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