Muscles twitching

[GaseousKlee]

I wonder if anyone else has experienced the sudden onset of twitching/contracting muscles that feels like the body is releasing years of tension and holding. For the last few weeks, this has been happening in my legs, back, and abdomen, on and off throughout the day, specially when lying in bed, conscious and relaxed. The twitching moves my legs around and the abdominal contractions can almost bend me at the waste. It's not painful or unpleasant. In fact to some extent there is a pleasant feeling of the muscles opening up, discharging the energy of decades of holding on for dear life. Often there are sensations of warmth and openness and tingling in the extremities. I've heard stories of people recovering long-buried memories, including CSA, accompanied by changes in the body, as if the body has locked up the memory and is now able to let it go. I haven't yet had any such memories. I am someone who does not remember the CSA at age 8, although I have convincing evidence that it happened. I'm ambivalent about recovering the memory. Anyway has anything like this happened for you?

 

[Jack1]

Very interesting post @GaseousKlee Yes I've been experiencing muscle contractions and also very strange distonic tremors as of late. I often wake up at night feeling that I'm somehow in a battle with forces I cannot see. Like you it's not unpleasant but it has caused a bit of worry since I didn't know why it was happening. I too have wondered if it was a physical release of past trauma. I differ from you in that I do have many memories of the CSA and have been uncovering a huge amount of information in therapy for the last few months and really feel like I have made major breakthroughs. I didn't mention these tremors to my T but at my next session I will do that.

 

[GaseousKlee]

Very interesting post @GaseousKlee Yes I've been experiencing muscle contractions and also very strange distonic tremors as of late. I often wake up at night feeling that I'm somehow in a battle with forces I cannot see. Like you it's not unpleasant but it has caused a bit of worry since I didn't know why it was happening. I too have wondered if it was a physical release of past trauma. I differ from you in that I do have many memories of the CSA and have been uncovering a huge amount of information in therapy for the last few months and really feel like I have made major breakthroughs. I didn't mention these tremors to my T but at my next session I will do that.

Thanks for the response. This started happening during a meditation session. My meditation teacher said it is not unusual. I hope she’s right. So far it happens mostly when I consciously imagine letting go of all of the tension in my body. I have an idea that all my life I’ve held my body like a clenched fist, holding on for dear life, ready for an imminent attack. I picture just not clenching anymore, relaxing the grip, not even opening the fist. Then I let things move around and sometimes move me around. In bed at night it can be a lot of movement. Next weekend I’m going on a 3 day silent meditation retreat. Could be interesting….

 

[Youngtrumpet]

Interesting conversation. A couple months ago - almost sudden like - I started getting weird feelings in my legs. It sounds somewhat like you describe - and it is mostly when I am laying down in bed or trying to sleep. I have had all kinds of tests done and there isn't anything in my medical state that points to this. I have decided it is neuropathy since it best describes the feelings. Yet the fact that it came on all of a sudden doesn't seem to fit the medical explanation. I can't remember any specific situations during my childhood incidents that would lead me to believe it has to do with either physical or emotional trauma. Yet I often wonder often if this could be the case.

 

[Immanuel_Varis]

Interesting conversation. A couple months ago - almost sudden like - I started getting weird feelings in my legs. It sounds somewhat like you describe - and it is mostly when I am laying down in bed or trying to sleep. I have had all kinds of tests done and there isn't anything in my medical state that points to this. I have decided it is neuropathy since it best describes the feelings. Yet the fact that it came on all of a sudden doesn't seem to fit the medical explanation. I can't remember any specific situations during my childhood incidents that would lead me to believe it has to do with either physical or emotional trauma. Yet I often wonder often if this could be the case.

Hello Young Trumpet! About that last point, I’ve found that throughout my journey whenever stuff starts showing up in the body it usually means something. The body is incredible at communicating, such as with pain, and I always trust that there is a reason I am feeling what I am feeling now, whether it is related to some past trauma I am conscious of or related to some past trauma that I am not conscious of. Either way, my body trusts me enough to let me feel it now because it knows that I can handle it.

 

[Jack1]

whenever stuff starts showing up in the body it usually means something. The body is incredible at communicating,

There is much truth in that.

 

[I don't know my name]

I had heard and have experienced muscle twitching from strain, and stress. When I get very stressed out, my eye sometimes will slightly twitch.

 

[LittleSteve]

It sounds very much like you’re having somatic memory releases. Depending upon the age when the abuse started a lot of that can be encoded into the body. Not like a memory picture or a sound or a smell, but your body physically in codes, the abuse and stress at all that as a memory.

You mention the fact that you don’t have a lot of memories and you’re not sure, there’s a good book it’s called the body remembers, which explains in detail, but basically that’s what somatic memories are. And they can replay in other words just like when you remember a visual memory. This is a replay of a physical memory, and it can come out in all kinds of strange ways, twitching, warmth, tingling various parts of the body. It can come and go it can repeat.

They can also be extremely strong. For example, I have some tremendously strong, somatic memories that have been released from very severe abuse when I was four or five and six. These types can leave my muscles sore for hours afterwards, but I also have the type of what you describe where it’ll be just a minor sensation or a twitch or a strange feeling and apart, and generally the way I approach it is, just recognize it for what it is. Oh, you’re a memory of past abuse OK I accept you. I understand and it’s OK. You can go now. In other words, I’m listening to my body. I’m accepting what it’s telling me and I’m telling it it’s OK I’m integrating this memory. I understand what you’re trying to tell me and you don’t have to come back anymore.

That usually does it because then the memory could be integrated you’re accepting it for what it is and telling your body it’s OK. You can heal now you don’t have to hold this anymore.