RELAX & UNWIND FEBRUARY 2009
Like most people, I struggle with stress on a regular basis. Sometimes nothing feels as crippling as an overload of stress. But through my work as a massage therapist and health professional, I've learned to look at stress in a whole new way and I believe it can be helpful to others as well.
Everyone knows that too much stress can be harmful, but few people realize that too little stress in our lives is also dangerous. Our bodies need some stress to grow and move. Without stress, we would hardly move at all and our lives would fall out of balance. But a healthy dose of stress keeps us engaged in a continual process of balancing ourselves.
So what's the proper way to relate to stress? First we have to look at how we normally respond to stressful situations. We protect ourselves by standing strong and firm; our muscles contract and tighten. The problem is that when muscles contract on both sides of a joint, the joint stiffens up and loses its mobility and we can't move around the way we need. And when we tighten up, we don't carry out actions as well as we would like. To put it another way: our bodies are 60-70% fluid and when our muscles contract under stress to stand strong and "solid," we lose our fluidity.
In those situations, it is important to remember that "Health is Movement." The same stress that caused us to stiffen up can also bring us to find the place of movement in our muscles. Think of the stress as a source of motivation. And know that even things with the greatest density have some give. When we find that give and nudge it a tiny little bit, we find movement and begin to restore balance in the body.
So let's do what we can to find movement in ourselves and others. Let's focus not on where we are dense solidified, but on those micro movements inside. Let's focus on health rather than on being stuck.
Everyone knows that too much stress can be harmful, but few people realize that too little stress in our lives is also dangerous. Our bodies need some stress to grow and move. Without stress, we would hardly move at all and our lives would fall out of balance. But a healthy dose of stress keeps us engaged in a continual process of balancing ourselves.
So what's the proper way to relate to stress? First we have to look at how we normally respond to stressful situations. We protect ourselves by standing strong and firm; our muscles contract and tighten. The problem is that when muscles contract on both sides of a joint, the joint stiffens up and loses its mobility and we can't move around the way we need. And when we tighten up, we don't carry out actions as well as we would like. To put it another way: our bodies are 60-70% fluid and when our muscles contract under stress to stand strong and "solid," we lose our fluidity.
In those situations, it is important to remember that "Health is Movement." The same stress that caused us to stiffen up can also bring us to find the place of movement in our muscles. Think of the stress as a source of motivation. And know that even things with the greatest density have some give. When we find that give and nudge it a tiny little bit, we find movement and begin to restore balance in the body.
So let's do what we can to find movement in ourselves and others. Let's focus not on where we are dense solidified, but on those micro movements inside. Let's focus on health rather than on being stuck.
Matt Gleicher, CMT
Jerusalem Massage
Jerusalem Massage
052-636-2000