How does STRESS cause pain?

Stress relief - I don't think I've ever met a person who hasn't succumbed to the effects of stress and been desperate to find the magic answer for stress relief and feeling better.

Let's face it, if we're alive, we experience stress.

And believe it or not that's actually a good thing!

Ok, so you may think I'm a bit bonkers saying stress can be a good thing - especially as I'm in the business of massage aka stress relief! But hear me out...

Stress is designed to motivate us to make a change. Being chased by a lion? Stress will make you RUN away and potentially save your life. It's the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response that we've all heard about - we experience a stressor, our brains decide if we should fight, flight, freeze or fawn to keep us safe.

Lots of really cool stuff happens to our bodies when we're in this mode, including raising our cortisol and adrenaline levels (because we need more of this to help us if we need to fight or run away), and reducing our endorphins, serotonin and dopamine (because we need less of these if we're in a life saving situation).

Being chased by that lion? You definitely won't be stopping for a sandwich, so our brain diverts energy from our digestive system to use in our muscles - this is just one example (and a helpful one to get your head around if you've ever suffered from stress induced gastro-intestinal issues, IBS or any other kind of inflammatory gut issue) of how our clever bodies work.

Once the stressful episode is over our physiology returns to normal. We've worked off the excess stress hormones and the 'happy' hormones kick back in (and you'd definitely be ready for that sandwich after the energy used to save yourself from that lion!).

Absolutely brilliant stuff.... If you're being chased by a lion.

BUT...when was the last time you were chased by a lion?

Acutely stressful situations in which we have to fight, flight, freeze or fawn to keep ourselves safe do very much still exist in the world we live in today. But we're now also dealing with different kinds of stress too.

What we're dealing with moreso today is CHRONIC or PERSISTENT STRESS. This is the stuff we can't escape from. It's unrelenting, constant and can't be fought off or run away from (though we've all had that feeling of just wanting to run away from it all, and this is why!). It's the financial responsibilities of running a household on an ever dwindling budget during a cost of living crisis. It's the constant pressure to over perform at work because there's always some-one ready to replace you. It's the manic weekly schedule of partners, kids, work, looking after our ageing parents and some-how still needing to find the time to visit the gym. It's the feeling of the weight of the world on your shoulders.

This is the stuff we weren't really designed to deal with. Being constantly stressed keeps our cortisol and adrenaline levels high and affects those happy hormones, as well as leading to an incredibly diverse range of physical symptoms that we know can all be attributed to stress.

But being told - your symptoms may be because of stress, does kind of feel like a cop out. But why?

I believe it's because most people don't necessarily understand what stress is and what physically happens to us when we're chronically stressed; to fully appreciate how those physical symptoms can really manifest themselves in your body - and yes, stress can cause you to be in pain, it’s not all in your head.

More importantly, most of us have absolutely no clue what we can actually do to help manage and improve our stress in order to start feeling better, stay feeling well and not slip into burnout.

It’s even harder to figure out when you’re living in constant stress.

Even though I know all of this really cool and interesting stuff about how our bodies work when we experience stress, and I know the strategies and techniques which really help people to feel better, I still find I can't see the wood for the trees when I get stressed (which is exactly how the physiology of stress works!!), so reaching out for support when life feels overwhelming is crucial.

And it's exactly what I'm here to help you with.

Not just an incredibly deeply relaxing massage for stress relief, that’s completely tailored to help you move from a stressed fight/flight/freeze/fawn state, to a relaxed rest/repair state.

But also actual useful information helping you to understand what's happening in your body when you're stressed, with easy things you can do to help reduce, manage and improve your stress day to day, that you’ll actually want to do.

I love working this way because it means that I help you reach that state of relaxed bliss through massage, and you go away feeling empowered with practical ways to continue managing your stress day to day. Then each time I see you for massage, you've continued to make progress in-between, rather than simply sink back into it.

So if stress has become overwhelming, I'm here to help, get in touch now to book your relaxing massage in Paignton, or book online here.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Jo