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some experts refer to instances of bracing as neurotic holding patterns For instance we |
tense during social encounters especially confrontational ones People tense their bodies |
during standardized tests social gatherings and public speaking This hinders their |
performance by interfering with productive efforts and by causing discomfort and autonomic |
stress As we will discuss in Chapter the sensation of fear in your gut and the sensation of |
having your heart in your throat are also manifestations of chronic bracing |
Imagine that you are standing alone in a strange dark parking lot with nothing nearby to |
grab ahold of You hear someone yell Brace yourself What pose do you strike Whatever |
pose you imagined is likely one that you commonly adopt during stress and startle The muscles |
responsible for this pose are the ones you brace most often and so they are likely currently in |
the process of becoming locked up Explore this a little further using the first unbracing |
activity below |
Relaxation Activity Making a Claw |
Tense all the muscles in your hand making it into a stiff claw Curl your fingers so that all |
fifteen knuckles are partially bent Keeping your hand in that formation see whether you can |
tense it even further Keep it tight as you open and close it five times |
Now use your imagination Try to feel what would happen to your hand if you were forced to |
hold it like this for a week straight It would become immobile inflamed and excruciating |
Consider how often you tense your hand in daily life Has it already taken a toll Going |
forward work on undoing that tension Try to notice the claw whenever it materializes and |
allow it to revert to a soft lithe hand |
You also want your hands to be strong so contracting their muscles firmly is necessary The |
important thing is that you allow them to relax deeply after you stop using them Make a |
very firm claw and then let it relax five times in a row How you respond to the discomfort |
involved in the effort makes all the difference Dont allow the discomfort from the |
contraction to influence you to keep bracing Rather plunge into the deeper level of |
relaxation that is available after you have brought the muscles to fatigue |
There are cyclical relationships between stress bracing and arthritis Some specialists |
refer to forms of bracing as prearthritic postures Joints can only be braced for so many years |
before they become inflamed and degenerative My mother has osteoarthritis in her hands |
Some of her knuckles are larger and more deformed than others She firmly believes that the |
most affected knuckles are those that she braced more during stress over decades An extreme |
example is the raisedarm babas of India These are men who for spiritual reasons have |
decided to always raise one arm in the air Over the years their shoulders become stiff as a |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
board and completely useless As you look over the table below think about which bracing |
patterns you use |
Internal Facial Postural |
Tightening the Jaw Squinting the Eyes Raising the Shoulders |
Constricting the Throat Raising the Eyebrows Bracing the Lower Back |
Sucking the Tongue Straining the Smile Hunching the Neck |
Constricting the Nasopharynx Straining the Sneer Neglecting the Glutes and Abs |
Straining the Vocal Folds Pursing the Lips Bracing the Shoulder Blades |
Shallow Breathing Tightening the Cheeks Clenching the Hands and Feet |
Abdominal Tensing Drawing Down the Corners of Tilting the Pelvis to One Side |
the Mouth |
Table Common Forms of Bracing that Compromise Muscle and Cause Pain |
Bracing belongs to a more general category known as dysponesis or the misdirected use of |
energy in the musculoskeletal system of which unnecessary tensing of the muscles is just one |
example This wasting of energy is destructive For example dentists and orthodontists make |
particular note of jaw clenching teeth grinding and tongue tension because those movements |
push the teeth out of their optimal alignment In Chapter we will discuss how bracing the |
back pushes the spine out of alignment Muscular bracing is a factor in almost all joint disorders |
and is responsible for carpal tunnel temporomandibular joint disorder tennis elbow and |
countless others believe that most chronic injuries despite the fancy and distracting terms |
used by physicians start with tension caused by bracing |
One way a mammal remembers that it just glimpsed a predator is by crouching down and |
becoming very tense We often use muscular tension to keep something in mind When need |
to remember something or when there is an urgent need to do something that cannot be done |
right away become tenser The specific part of my body necessary to carry out the task is |
often where the tension manifests For instance will try to remind myself to write down a |
thought by tensing my fingers as if were gripping a pencil Recognize when this happens to you |
and try not to use tension as a mnemonic aid |
We tend to be negligent of excessive increases in muscle tension even when we are |
performing simple tasks We tighten muscles that are not involved in what we are doing and |
then keep those muscles tight even after we finish If the action is built into your job or daily |
routine you can start by improving the ergonomics of your workspace or taking more regular |
breaks You can also teach yourself to selectively calm muscles that you are not actively using |
for the task at hand The key is to constantly and creatively alter your body posture so that |
unused muscles are engaged and overused muscles are given a break |
Chapter Recognize Muscular Tension Dormancy |
Relaxation Activity Monitor Your Bracing During Teeth Brushing |
The next time you brush your teeth notice the movements in your hand arm shoulder |
neck face and torso Are you tensing muscles or expending energy that you dont need to |
For instance you might be gripping the toothbrush too tightly flexing heavily at the elbow or |
shoulder locking your jaw or craning your neck to one side Do you alter your posture and |
vary the repetitive motions to give your muscles breaks Use this activity as an example that |
you can extend to all your daily chores and rituals Generalize this experience to as many |
other activities as possible including writing with a pen typing with a keyboard or holding a |
phone tablet book remote controller or steering wheel |
Microbreaks Allow Muscles the Short Rests They Need |
Not all muscle tension is bad After all there is no way to exercise without tensing your |
muscles But bracing is very different from healthy exercise because it does not include tiny rest |
periods called microbreaks Sometimes all our muscles need is a few seconds or even just a |
few fractions of a second without being held taut When the electrical activity of muscle is |
tracked with electrodes these moments of downtime show up as electromyographic gaps |
brief intervals during which the muscles slacken and relax They are essential |
For example every step you take involves significant exertion as you push off against the |
ground However as one leg takes over the other is given a break during the time it takes to swing |
it forward again That respite allows the muscles to regenerate and prepare for the next step If |
you didnt have this microbreak after every step walking more than a few hundred meters would |
be difficult In much the same way all the muscles in your body require microbreaks |
Without momentarily reverting to a relaxed baseline tone muscles cannot replenish and |
unwanted processes ensue You have probably noticed the difference between fatigue caused |
by sustained bracing hyperfatigue and fatigue caused by exercise that contains microbreaks |
The former aches and is unpleasant while the latter is both soothing and exhilarating Indeed |
the most important factor in building healthy muscle is to allow it to relax The more relaxed |
your muscles are at rest the more quickly they recover from exercise This is why relaxed |
muscle responds dramatically to training whereas tense muscle responds sluggishly Whenever |
you are not using a muscle allow it to go limp It almost seems slothful but its not its the way |
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