Neurogenic & Therapeutic Tremoring: A 6-Week Program

Fridays 11:30am from 6th June 2025 in person ($150), Napier, be Different studio

or private one-to-one online sessions now available.

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Being one of only five qualified Shaking Medicine practitioners in New Zealand I have the honor and privilege to share this deep medicine  with you. Having trained with Dr Keith Motes. This  ritualist practice has been used for thousands of years within cultures beyond the western world. Shaking medicine supports deep release of suppressed survival energy through somatic resourcing tools and techniques, intuitive movement and therapeutic tremoring offers a potent yet supportive and empowering space for embodied release and transformation.

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This 6-week program in person or offered 1:1 online is designed to introduce neurogenic and therapeutic tremoring in a gradual way, ensuring that the nervous system remains regulated and supported throughout the process. Rather than forcing tremors, we will allow them to emerge naturally, fostering a sense of self-agency and safety in the body supported by nervous system resourcing tools long the way.

 

Each week progressively builds toward deeper tremoring, while grounding techniques and nervous system resourcing practices help integrate the experience.

 

Understanding Neurogenic & Therapeutic Tremoring

 

Neurogenic and therapeutic tremoring are natural, involuntary shaking responses that support the release of stored stress, tension, and trauma.

 

    •    Therapeutic Tremoring → Gentle, self-induced tremors that arise through movement, somatic practices, or intentional shaking. These help discharge excess tension and reset the nervous system.

    •    Neurogenic Tremoring → Deeper, involuntary tremors originating from the autonomic nervous system, particularly the brainstem and vagus nerve. These tremors allow the body to complete incomplete survival responses, releasing stored trauma from the muscles, particularly the psoas (hip flexor), diaphragm, and spine.

 

The Science & Wisdom Behind Tremoring

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    •    Polyvagal Theory (Dr. Stephen Porges) → Tremoring shifts the body from sympathetic activation (fight/flight) into parasympathetic regulation (rest/digest), allowing deep restoration.

    •    Tension & Trauma Release Exercises (Dr. David Berceli) → Studies show that neurogenic tremors help downregulate stress responses and restore nervous system balance.

    •    Somatic Experiencing (Dr. Peter Levine) → Tremoring is a biological discharge that prevents stress from becoming stored trauma. All mammals naturally shake after a stressful event—humans often suppress this response, leading to chronic tension.

    •    Ancestral Wisdom & Ritual → Shaking medicine is not a new concept. Indigenous cultures across Africa, South America, and beyond have engaged in ritual shaking, trance dance, and ecstatic movement for hundreds, if not thousands, of years as a way to release energy, connect with spirit, and heal the body. These traditions recognized shaking as a gateway to deep restoration and transformation, long before Western science “discovered” its benefits.

 

This program supports the body in safely reclaiming this natural healing mechanism.

- 6 spaces

Originally created by Keith Motes www.shakingmedicine.com

He started Shaking Medicine after having a profound experience involving spontaneous shaking. For Keith, this revolutionary experience happened without him being taught this phenomenon or even ever hearing about it before. Leading up to this experience he had been practising and teaching Yoga & Qi Gong. This gave him the capacity to trust his innate instinctive intelligence enough to tune into what his body was intuitively asking him to do, which was to let go, relax, allow, and shake in the spontaneous and uncontrolled fashion that our inner animalistic nature knows how to do.

Finding the shake was a pivotal point in Keith’s life that led him to passionately explore, develop, study, and embody Shaking Medicine. For the first time, he began dissolving trauma in his body that his other practices simply didn't tap into. Keith became curious if others would receive similar benefits, so he began experimenting with sharing this with others. To make sure the practice remained safe and grounded he used his Yogic and Taoist knowledge, which are key foundations in this modality. He became quite proficient at guiding people into their own unique therapeutic tremoring experiences and began sharing this work more professionally while continually evolving Shaking Medicine to this day, which is now being shared around the globe. For more about Keith, visit our Teachers Page where you’ll find his extended bio, thesis, publications, and more.