Skip to main content

Self-touch

Placing your hands on your body during TRE™ adds something simple but powerful: warmth, attention, and a sense of being held. Self-touch can invite deeper release, provide grounding when things feel intense, and offer you a form of co-regulation from yourself.

Why self-touch works​

Touch isn’t just physical contact; it’s communication with your nervous system.

  • Physiologically — Warmth increases blood flow. Pressure activates mechanoreceptors. Touch releases oxytocin. The body receives signals of safety and containment.
  • Psychologically — Touching yourself with care communicates that you matter. It focuses attention. It creates a sense of being witnessed, even when you’re alone.
  • For TRE™ — Self-touch can direct attention to areas needing release, invite tremors to spread, and provide grounding during intense releases.
Quality over technique

How you touch matters more than which technique you use. Touch yourself with the same gentleness, care, and respect you would offer someone you love. The quality of presence in your hands communicates directly to your nervous system.

When to use self-touch​

  • Before tremoring — Arrive in your body. Stroke your limbs to wake up awareness. Hold belly or heart to establish safety.
  • During tremoring — Place hands on areas you want to release. Use holding when emotions intensify. Compression on limbs for grounding.
  • After tremoring — Stroking helps integration. Holding provides comfort. Gentle touch acknowledges the work done.

Boundaries with yourself​

Even with self-touch, boundaries matter. Your body may not want to be touched in certain ways on certain days.

Check in first​

  • Does this area want to be touched right now?
  • What kind of touch feels right?
  • Is this comforting or intrusive?

Honour your limits​

  • If touch doesn’t feel right, remove your hands
  • Some areas may feel off-limits today
  • Not all sessions need self-touch

Trauma considerations​

  • Some areas may hold trauma that makes touch activating
  • Go slowly with charged areas
  • Titrate: brief touch, then remove, notice response
  • Consider professional support if self-touch triggers overwhelm

Methods​

Holding​

Place one or both hands on an area with gentle, steady contact. Let your hands feel the warmth and movement beneath them. Stay for several breaths.

Quality: still, warm, accepting presence.

Best for
  • Areas that feel vulnerable (belly, heart)
  • Providing containment during strong emotions
  • Inviting release in stuck areas

Cradling​

Cup your hands around an area as if holding something precious. Hold with softness and care. You can rock gently.

Quality: tender, protective, nurturing.

Best for
  • Face and head
  • Belly
  • Times when you feel young or vulnerable

Stroking​

Use gentle, slow strokes along the body with your full palm or fingertips. Downward strokes are generally calming; upward strokes can be energising.

Quality: soothing, flowing, nurturing.

Best for
  • Calming the nervous system
  • Moving energy through the body
  • Reconnecting with areas that feel numb or distant

Compression​

Apply firm, even pressure with palms or fingers. Press and hold for several breaths, then release slowly. Can be repeated rhythmically.

Quality: firm, grounding, containing.

Best for
  • Legs and arms when you need grounding
  • Feeling contained when overwhelmed
  • Creating a sense of safe boundaries

Tapping​

Use light, rhythmic tapping with fingertips. Vary speed and pressure. Cover an area systematically.

Quality: awakening, stimulating, inviting.

Best for
  • Arriving in the body before practice
  • Waking up areas that feel numb or disconnected

Applications​

These are starting points. Explore what feels right and combine methods as your body guides you.

  • Heart and chest — Both hands on your chest (one over the other), or one hand on heart and one on belly. Light tapping on the sternum can also help.
  • Belly — Rest both hands on your belly, or make slow circles. The belly can hold deep vulnerability; if touch feels intrusive, simply remove your hands.
  • Face and jaw — Fingertips on the jaw muscles, palms cupping cheeks, gentle pressure on temples, or stroking the forehead. The jaw and pelvis often hold similar patterns; releasing one frequently releases the other.
  • Shoulders and neck — One hand on the opposite shoulder, both hands on the back of your neck, or a gentle squeeze of your trapezius.
  • Feet — Hold your feet during tremoring, press thumbs into the soles, or hold your ankles.

Myofascial release tools​

Beyond your hands, various tools can help release tension in the fascia. These can complement TRE™ by preparing tissue for release or working with areas your hands can’t easily reach.

  • Foam rollers — Large cylindrical rollers for broad areas (back, thighs, calves). Roll slowly, pausing on tender spots.
  • Massage balls — Tennis balls, lacrosse balls, or purpose-made balls for smaller areas. Place between your body and a wall or floor. Good for feet, glutes, upper back, and chest.
  • Peanut rollers — Two balls joined together (or two tennis balls in a sock) fit either side of the spine, releasing the back muscles without pressure on the vertebrae.

When to use tools​

  • Before tremoring — Rolling out tight areas can prepare tissue and allow tremors to access them more easily.
  • After tremoring — Gentle rolling can help integrate release and address residual tension.
  • Separately — Myofascial release is valuable in its own right and doesn’t need to be tied to TRE™ sessions.
Listen to your body

Myofascial work should feel intense but releasing. Sharp, shooting, or nerve-like pain means you should stop or adjust. Avoid rolling directly over bones, joints, or the lower back.