In the modern world, it is impossible to avoid stress. We are stressed about education, our health, debt, bills, and personal business. Stress can have a real toll on your body. It can even cause you to have a heart attack, have hair loss, constipation, and several more. These are the most discussed side effects of stress, but one effect that is commonly ignored is that you can store stress in your physical body.
Too much stress can cause you to develop allergies, sensitivities to certain foods, environmental agents, and chemical agents. People suffering from too much stress can suffer from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, PMS symptoms, and headaches. It is important to address the amount of stress you are dealing with to prevent worse health issues it can cause in the future.
Stress is most often stored in the largest muscles of the body, the iliopsoas. This is a combination of two muscles called psoas muscles. The muscle stretches from your back to the front of the hips where it meets the other muscle that stretches from the top of the thighs to your sides. The muscle is often referred to as the “Muscle of The Soul”. Stress and trauma are stored in the muscle causing negative effects on the body. Containing too much stress can affect your ability to think clearly.
Release The Stress!
Cranial Sacral therapy is a form of therapy that is a gentle way of bodywork that addresses the bones of the head, spinal column, and sacrum. It causes a release of compression in those areas which alleviate stress and pain. The point of the therapy is to move the bones back into their original position. According to the National Headache Foundation, approximately 28 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. Often, migraines are triggered or exacerbated by stress and poor sleep. In a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, researchers found that participants who received bodywork like Cranial Sacral Therapy had better quality sleep and fewer migraines than participants who didn’t. Effects even lasted up to three weeks after therapy ended.
Another useful way to relieve stored stress is through yoga. Yoga practices the stretches of the muscles to release tension and increase flexibility and durability. No matter how you look at it, stress is a plaque onto the body. Be sure to take time every day to assess the amount of stress you are holding onto, and learn ways to alleviate it! It can be a key to a happier, more successful life.