The felt experience
Grief is heavy. Physically heavy. It sits in the chest, the throat, the belly. It makes the body slow, the limbs leaden. Some days it's a wave; other days it's a weight you carry without noticing until you stop.
You might be grieving a person, a relationship, a way of life or a version of yourself. The body doesn't distinguish. It holds loss the same way.
What the body is doing
Grief activates the body's stress response and, when prolonged, can shift the nervous system into dorsal vagal shutdown: a state of conservation and withdrawal. Muscles tighten around the chest and diaphragm. Breathing becomes shallow. The body contracts.
What tends to help
Space. Time. And practices that allow the body to process what words can't always reach. TRE doesn't try to fix grief or speed it up. It gives the body a way to move what it's holding, gently, at its own pace.
What TRE looks like for grief
Sessions may be quiet and subtle, or deeply emotional. There's no right way to grieve, and there's no right way to tremor. The body takes what it needs. TRE often allows tears, release and a softening that grief-stricken muscles have been waiting for.