We often feel tension in our muscles, which can stem from physical exertion, mental and/or emotional stress, immune responses or even shifts in the weather. Tension somewhere — or everywhere — in the body is one of the most common complaints that brings people to see me.
At its root, tension is a signal our nervous system perceives some form of threat. The nervous system receives signals from the body, which is interpreting internal and external environments. The tension response is generally a preparation for a perceived stress — though it sometimes sticks around longer than we need it. Tension is designed to help us get ready to react accordingly and will stick around when we haven’t fully carried out the action our nervous system perceived us needing to take.
Just breathe
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The breath is one of the easiest ways to directly interact with the nervous system — and with its held reactions such as tension. I like to begin with a coherent breath practice, meaning an equal-length inhale to an equal-length exhale. Start with inhaling for four seconds and exhaling for four seconds and maintain this gentle rhythm to the breath for two minutes, twice a day.
Sit or lay comfortably while you practice this, and you can practice giving the breath a direction. Imagine breathing in via the feet or seat, up the body and down the body, out via the same anchor point.
In slow motion
Used separately, or in addition to the breath practice above, we can employ slow movement. I like to start at the shoulders, an area where many people experience tension. Sometimes when we’re tense, stretching the tense spots only creates more tension. Instead, slow movement toward and away from the tension helps to regulate the nervous system and sustainably create a release.
On an inhale, slowly shrug your shoulders up toward the ears; on your exhale, release the shrug back down. You’ll find you’re following the pull of tension on the inhale, consciously creating some tension through contraction of the muscles, then releasing it on the exhale.
You can take this method to anywhere in the body. Essentially the goal is to create a contraction in a muscle group and then reverse that movement. If you’re feeling tension in the back body, starting with the shoulders and the moving to the glute (butt) muscles, employing a squeeze with the inhales and a release with the exhales in the same way as above, can be very effective.
As always, if tension anywhere in the body or mind persists, please consult your health care provider on where the root of the problem may be for you. Tension is a precursor to conditions such as anxiety, pain, sleep issues and many other health complaints — and is an important early symptom to acknowledge and for which to seek support.
