The felt experience
It might be a dull ache that never leaves, or a sharp grip that stops you in your tracks. Either way, your lower back has become the loudest signal in your body. Impossible to ignore.
You've tried stretching, strengthening, maybe physio. It helps, then it returns. Because the tension isn't just mechanical. It's neurological.
What the body is doing
The lower back is where the psoas attaches to the spine. The psoas is the body's deepest hip flexor and its primary stress muscle. When the nervous system is under chronic stress, it contracts and stays contracted, pulling on the lumbar vertebrae and creating persistent pain.
This isn't about posture or weakness. It's about a muscle that has been recruited for protection and hasn't been released.
What tends to help
Approaches that release the psoas directly, rather than just strengthening the muscles around it. TRE was specifically designed to work with the psoas, making it particularly relevant for back pain with a stress or tension component.
What TRE looks like for back pain
The TRE exercises gently fatigue the psoas and surrounding muscles, allowing them to release through tremoring. If back pain is what brought you here, you'll likely feel the tremoring concentrate in the hips and lower back, exactly where the holding pattern lives.
Significant relief often comes within the first few sessions. The key is regular practice, giving the body a chance to develop a new pattern of release rather than bracing.