Tension Management

Mind and Body Talk

We all have a constant dialogue going on within us. Our mind is talking to our body and our body talking back to our mind. It is a process of interaction between our glandular system (our attack and defence warning system), which sends hormones (chemical messengers) to our muscles, lungs, heart, eyes and ears; and our brain. Our brain registers impressions of hormone stimulation that we call feelings and emotions.

Equal and Opposite

Tension is equal and opposite emotions. Usually, we are only aware of one of each pair of tension creators – and wonder why we don’t do something about it. When you have tension symptoms, look for the other, balancing factor, which keeps you stuck.

Body Chemistry

Tension causes pain when repeated chemical arousal is not cleared by “discharge” via hard exercise, laughter, talking out problems, raging, crying, etc. Symptoms of excess chemical arousal are muscle tension – pains in hands, feet, shoulders, neck, back, stomach. Poor circulation from tense muscles causes “cold feet”, cold hands, sweating, hair problems, pale or poor complexion, impaired sight, hearing and concentration, listening ability, and lack of clarity of speech can all be due to or worsened by tension patterns.

We can act as our own detective to track down and remove our tension patterns with the aid of every-day sayings:

” A pain in the neck.”

“Gives me the guts ache.”

“Itching to hit him.”

Sayings like this arise from the fact that people are standard. We all have the same essential physiology, emotional levels, thinking methods, etc. We can all work back from tension symptoms to identify what we need to tackle.

Stress is the conflict between two equal and opposite urges. The tension between conflicted  mental choices, shows itself in physical symptoms. You can reverse that logic and use the guide below to potentially identify the stressful conflict underlying your physical symptoms (Do not forget that not all physical symptoms have a psychological origin, There may be a physical cause for the physical symptom)

Do you have any or all of the following?

(some standard symptoms and standard causes)

Symptoms CreatorsPotential Stress
Headaches above or around the eyeDon’t want to see
and\or aching eyes. things that hurt you.
Headaches up the back of the neckUnresolved problems.
Pain in the joint of jawbone and skull (Under the ears)Want to but can’t speak
Pain in the jaw from grinding teethWant to scream but suppressing it.
Stiff or painful neck musclesDepressed
Pain in the shouldersWant to push away, but can’t.
Pain between the shoulder bladesWant to deflect an Unfair\valid verbal attack, but can’t.
Pain in the upper armsWant to hit, but can’t.
Pain in the hands and fingersWant to “strangle” but must hold back.
Pains in the chest (poor breathing.)Want to yell or rage but don’t.
Cramp in the stomach (poor breathing.)Want to reject psychological poison/pressure but don’t.
Pains in the knees.Want to run, or want out, but can’t.
Ankle, foot, and toe achesWant to kick-out, but can’t.

Tension is chemical arousal, and the body can accommodate a certain level of arousal. Undue, sustained levels of arousal create tension which becomes self-reinforcing. This can become addictive. We begin to “get ourselves into a state” about small things, become consistently gloomy or moody – which others blame on our “personality.”

Here are three main approaches/actions that you can take in terms of getting control of and better managing tensions in your life:

1. Discharge the emotions that drive the tension patterns,

2. Take conscious, planned action to change your skills, self-image, self-esteem.

3. Arrest and disrupt the tension patterns by being kind to the body you live within.

See Be Kind To Your Body