Have you ever noticed what your shoulders are doing when you’re stressed?
There’s a good chance they’re somewhere halfway towards your ears.
We tend to think about stress as something that happens in our heads. Work is busy, there’s too much to do, we’re worrying about family or money, we aren’t sleeping properly, and somehow the to do list just keeps getting longer.
But stress affects the body too, and the neck and shoulders are two of the places where we often feel it.
Your body responds to stress
When you’re under pressure, your body naturally reacts. Your heart rate can increase, your breathing may become a little quicker and your muscles tense ready for action. That’s completely normal and something our bodies are designed to do.
The trouble is that modern stress often doesn’t disappear very quickly.
Instead of one stressful event followed by some recovery, we can have days or even weeks of constantly being switched on. Add poor sleep, long working days, family responsibilities, phones, emails and everything else life throws at us, and it’s easy to see how the body never quite gets the chance to relax.
Without really noticing, you might start lifting your shoulders, clenching your jaw or sitting more rigidly. The muscles around your neck and shoulders end up doing more work and, eventually, they can start to feel tired, tight and sore.
Then we sit still
This is often where things start adding up.
When we’re busy or stressed, we tend to move less. We spend longer at our desks, more time driving, or collapse onto the sofa at the end of the day and reach for our phones.
It’s very easy to blame poor posture for neck pain, but I think we’ve become far too worried about finding the perfect way to sit.
Your body likes movement more than it likes perfect posture.
If you’ve been sitting in one position for a long time, change it. Stand up, walk around, roll your shoulders, move your neck gently or go and make a cup of tea. You don’t need to turn it into an exercise session. Just move.
Hormones can add another layer
For some women, perimenopause can make this feel even more noticeable. Changes in sleep, headaches, stress levels and the way muscles and joints feel can all happen around this time.
But neck pain certainly isn’t just a female problem.
Men experience stress, poor sleep, long working hours and physical tension too. Whether you’re sitting at a computer all day, driving for hours or doing a physical job, your neck and shoulders can still end up feeling the effects.
Don’t just stretch it
Stretching a tight neck can feel lovely, but if the problem keeps coming back, stretching alone probably isn’t the whole answer.
Your neck and shoulders need movement, but they need strength too. Your upper back needs to move. Your jaw needs to relax. You need decent sleep and recovery where possible, and sometimes you need to recognise that stress is playing a bigger part than you realised.
Sports massage can help settle those tired, overworked muscles and get you moving more comfortably again, but I also want you to have things you can do for yourself between appointments.
So every now and then, check in with yourself
Drop your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Take a proper breath. Get up and move around. Do it now…. I bet you need it.
You might be surprised by just how much tension you’ve been carrying without even noticing.
If you need a sports massage appointment with me, book online at www.astralfitness.co.uk and please do plan ahead for your future needs. Maybe you need to look at your strength, and need help getting started to move well, get in touch about Personal Training.
Thank you for reading this weeks blog, Why Stress Ends Up in Your Neck and Shoulders.
Thanks for reading,
Chloe