Stress, rest and physical tension

The body’s response to stress involves changes in attention, breathing, muscle tone, digestion, sleep and autonomic activity.

The condition of your body can affect how you move, rest and perceive what is happening to you.

One of the most recognisable expressions is ‘clenching’.

During the day.

While working.

Driving.

Concentrating.

And then there are issues such as jaw fatigue, temporal pain, neck pain or headaches.

See TMJ and bruxism

In other people, the pattern appears as:

• shallow breathing
• limited rib cage movement
• tight abdomen
• changes in digestion
• upper back tension.

I’m interested in observing what your body is doing physically.

Sleep and pain have a two-way relationship.

Poor sleep can affect sensitivity to and tolerance of pain, and pain can make it difficult to rest.

That’s why I ask how you’re sleeping when the problem has been going on for some time.

The autonomic nervous system does not function like a two-position switch.

We can identify what is actually present in your experience:

• tension
• breathing
• pain
• mobility
• bodily sensations
• perceived relief.

Depending on the presentation, we can assess:

• neck
• jaw
• ribcage
• diaphragm
• abdomen
• spine
• fascia
• pelvis.

The session is hands-on and complementary.

If you need psychological, psychiatric or medical care, that has its place too.

You may notice changes in your abdomen, breathing or jaw before you realise you’re feeling “overwhelmed”.

This interpretation of internal signals ties in with an important concept: interoception.

Reduce existing physical tension, restore movement and breathing, and see if your body can find more scope to break free from that pattern of constant strain.

Your head may keep pushing on, but your body doesn’t always have to follow suit.