Where do you feel tension when you are anxious? Almost everyone I work with says they feel anxious tension in their:
- neck and upper back
- jaw
- abdomen
And once I ask, many will also say they feel it in their:
- eye/cheek area, like they’re squinting
- back body, from leaning forward on their toes
- front of the throat, like they are “choked up” and having trouble speaking or swallowing
I also bet you’ve been taught to deal with tight muscles by stretching them. For example, if you are tight between the shoulder blades, common knowledge says to clasp your hands together and reach forward, and hold the stretch for several seconds or even minutes.
But there’s a new line of thought about the best way to provide a sense of release in muscles. Instead of stretching muscles end-to-end, you aim to glide layers of muscle over each other laterally. Instead of going into a pose and holding it, you move smoothly between two postures. And instead of “finding your edge and leaning into it,” you explore how much motion you can get that feels really free and don’t push to the point of discomfort.
Let’s try it!