Farmers and farm workers will often feel tension in their muscles, whether it’s from physical exertion, stress, or even changes in the weather — and treatment of tension can start simple at home.
Tag Archives stress management
Simple ways to relieve tension
Fit to Farm: Expectations of stress tee up the body’s tension response — which then sometimes sticks around longer than we need
Toolkits help bridge gap in farmer mental health
Ag Safety: In ag emergency preparedness, mental health outcomes often are overlooked
Efforts to rebuild and repair farms tend to take centre stage following a crisis, but the mental health aspects of such events often inadvertently wind up on the back burner, hence a new resource kit for farmer use.
When pain literally gets on your nerves
Fit to Farm: This kind of pain gets around within the body, so just treating the local area won’t solve the problem
All pain links back to our nerves, but our nerves themselves can also become irritated due to inflammation, immune system activation, physical or emotional trauma and/or fatigue.
Try these techniques to help manage stress symptoms
Fit to Farm: It can be as simple as connecting your awareness in the moment to the literal ground underfoot
Think of your nervous system as a complex biological electrical circuit — one that benefits from being grounded.
Understanding shoulder pain
Fit to Farm: If we don’t move in ways that keep the joint stable, our bodies will tense up to hold it in place
Posture, breathing patterns and body maintenance all affect your risk of shoulder pain, one of the most common complaints we see in the clinic.
In the present tense
Fit to Farm: Stretching isn’t necessarily the answer for tight muscles
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.
Make moves against anxiety
Fit to Farm: The nervous energy our bodies generate needs to go somewhere
Anxiety is something all of us experience, to varying degrees, at some point or another. It can come with many different symptoms. Some of us tend to experience anxiety in our minds; some experience it more in their chests and cardiovascular systems; others experience it in the digestive system. Some lucky individuals experience all of […] Read more
Non-surgical options to manage pain
Fit to Farm: Don’t just ignore pain or the clues to its causes
As an athletic therapist, I often work with individuals faced with managing painful conditions in the short and long term. Many conditions or injuries do require surgery to repair underlying issues. That said, many pain-related symptoms do not require surgical intervention to alleviate. Pain and other uncomfortable sensations occur for many reasons, often entirely unrelated […] Read more
Find paths out of distress, depression, disconnection
What keeps you centred and grounded? Observe and pay attention at those times
Patricia Morgan is a dynamic force for change and my good friend. She’s authored a new award-winning book, Return to Center: Simple Strategies to Navigate Distress, Depression and Disconnection. As farm families brace for or embrace the winter season, I thought we all should be reminded of good practical tools to be emotionally strong and […] Read more
How to treat carpal tunnel at home
Fit to Farm: Symptoms begin when connective tissue compresses tendons and nerves in an already-busy area
Carpal tunnel is a condition that can affect anyone, anytime, though it’s especially common in those who work with their hands and do manual labour. The carpal tunnel is an anatomical term for the path the tendons in the forearm and wrist take underneath a bridge of connective tissue in the wrist moving into the […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
