instead of resistance, we begin to hear what it's truly asking for: alignment, not avoidance.
But like any sacred releationship, it starts with listening.
And TRE gives us a way to begin.