2.2 (J) Recognizing Body Tension
Importance of Body Tension Awareness:
When we connect more intimately with our body, through sensation and emotion, we can almost hear to what our bodies are trying to tell us. This is that mind body connection, or the emotional (mind) – physical (body) connection.
So, just as we know that pain can be an indicator that something is wrong with us physically, by recognizing a negative emotion, we can indicate something may be wrong with us emotionally.
Now let’s use this same concept using tension.
Tension is something that we may all live with, yet not even recognize it’s there. When we’ve lived with tension for a long time, we can become accustomed to how tension feels in the body, so much, that the mind can “shut off” receptors to it. So, we won’t even recognize we are tense at all. I, myself, never realized how tense I actually was, until someone tried to give me a gentle massage on my neck, many years ago. The pain and discomfort was a complete eye opener. I was living with tension, and didn’t even realize it.
As we mentioned earlier, emotional tension exists to help keep us safe, and depending on “how” tense we are, can indicate how our mind interprets our safety. So, by realizing how tense you are, may be an indicator of how fearful, or how unsafe our mind thinks you are at that current moment.
This is why understanding our own tension becomes so important in this healing process. So, how much tension resides in your body? And how can you indicate how tense you are?
We can do this in one of two ways. The first way, is by taking the time to feel our own tension, and discover where it may lie within you. Take a moment to recognize where you feel tension, by scanning the body, and focusing on where you feel sensations of tightness, or even soreness.
But how do you know if you are really tense, or if the mind has just shut off those receptors?
What I found to be more feasible, was to flip the idea. So, the second way, and the key for me, was to actually understand how relaxation feels, so when tension built up, I was able to recognize tension easier. Once you really understand how “relaxation” feels, tension becomes more evident. So, relaxation exercises gave me the ability to not only relax, but to really FEEL how true relaxation, without tension, felt. Over time, my body started to crave relaxation, which made tension seem even more apparent.
So, by understanding and recognizing relaxation, and how good it made me feel, helped me develop a desire FOR relaxation. So, as tension built up, I could start recognizing the sensations of tension earlier and earlier, then immediately start relaxation exercises to stop the tension building process. This ultimately kept my stress and anxiety levels at bay.
So, we start with relaxation techniques that help us understand how good it feels to be relaxed, while telling your mind and body that you are safe.
When we connect more intimately with our body, through sensation and emotion, we can almost hear to what our bodies are trying to tell us. This is that mind body connection, or the emotional (mind) – physical (body) connection.
So, just as we know that pain can be an indicator that something is wrong with us physically, by recognizing a negative emotion, we can indicate something may be wrong with us emotionally.
Now let’s use this same concept using tension.
Tension is something that we may all live with, yet not even recognize it’s there. When we’ve lived with tension for a long time, we can become accustomed to how tension feels in the body, so much, that the mind can “shut off” receptors to it. So, we won’t even recognize we are tense at all. I, myself, never realized how tense I actually was, until someone tried to give me a gentle massage on my neck, many years ago. The pain and discomfort was a complete eye opener. I was living with tension, and didn’t even realize it.
As we mentioned earlier, emotional tension exists to help keep us safe, and depending on “how” tense we are, can indicate how our mind interprets our safety. So, by realizing how tense you are, may be an indicator of how fearful, or how unsafe our mind thinks you are at that current moment.
This is why understanding our own tension becomes so important in this healing process. So, how much tension resides in your body? And how can you indicate how tense you are?
We can do this in one of two ways. The first way, is by taking the time to feel our own tension, and discover where it may lie within you. Take a moment to recognize where you feel tension, by scanning the body, and focusing on where you feel sensations of tightness, or even soreness.
But how do you know if you are really tense, or if the mind has just shut off those receptors?
What I found to be more feasible, was to flip the idea. So, the second way, and the key for me, was to actually understand how relaxation feels, so when tension built up, I was able to recognize tension easier. Once you really understand how “relaxation” feels, tension becomes more evident. So, relaxation exercises gave me the ability to not only relax, but to really FEEL how true relaxation, without tension, felt. Over time, my body started to crave relaxation, which made tension seem even more apparent.
So, by understanding and recognizing relaxation, and how good it made me feel, helped me develop a desire FOR relaxation. So, as tension built up, I could start recognizing the sensations of tension earlier and earlier, then immediately start relaxation exercises to stop the tension building process. This ultimately kept my stress and anxiety levels at bay.
So, we start with relaxation techniques that help us understand how good it feels to be relaxed, while telling your mind and body that you are safe.