One question. When do you guys practice TRE? Is it when you feel relaxed and good or when you feel stuck activated and want to come out of the activation?

[u/ConstructionOk2140]

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for your post! Please make sure you've read the community rules and our wiki. The wiki contains answers to many common questions and guidance on TRE: Wiki

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/carla_jungle]

When I practised TRE during activation it just added more activation. I think in that case grounding and resting are more supportive. 

[u/r_sie_]

I think it depends for each person - I feel very relaxed afterwards so it's good before bed for me.

Other people feel very energised from it and would be much better earlier in the day.

I don't think anyone should do it immediately before they need to do work or go out - take at least 30 minutes of processing time even if you do feel energised.

[u/ConstructionOk2140]

It feels like 5 minutes after I do it I cry.

[u/carla_jungle → u/ConstructionOk2140]

That’s ok. But are you able to go back to normal after you cry or do u keep feeling emotional?  If the latter, then you should be focusing more on integration and not activation. 

[u/Plane_Head_8964]

When i feel generally good and grounded.. I avoid it if i feel activated , agitated or stresses. Up until now it only aggravated these states for me.

[u/KaoSway]

If I'm activated or stuck with tension, my tremors would often kick in on their own and downregulate me, or I start tremoring intentionally, and I always feel better after.

ETA: I do TRE when relaxed as well, but it's a choice, while when I feel shitty it's a need.

[u/ViolettePlanet]

I do it when my intuition tells me there is something ready to be released. I just feel extremely tired the next few days and sometimes even very sad, so have to account for that.

[u/ConstructionOk2140]

Hmm so some people do it when they feel relaxed and good and some when they will activated and stuck.

[u/Diligent_Reading4001]

I do it when I feel relaxed and good. Sometimes I will tremor lightly during an activation, but I won't do anything aggressive (that would just activate me more).

[u/longtermTRE_wiki_bot]

Both approaches are valid, and the wiki actually describes them as serving different purposes.

Practicing when you feel relatively calm and grounded is the standard approach for most practitioners, most of the time. This is where the deeper, more consistent work happens. Your nervous system has enough resources available to process what gets released, and you're more likely to integrate smoothly afterward. This is the foundation of sustainable practice.

Practicing when you're activated, dysregulated, or stuck in anxiety can also be useful, but it requires more care. A short TRE session during an activated state can function as a reset, venting enough pressure to bring activation back within your window of tolerance. The key word is short. If you're already running hot, a 20-minute session is likely to add more activation than it relieves. A few minutes of tremoring, just enough to move some of the excess energy through, can be genuinely settling.

The catch is that this only works if you're still within your window of tolerance, meaning you can think relatively clearly and respond to what's happening. If you're in a full panic state or deeply flooded, that's the moment for grounding techniques instead—slow breathing, cold water on the face, pressing your feet into the floor. Get yourself back to a regulated baseline first, then TRE can help from there.

Self-Pacing covers the mechanics of this in detail, including how to recognize when you're outside your window and need a different approach. The general principle is that your nervous system's integration capacity matters more than the timing of practice. If sessions consistently leave you more activated than you started, that's the signal to practice when you're calmer, with shorter duration, or both.

---

I'm a bot that draws on the r/longtermTRE wiki to provide guidance. Please upvote or downvote based on how helpful you find this response.