What is Body Stress Release?
Body Stress Release is a health profession concerned with unlocking the tensions stored in physical structures, thereby assisting the body in restoring its maximum efficiency.
This gentle technique assists the body in its own healing process and brings effective relief from many forms of tension, pain and discomfort caused by the build-up of stress in the body.
When the stresses of life – whether mechanical, chemical or mental/emotional – reach the level of overload, the body is no longer able to adapt constructively. The stress becomes locked into the physical structures, causing pain, stiffness, numbness or postural distortions.
Body Stress Release does not use medication or machines, nor does it involve massage, manipulation, pressure points or energy meridians. It is practical and logical.
Body Stress Release uses information provided by the body to determine where, stored tension may be undermining the efficiency of the nervous system, disturbing the body’s ability to co-ordinate its functions, heal itself, and perform at its full potential.
Stress overload may be defined as the overriding of the body’s inner resistive powers by an outer, invasive force.
Stress overload may occurs when the stresses experienced by an individual goes beyond the limits of their adaptability. For example, an overload of stress to a bone will break it and the body will need outside help in setting the bone with a cast or pins, in order for healing to take place.
A less extreme example of stress overload is if the body is subjected to a lighter force, such as a fall, which goes beyond the body’s ability to deal with it. If the body is unable to release it, the tension becomes “locked” into the physical structures – the muscles, tendons, ligaments or other tissues remain tight and constricted. We call this “body stress”.
Mechanical Stress
The body is designed to withstand a certain amount of physical force – bumps, jerks and falls, but if the mechanical stress goes beyond the body’s limit of adaptability, the effects may become stored as body stress. The causes may be sudden and violent, such as a car accident, a severe fall, or lifting a heavy object incorrectly.
Or, there may be a gradual accumulation of milder mechanical stress, e.g. habitually sitting incorrectly, or doing inappropriate exercises.
We can reduce mechanical stress by improving our posture, by sitting, bending and lifting correctly, and avoiding potentially harmful exercises. Obviously it is helpful to pursue moderate and sensible forms of exercise to strengthen muscles, i.e. a brisk walk for 20 to 30 minutes every day.
Mental/Emotional Stress
These include fear of the future, financial worries, competition in the work-place, disintegrating family relationships. At times we experience sudden violent emotions, such as anger or shock, or we undergo milder but ongoing forms of mental strain, e.g. anxiety, depression and resentment. We may become aware of the physical effect of emotional pressures, as the diaphragm, jaw, neck and shoulders tighten in a defensive posture, to armour us against the onslaught of life’s stresses.
To reduce emotional/mental stress in our lives, we need to learn to consciously relax when we feel ourselves becoming tense. It is also advisable to seek out whatever activities and techniques help us, as individuals, to approach emotional balance and inner peace, i.e. meditating.
Chemical Stress
Exposure to harmful chemicals may severely irritate the nervous system, causing the neck muscles to tighten.
The sources of chemical stress include pollutants in the air, insecticides and certain food additives and preservatives, colorants, artificial growth hormones. Harmful chemicals may be consumed, inhaled, or even absorbed when contacting the skin. Examples of chemical stress are severe headaches and nausea, to name but two.