One of the most common symptoms of stress is muscle tension. Often caused by emotional stress, we may carry this tension around in our muscles for most of our lives. Unfortunately, muscle tension drains our nervous system and can lead to poor posture, chronic fatigue, even illness and disease. Chances are you’ve experienced this sort of stress, and you may have even tried to do a million stretches before and still not seem to have ever really release your muscle tension for good. This could be because you’re missing the most important stretch of them all, stretching your lungs!
How Stress Ends Up In Your Muscles
Our body perceives stress, whether consciously or subconsciously, and responds with either a sympathetic response (fight, flight, or freeze reaction) or with a more calming parasympathetic response (rest, digest, feed and breed response). For example, eating any type of food will put some kind of stress on our body, more specifically on our metabolism and digestive system, to run the nutrition through our systems. Whereas a healthy meal will stimulate a more satisfying parasympathetic response, eating an unhealthy diet can cause us to have an uncomfortable sympathetic response as our body is metaphorically fighting or running from the questionable foods, even freezing up with constipation or obstruction of adequate bowel flow.
This is just as true with our emotions. We’re having a response to every moment of our lives. If what where digesting emotionally is not what we perceive as bad or a threat, we’ll feel it as a challenging sympathetic stress, but it if it’s something that we perceive as good then we’ll feel it as a comforting experience and have a more relaxing parasympathetic response.
As we sense our internal and external environments, and respond with either a fight-or-flight reaction or the rest-and-digest reaction, our hormonal system sends out a “cocktail of chemicals” into our blood stream, which triggers an array of physical and emotional responses. Sympathetic and parasympathetic responses are relative opposites as you can see below, and a balance of the two are required for physical and emotional stability. After all, it is our hormonal system that’s picking up the signal from our nervous system to either run or relax.
Fight or Flight Response (Sympathetic)
Pupils dilate
Saliva inhibited
Increased heart rate
Inhibited digestion and sexual function
Increased hypertension/muscle tension
Rest and Digest Response (Parasympathetic)
Pupils constrict
Increased saliva
Decreased heart rate
Increased digestion
Decreased hypertension/muscle tension.
As you can see, increased muscle tension is a natural symptom of sympathetic stress, which again is frequently caused by emotional/hormonal traumas. Whenever we experience these traumas, our body tenses up and we learn to hold this energy in our muscles, creating a perpetual stimulation that teaches our body to remain tense and “hold on tight!”
Because our muscles have been told by our nervous/hormonal systems to remain tense and to not let go, it is not recommend that you try and release your muscle tension by just simply stretching the muscle but rather, it is best to release muscle tension by targeting your nervous system through deep diaphragmatic breathing as this naturally stimulates our rest-and-digest system to more easily let go of the tension we are holding onto. When you learn to simultaneously stretch your lungs and muscles together, not only will you notice a profound change in your body as it releases muscle tension, you’ll begin to notice that you’re not as susceptible to storing this tension in your muscles going forward.
How to Stretch Your Lungs (Releasing Muscle Tension)
There are many forms of stretching, but for the sake of releasing stored up muscle tension in your body, it’s best to use what is called the Contract-Relax Method. This method, also known as Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), was originally developed as a form of rehabilitation, and to that effect it is very effective.
Before you begin your PNF stretches, lay down on your back with your knees bent, place your left hand on your heart, your right hand on your stomach, and practice breathing deeply into your lungs. You should first feel your abdomen rise for the first 2/3 of your breath, and then your chest will rise for the last 1/3. Inhale slowly for about 3 seconds, hold for about 2-3 seconds, and then release slowly for another 3 seconds. Feel your lungs stretching as your diaphragm contracts to allow air to reach the lowest part of your lungs. Repeat this process for about 20 breaths.
Once you’ve practiced your diaphragmatic breathing and induced a restful response in your body’s muscle tissue, it’s time to incorporate some stretches. Because upper chest and neck muscles are some of the most chronically challenged muscles that store our tension, lets use a Lateral Neck Flexion stretch as our example.
Start by sitting upright in a chair. Pull your head very gently to one side and hold this position while hanging onto the bottom of your chair with the opposite hand. This will ensure that you don’t side bend while performing your stretch.
After about a 5-10 second hold, inhale deeply (stretching your lungs) while gently contracting the muscle against your hand (an immovable object), and hold for 5 seconds. Your head will not move as you’ll be holding it in place while you contract.
Then slowly exhale and release the muscle while moving slightly into a deeper stretch.
Perform this inhale/exhale Contract-Relax method 3-5 times with any muscle you feel may be tight. Focus more on your breathing and be sure not to pull hard to get the stretch. If you focus your attention on breathing deeply while performing your stretches, you’ll naturally create a restful state within your body where the muscles begin to slowly release and allow you better range of motion.
By practicing your stretches everyday, you’ll begin to notice that your muscle tension will naturally release and your energy levels will increase. Further, your emotional status will often improve due to the fact that stretching your lungs induces a calm state within our body. This newly acquired emotional stability will play a lasting role in your overall health, allowing you to enjoy your day-to-day activities for years to come.