Why Stress And Muscle Pain Tend To Trigger At The Same Time…

Juggling our relationships, our careers, our friendships and even the odd annoying neighbour is enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.

The truth is though, when there's too many balls flying in the air, life can make you dizzy.

Our bodies trigger special hormones called 'cortisol' and 'adrenaline' that get us all fired up; they give us the mental alertness to keep the party going and to keep us powering through!

Expecting mental, physical (possibly even spiritual) battle, our muscles tense up, awaiting conflict.

In bygone eras, our caveman ancestors would eventually regain composure, deciding that the threat was nullified (they probably wouldn't have said nullified) and they'd set aside time to rest.

Today, even with all the protection around us: all the support from friends, family, colleagues and the government, we still don't give ourselves time to let our guards down.

As soon as we slump down on the couch, flick on Netflix and scoosh open a can of beer or gin or whatever tickles your pickle that day, the dance continues. The drama lives on. And, we never let our guards down.

You stay clenched up, you stay uneasy and never get a fresh start.

What ends up happening is you get trapped in a cycle, a stress-cycle if you like, where the muscle tension in your body makes you feel uncomfortable, causing you to feel distracted throughout the day.

You don't get as much done as you'd like and that's obviously frustrating so that gets on your nerves and makes you stressed.

So, you push harder, trigger more adrenaline and cortisol to get you through and next time around, you're back in the same boat, but now there's even more holes in it.

Gradually, more symptoms begin to sprout to the surface ranging from headaches to back pain and even the odd mood swing where it ends up triggering other people's stress cycles too!

We've all been there, but don't worry, there is a couple of simple things you can do to break out of it.

How To Break The Cycle

1. Breathing Techniques

When you're busy, it's easy to forget about breathing, you just assume your body will take care of it.

But, did you know that by regulating it yourself, you can easily let go of the emotions that are triggering nasty thoughts and causing you stress and anxiety?

The word 'regulating' seems a bit scientific actually.

In layman's terms, all you need to do is be more aware of your breath.

Concentrate on it. Take a deep breath in and feel control over it.

Sure, you might not be able to control the craziness going on around you, but one thing for sure, you can control your breath.

Although that sense of empowerment might be microscopic in the grand scheme of things, it gives you a place to start from and to give you direction.

You can evaluate the situation with a clearer head and deal with it without going into 'fight or flight' mode.

2. Improve Your Sleep

Next on this list is sleep.

Getting a good night of the stuff is absolutely critical to allowing your body a proper recovery and if you're currently spinning through the stress-tension cycle, there's a good chance that you're not getting enough of it.

The good news is it's simple to fix it, but the bad news is it's difficult to persevere with it and see it through.

All you need to do is stop working and turn off any screens 3 hours before you go to sleep, read a fiction book and drink some camomile tea.

Seriously, it's that easy.

3. Massage Therapy

For some people, the stress gets to such an advanced stage that breathing techniques and new sleep habits just don't cut it.

That's where massage therapy comes in handy.

When you lie down on the massage bed and allow all of your senses to be stimulated, a weird thing happens.

Your body can't help but relax.

The scents of the aromatic oils calm you down. The gentle massage movements soothe your body. The relaxing, rhythmic music gets you back in sync and the flickering candles help you to quieten your mind.

What ends up happening is you leave your treatment feeling reset.

The cycle is broken and you feel back in control.