The Stress-Tension Connection: What's Happening in Your Neck and Shoulders
A Note from Wes Miller, Founder of AntiFragile Physical Therapy | Asheville, NC
Welcome to the holidays, y'all. I personally am in the Sandwich Generation at the ripe age of 46, where I'm simultaneously dealing with four delightful teens/emerging adults, the work of running a business and caring for clients and employees, taking care of myself, and helping parents stay active and mobile as well.
And at no time of year is this more obvious than during the holidays.
Travel, gift-giving, quarter four business planning, office parties, holiday concerts, parades... You name it, I'm going through it! And you may have your own special add-ons to this challenging (and concurrently delightful) time of year.
So, not a shocker that you may feel some tension building up in your neck, shoulders, or jaw. But why does stress tend to show up in these areas of the body? In general, this seems to be where people hold their stress. But WHY?
Think of it as a normal stress response for humans (the same one that kept your ancestor from becoming lunch for a saber-toothed tiger 50,000 years ago); keeping your muscles tense means you’re always prepared for action - flight, fight, or freeze. The problem is that it only works well if the stress is temporary, and there is a clear sense of safety or completion at the end of it.
In our earlier example, you hear a stick break, tense up, and your senses heighten as you determine whether it’s your fellow tribesperson, a giant animal that is looking forward to making you dinner, or a smaller animal you would like to make into your dinner.
Heart rate elevates; hearing, smell, and eyesight are dialed in, muscles are taught like a bowstring, ready for immediate action or to stay perfectly still. Then you catch a subtle movement at the corner of your vision, and can identify it as.... Thag, your fellow cave dweller, who just can’t walk quietly if his pet mammoth depended on it. And “whoosh”, all the tension bleeds away, heart rate drops, and you either smile with relief or let Thag know he sounds like a bull in a not-yet-existent china shop.
The problem is, the thought of Aunt Cathy having too many glasses of wine and reliving the story of you removing your diaper at church when you were two, or figuring out how to convince your teenager they will somehow live without their girlfriend for the four days you're visiting your in-laws at Christmas does NOT have a quick, cathartic end.
You get to play those scenarios in your head, while still having to live your life. But your nervous system, evolved for tigers, doesn’t like to let that tension go without a fight, because it might just save your life. In the same way, your thirty-pound mutt barks every time the Amazon driver pulls up, because two or three days a week, that has kept your family from being attacked by the creature coming out of the giant humming van. And so far, that dog’s barking and your low-grade chronic tension have kept you and your family alive.
But what it comes down to is recognizing what your nervous system is doing, pausing, and seeing whether we can create a different feedback loop to help you break out of this hypervigilant state. This happens at a deep-brain level, so you have to actively create awareness.
Then again, they say you’re not paranoid if someone is actually out to get you... So if your child, or a bear, or a coworker is actually stalking you at the moment, then this response is totally normal.
Simple things you can do RIGHT NOW.
Body Scan Meditation (one or two from spotify) I always choose meditations with accents of the british empire...
Deep diaphragmatic breathing - I love box breathing (4 in through nose, 4 hold, 4 out through mouth, 4 hold) box breathing
Shaking - don’t dis it - look at pro athletes on the sidelines, swimmers, football players- you’ll see them bouncing, fidgeting, shaking limbs - trying to sideline the nervous energy. It works! like this or maybe this Maybe This instead...
Place tongue to the roof of your mouth - like you’re going to make and “Nnnnnnn” sound - this appear in a few places, like tai chi and chi gong, but it absolutely works, in so much as it makes the muscles of clenching downregulate
Dance break - either doing a quick little dance move you know - it doesn’t have to be ballet or break dancing - or just some intuitive, mildly enthusiastic moves to your favorite earworm - look at Jamie and Roy in this season of Ted Lasso (VIDEO) - it’s just hard to be really wound up
Change your position at work - sit -> stand -> kneeling -> change chair, etc.
Walk around for a minute
Drink Water - postural fatigue feeds into the same muscle tension, just like breathing. Huge studies on factory and office workers have shown that dehydration is a bigger contributor to discomfort at work than a bad work station set up over the long term. NIH hydration study
Head Pull - wrap hands over your the top of your head, compress gently, and then pull up. You can add a slow mouth opening and closing if you like.
Easy Isometric - put your hand on the back of your head or against a headrest, and then gently press the hand into the back of the head and back of head into the hand, slowly building pressure, then slowly releasing it. Like This
Write down five things you’re grateful for - it’s hard to by hypervigilant and anxious when you’re in a state of positivity and curiosity. Try it. My immediate list:
Cooperative Coffee Sweet Dreams Decaf coffee - so I can drink a ridiculous amount of rich, caramelly direct trade coffee without feeling super tweaked. If you’ve met me, you know I probably don’t need the caffeine... partially because I go every morning to
Underground Fitness - I get in a mobility warm-up, 35 minutes of HIIT training, and then 35 minutes of well-programmed lifting. Thanks to coaches Manna and Grayson, and all the other gym-going crew for the camaraderie. Also, I feel like they extend my life, because 20 seconds of pull-up burpees feels like an actual eternity.
Sunny, our recent addition and mascot. If you’ve met her, you know what’s up. If you haven’t, your loss
Live music - headed to see Beck live at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium with friends, bought Xmas jam tickets, buying Interpol tickets...
The giant panel windows at our office. It’s just amazing to look out and see groundhogs, deer, bears, changing leaves... and did we note that we’re in the middle of the River Arts District?
Carrying a Little Extra Tension? Let's Talk
Dealing with frequent headaches, jaw tension, neck and shoulder tightness, or lingering aches and pains? This November, we're offering a FREE 30-minute Tension Evaluation at AntiFragile Physical Therapy.
Come sit down with us, talk through what you're experiencing, and explore what might be contributing to your tension and discomfort. No pressure, just a chance to get some answers and figure out your next steps.
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