Recognize and Manage Tension in your Body

Muscles can become TENSE even when they aren't being utilized, and sometimes we don't even know it!  Sometimes we feel it as soreness, discomfort, or lack of mobility.

These patterns of tension and muscular contraction  accumulate as a result of STRESS, unhealthy habits, the residue of injuries, or a lack of proper exercise and stretching.  Contracted muscles can "tug" on bones, creating misalignment and subsequent compensation patterns. When parts of the body are not in relative alignment, muscles don't function as they are meant to, often becoming either over-active or under-active.

Our muscles aren't a discrete unit: the state of our muscles can become imprinted in fascia (connective tissue in the body), and, in a sense, embedded in themany layers of our beings.

Give yourself a break and change old patterns!

Try these steps to help you unwind and find your natural length and ideal functionality again.

 1. Observe what's happening.  Notice what you feel in your body. Check in without judgement. Be kind to yourself.

 2. Relax your holding patterns. nUnconscious contraction is common and often goes unnoticed. Once you sense it, play with relaxing the areas that are on constant alert. This can also be practiced in a more formal "constructive relaxation" session, like Yoga, or seated meditation.

3. Exercise for Balance.  Engage in an asana  practice that offers “cross-training” for your life to help you move towards balance and functional harmony. Remember: life isn’t one-size-fits-all, neither is the movement your body needs.

Practice yoga, exercise and stretch in a way that will target the most restricted fascia and muscles in your body.

 4. Organize body segments onto their foundation.  Let your shoulders rest on your ribcage, let your pelvis rest on your legs. Sometimes just "letting body segments rest" is not easy-- this is one way to become more in touch with tension that needs long-term attention! 

Get grounded in your feet and legs and feel how your legs support you. Check in with how getting grounded, organized and relaxed creates a natural, uncontrived, and wonderful lift deep inside the body.

5. Be gentle.  Create a little more length and space in your trunk. See if you can visualize and introduce a long spine and a relaxed body without aggressive muscular effort. Work with the energetic body and your breath to create length, order, and new patterns.

 Try  standing and walking by  mindfully adjusting  with an exploratory playfulness. Don't over-do it! Sometimes people create more problems by over-correcting. Be gentle and patient with yourself. Change doesn't come from forcing things.