REDUCING SMALL PHYSICAL STRESSES

This article was prompted by seeing an office worker with her face scrunched with tension. I had previously talked with her about the problems that the overhead fluorescents were causing her (her eyes and face are tense most of the time that she is at work) so she had the maintenance guys shut off the fluorescent above her. However, this week, the light was back on and her face was scrunched up again. She said that some of the people she met with objected to the light being off, that the room was too dark.

I explained that her health was more important than anyone else’s opinion, that the tension in her face affects her in ways she is probably unaware of, and that desk lamps could add light if others object.

We all ignore fixable irritations that cause tensions that we would be better off reducing. Our habitual practices and tensions become written in our faces and bodies, affecting us in large and small ways, such as wrinkles, pain, posture and gait aberrations, circulatory difficulties and many more.
We tolerate many little tensions that cause stress:

• we ignore the off-kilter feeling of a wobbly, crooked, or ill-fitting chair that does not let us sit straight, causes our back to curve too much or in the wrong place, or won’t allow our feet to lie flat on the floor
• we tune out light that is too much, too little, from the wrong direction, flickering, or a type or color that disturbs us
• we pretend that a too soft, hard, lumpy, warm, or cold bed is ok anyway
• we block out feelings from clothes or shoes that do not fit right, cause our body to feel strained, or makes us work harder
• we grit our teeth and try to ignore loud or obnoxious noise, unpleasant smells, or irritating surfaces or fabrics

The immediate effect of denying our perceptions is to deaden our senses, to train ourselves to not notice reality, and to undermine our ability to recognize truth when we encounter it. Beyond this, there are many unfortunate results from our lack of response to messages from our bodies:

• the tension remains, constantly undermining the pleasure in life that we could otherwise experience
• the longer any tension is present, the more it tends to affect other parts of the body which try to compensate, like the worker who tensed her face to avoid the primary discomfort from the light, leading to aching facial muscles, sore eyes, and greater overall tiredness.
• tensions held for long periods cause wrinkles, muscular knots, neurological dysfunctions, and decreased blood or lymphatic circulation, not just in the affected areas, but to a lesser degree throughout rest of the body as well
• all tensions use energy, and the longer that any tension is held, the more it wastes energy, leaving us with less energy for more important activities
• little stresses add up to big stresses, making us cranky and tired
• the original problem goes unsolved, leaving us with extra stress for as long as the annoying stimulus exists
• unresolved tensions eventually become chronic pains that do not improve even when the cause is removed.

We need to protect ourselves from unrecognized or ignored tensions and the harm that they do. Fortunately, we can train ourselves to recognize harmful stimuli and to take action against them:

• Scan your surroundings whenever you go from one room to another and consider the qualities of that area: Is the lighting too much, too little, or the wrong quality? Are the lights steady? (Flickering lights can cause headaches or migraines.) What is the noise level? What do the surfaces you touch feel like? Are there airborne particles or scents that cause discomfort?
• If you cannot alter the surroundings, can you move to a more comfortable spot or chair? Do you need headphones or earplugs to protect your hearing or lower stress?
• Are there visual disturbances such as dirty surfaces or piles of clutter that prevent feeling peaceful as long as they exist?
• Consider seating and sleeping areas:
• Is the seating appropriate for your body size and type? Does it provide adequate support, especially for the lower back, and encourage good posture? Are your feet flat on the floor when seated?
• Does your desk or keyboard surface allow your hands to rest straight out from your arm with no bending up or down? (your hands should be at a right angle to your elbow when typing)
• Is the center of your monitor or TV at eye-level when you sit with good posture? Are the contrast and brightness adjusted to minimize eyestrain? Are the screens at a distance that does not require leaning your head forward or backward?
• Do you have sufficient or the right type of pillows so that your neck is straight, your head supported, and your shoulders protected from strain (if this does not make sense now, it might when you are older)? 

Many more potential, easily remediable discomforts than those listed here are possible, but the principle of responding to messages from the body should be clear. Noticing inputs from all your senses can inspire solutions for how to improve comfort and lower stress.

Paying attention to minor discomforts may seem trivial, and in some ways it is. Becoming overly sensitive can be a painful and distressing burden too. As in all things, what is needed is a happy medium – to be sufficiently aware of sensations that cause stress so they can be modified or stopped without letting sensitivities taking over your life.

There can be benefits to toughing out some discomforts in the interest of not becoming too soft and too sensitive to tolerate even the smallest discomfort. But these should be chosen discomforts such as pushing our bodies or minds farther than they want to go in the quest for excellence (not perfection!).

Options for coping with noxious sensations may have trade-offs. For example, using a face mask to avoid inhaling particulates in city air generates heat around the face, means breathing overly warm air, and the strap(s) can be uncomfortable. However, the benefit of not allowing particulate matter to settle in your lungs is large and lasting (dirt and chemical pollutants thrown up by wind or vehicles lodge in the lungs permanently once they are inhaled). You have to decide whether keeping your lungs clean(er) and protecting against future lung disease is worth tolerating the discomfort of a face mask
 
Becoming more aware of sensations and improving them can raise issues of social pressure. Since others typically ignore small sensations, paying attention to them may cause them to look askance at your solutions. On the other hand, it’s your body, the only one and the only life you get, so you should be free to decide the conditions under which it must operate. Conformity is over-rated anyway J.

I’d like to hear back from you about your discoveries in these areas and am always happy to help figure out solutions as well.

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© Gloria Valoris, 2015

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