Where Do You Hold Your Stress? And 5 Steps To Combat Stress
You heard me say it before and I will say it again: your mind and body are always connected. One influences the other and when one is out of balance the other will be as well.
[tweetthis]Your mind and body are always connected. One influences the other and when one is out of balance the other will be as well. [/tweetthis]
Good, now that we got that down let us talk about how you can combat stress easier.
So if the body is connected to the mind and vice-versa that means that by relaxing one of them the other will relax as well. Right? (good, happy you agree with me).
Now, the mind is a very complex system and sometimes it just does whatever it wants. Sometimes it’s just difficult to calm it down.
However, we can easily address the body. Well…..easier. By releasing physical stress, tensions, pressures in your body your mind will follow this process of relaxation.
We hold much of our mental stress from being business owners, mothers, wives etc in our bodies. Probably all of it. Everything that happens in our lives may be stored in our bodies.
You may hold stress all around you body however the 2 most common areas are:
1. Shoulders and neck. Very painful stuff and the problem with holding stress and tension here is that you are restricting the nerve pathways leading from your cervical spine (The Arch Of Life) down your arms and so end up with pain and numbness in your arms, wrists, fingers
2. Lower back. Do I need to say anything about this? We all know that nagging and painful pain. The problem with holding stress and tension here is that you block other nerve pathways leading down your legs and can lead to problems such as knee pain which can lead to other problems.
The consequences of holding psychological stress in your body:
The less time you spend to relax your body the more tension you build up. And it builds up until the system collapses. Holding that tension in your body for years and years may lead to:
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Compression the intervertebral discs
• Chronic Lowe back pain
• Knee pain and even meniscus damage.
• Ankle pain and even Achilles tendonitis
• Should pain as mentioned before
The worst ones are those that send shooting pain down your arm or leg. Have you ever experienced that? Tension, tension and more tension.
How on earth are you going to RELAX?
Many of us struggle to relax. I know I used to, but not anymore. I learnt how to “let go” of my shoulders and arms with every occasion I have and I teach this to my students as well. The result: instant stress relieve.
So here are 5 steps to help you relax, let go and….get floppy as I always say:
1. Become aware of your body
2. Become aware of the places you hold stress and tension
3. Find a position that does not cause you to tens those areas (i.e. some desks make you unconsciously raise, and tense up, your shoulders when you type, that might be because the chair is too low or the table it to high)
4. Breathe into those areas
5. Visualize the muscles melting away and relax
Benefits of doing these steps:
Besides the fact that you feel awesome in your body again:
• you release that tension you put on your body and help it heal and recover
• you can be more focused and productive (of course with less pain to nag you you can actually do some work)
• you are more patient and calm with yourself and those around you
• you achieve more freedom of movement
• you age gracefully 
I practice and teach more advances techniques. So if you feel the above steps don’t work for you then give a shout and I will step in and give you others that will work better in your case.
These relaxation practices and methods I teach should not be used to replace professional medical treatment. You may use them together with your treatment if you believe they are beneficial to you. Please also bear in mind that I am not a doctor or a therapist, but I do have experience and work with women who hold stress and tension in their bodies to help them let go it and achieve more freedom of movement.