line
stringlengths
1
117
Chance M R A Attention structures as the basis of primate rank orders
Man
Dovidio J F Ellyson S L Keating C F Heltman K Brown C E The
relationship of social power to visual displays of dominance between men and women
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Dovido at al The relationship of social power to visual displays of dominance
Nagasawa M Mitsui S En S Ohtani N Ohta M Sakuma Y Onaka T Mogi K
Kikusui T Oxytocingaze positive loop and the coevolution of humandog bonds
Science
Tehovnik E J Slocum W M Carvey C E Schiller P H Phosphene induction
and the generation of saccadic eye movements by striate cortex Journal of Neurophysiology
Baguley D McFerran D Hall D Tinnitus The Lancet
Chapter Recognize Muscular Tension
and Dormancy
You translate everything whether physical or mental or spiritual into muscular tension
F M Alexander
Suppose youre interacting with an abusive boss Without realizing it you hold some part of your body still in order
to manage your behavior during the confrontation Tension in your jaw throat or shoulders keeps you from lashing
out and losing your job Tension in your hips or feet keeps you from storming out of the room Similar tensions may
arise when you deal with a relatives expectations of you or during a disagreement with a friend
Mary Bond b
This chapter discusses a form of trauma that transforms muscles on a cellular scale repetitive
strain The first half of the chapter introduces the concepts of bracing and persistent muscular
tension and explains how to recognize them in your own body The second half dives into the
social and emotional aspects of muscle tension laying out the relationships between longterm
strain pain breathing and submissiveness Exercises are offered throughout to aid you in
recovering from your bodily tension
Recognizing Excessive Muscular Tone
It can be difficult to recognize the physical sensations of muscular strain We become so
accustomed to the pain and discomfort that they become effectively imperceptible the same
way we stop noticing unpleasant smells It often takes a significant shift for us to notice how
our bodies really feel This happened to me after strained my shoulder skateboarding After
the accident a doctor prescribed me a dozen pills of meloxicam a nonsteroidal anti
inflammatory drug NSAID with analgesic effects After my first dose spent a few hours trying
to analyze the effects of the drug My muscles felt looser and this quickly put me to sleep
woke up in the middle of the night to feel my hamstrings burning intensely but they had
not been stretched or exercised recently in any unusual way It took me a few minutes to
realize that this pain was their normal baseline condition The strain had simply been unmasked
by the NSAID drug had become utterly accustomed to the fact that this tension went to bed
with me every night quickly realized that the problem was widespread My hamstrings were
chronically strained from overzealous exercise but so were my hips lower back shoulders and
neck That night as focused on gradually relaxing these body parts began to realize just how
much had been clenching them in a bizarre contorted way
This experience made me think of a lesson that my mother taught me In my twenties
developed a condition called plantar fasciitis that causes pain in the soles of the feet She
shared the method that she used to cure her plantar fasciitis saying something along these
lines Jared its a medical disorder but it comes from tension You must be curling your feet
into fists at night Right now you are unconscious of this tendency but it is possible to create
awareness Each evening before you go to bed focus on the sensations in your feet and tell
yourself that you plan to let the tension release and remain released as you sleep Dont allow
your feet to remain clenched all night had painful plantar fasciitis for a full year yet after two
nights of following her instructions meditating closely on the sensations of tension the pain in
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
my feet was gone Right there lying in bed saw the connection and realized that this same
lesson applied not only to my heels but to my hamstrings my heartache my headache
and my whole body
Tone Hypertonia and Hypotonia
Muscle tone also referred to as residual muscle tension or tonus is a continuous and passive
partial contraction found in all skeletal muscles It is often conceptualized as the muscles
resistance to passive stretching during a resting state Muscles receive continuous innervation
from the nervous system ensuring that even in rest they remain in a semiactive default state
Thus there is no complete rest in living muscle tissue
Both extensor and flexor muscles are constantly kept activated which helps us maintain
muscle readiness For instance your bicep a flexor and triceps an extensor are both always
in a state of partial contraction They complement and support each other no matter how
much you try to relax them Muscles on opposite sides of a joint contract in unison to stabilize
the joint This kind of antagonism occurs all over the body It is beneficial and necessary
Muscle tone is normal but it can become too intense under certain conditions and begin to
cause harm Excessive tone is referred to as persistent muscle tension muscle spasticity or
hypertonia Hypertonic muscles can be found in crucial places throughout our bodies and are
sources of chronic pain stiffness and premature frailty for every adult on the planet
The cause of excessive muscular tone and the accompanying pain we experience is
multifactorial Hypertonia can be exacerbated by bad habits wear and tear genetic risk factors
and injuries such as car accidents and falls However most of the preventable muscular pain
that we suffer is derived from a lowenergy injury to the tissues known as repetitive strain A
repetitive strain injury is caused by repetitious tasks or by sustained awkward positions Almost
any job profession or chore you can imagine involves monotonous contractions through which
muscles are subject to continuous or nearcontinuous strain While repetitive strain may occur
intermittently its effects build up over years resulting in chronic conditions
Longstanding instances of muscular tension develop pathways in the nervous system that
reinforce and perpetuate them Simultaneously an array of cellular changes takes place within
muscle cells themselves forcing them to contract permanently forfeiting strength and
flexibility By becoming accustomed to such burdens we force ourselves to carry them
unknowingly This is how we come to feel the weight of the world on our shoulders We are all
hauling an invisible intangible load forcing dozens of muscles throughout our body to push and
pull against absolutely nothing
Refrain from Muscular Bracing
Excessive tension in any posture is called muscular bracing and it is pervasive We brace
muscles all over our bodies every day Squinting and the raising and lowering of the brow
discussed in Chapter are also forms of bracing Mostly we brace as a reflexive response to
things that make us worried or uncomfortable Due to the false sense of security it can afford
some researchers have termed it muscular armoring Bracing is intended to prepare us to
quickly initiate offensive or defensive movements as when we protect the neck by keeping the
shoulders raised Small amounts of temporary bracing are healthy and can be helpful during
rough and tumble play contact sports falls or collisions Unnecessary bracing however
Chapter Recognize Muscular Tension Dormancy
keeps the body on guard and rigid Thus when you need to move you are forced to
overcome your own resistance forfeiting grace and coordination
Keeping our muscles tense makes us feel in control but is a dysfunctional coping tactic
People generalize bracing from physical challenges to intellectual and social ones This is why