THE BODY AND STRESS

THE BODY AND STRESS

Do you struggle to sleep soundly at night, wake frequently with racing thoughts, feel fatigued, clench your jaw, suffer with back pain, anxiety, muscle or joint aches, frequent heartburn, tense shoulders, head- aches or constipation? All of these symptoms may signal the progression of stress overload.

When the body reacts to stress it immediately responds by releasing adrenaline which puts us into a state of ‘fight or flight’, ensuring we are alert and ready to deal with the threatening situation. The blood sugar level is raised to produce extra energy, our heart rate increases and our muscles tense up, preparing us for rapid action.

While this may have been a really useful life- saving response to dashing away from the lions and sabre-toothed tigers of our caveman past, in the modern world the over stimulating effects of adrenaline sets off a series of biochemical reactions which, when the body fails to adapt effectively to stressful circumstances, causes ‘stress overload’ and the muscles involuntarily clench in defensive action.

This tension becomes locked into the body’s physical structures and the muscles, tendons and ligaments remain tightly constricted re- sulting in what we call ‘body stress’. Over time this accumulative progression of body stress exerts pressure on the spinal nerves and may result in pain, numbness, muscle weakness, stiffness, distorted posture and impaired func- tioning.

COPING WITH STRESS OVERLOAD

Body Stress Release (BSR) is a life enhancing technique that addresses the manifestation of stress in the body. The BSR practitioner assesses the body for lines of tension by car- rying out a series of light pressures tests in specific directions to locate the sites of body stress. After the assessment, the practitioner releases the stored tension by applying firm stimuli in these areas in the correct direction.

SARAH DAVIES, BJOURN, MBSRA (SA)

[email protected] www.unlockingtension.co.za www.bodystressrelease.com

She runs a Body Stress Release practice based at Milnerton Mediclinic, Cape Town. After 13 years in the media and magazine industry and a long history of debilitating migraine headaches, Sarah discovered BSR. After experiencing the results first hand she realised the potential of this life-enhancing tech- nique. In 2010 she changed vocations to pursue BSR fulltime. Sarah is passionate about Body Stress Release and educating clients on the exceptional healing capacity of the body.