“all my stress”

People often use words imprecisely, even thoughtlessly, and in my line of work the word "stress" tops the list. If I'm going into work,I know my chances of hearing "I keep all my stress in my neck and shoulders" are pretty high. Now I'm not so literal minded as to completely miss the point. In fact I think everyone pretty much has an idea as to what this might mean. Or do they? You have to admit it's a pretty vague statement.

I think there's a case to be made that the phrase "keep all my stress" indicates a soft understanding of the truth that the emotional and physical stress an individual experiences results in the manifestation of pain, tightness, inflexibility or lack of mobility in the body. It also indicates the belief that stress effects will concentrate in one part of the body, which would only be partially true. I would further argue that this belief is ultimately limiting.

First of all "stress" actually does refer to objective circumstances, and a subjective experience of those circumstances. Classical physics elegantly describes stress as the amount of a measurable force upon a defined area. Psychology defines stress as positive or negative change in an individual's life as understood through any social construct of family, work, routine. Physiology describes stress as any change that affects homeostasis to the organism. Homeostasis refers to that organism's steady states of temperature, pH balance, blood sugar levels etc.

The subjective experience of stress accounts for the feeling of stress effects in the body, and in the behavior of the individual. Stress isn't just the objective experience of spending too much time behind the desk, it includes the inner dialogue that keeps the pressure on. Stress could also include sudden drops in temperature, a family member getting sick, or the sudden appearance of a bear.

No matter the cause, the effects of stress are often the same. Systemic elevation of norepinephrine and epinephrine, commonly understood as adrenaline. These neurotransmitters and neurohormones enjoy the task of communicating fight or flight procedures to the body on behalf of the individual. Concentration increases, blood shunts to the limbs, temporarily abandoning the digestive organs, glucose levels increase, breathing becomes shallow, heart rate quickens. Extended stress releases cortisol, another systemic player. You couldn't live without cortisol, but elevated levels aren't really that great for you. Effects include enhanced sugar making and releasing in the body, suppressed immune function,

People use the word "stress" in such a way that it means something without meaning anything. It's like a sub-utterance. The client who has said this really only gave a vague indication of what bothers them. Cause and effect manifests in this general amorphous pattern whereby work, family, school equals stress in my neck. There are no subsequent indications of deeper understanding, no sense of specific event causing specific trauma.

More importantly, it's probably inaccurate and ultimately dismissive of the rest of the body.

Of course we all succumb to the temptation of easy communication, but understanding how you are really being stressed can be enormously helpful for resolving and managing the stress. Part of why it's so easy to see all the descriptions of stress as similar is that they so often lead to the same effects.

Stress effects usually manifest via a serious of neural and hormonal pathways that respond to the external environment on your behalf to modulate the aforementioned homeostasis.

The effects of stress differ from the cause of stress, but will often contribute to a positive feedback cycle of increased stress. Most of this has to do with a series of neurological and hormonal biological pathways.

They say they feel "something" in their neck and shoulders and I know that I'll be working that area, but I don't genuinely know what the clients mean by this phrase, and I don't fully trust the statement. I assume most clients mean they feel the effects of muscular tension, physical tightness, in their neck and shoulders. Maybe it prevents them from turning their head one way or maybe it causes that weird clicking sound between the shoulder blades. Otherwise, why would they see a massage therapist? I also assume I will find muscular tension in the hips, low back, arms, legs, face and scalp.

No one could precisely understand what "keeping all of my stress" means, and though this could be the beginning of further knowledge and exploration, it's pretty much left at that. It's probably also an inaccurate statement. They probably keep their stress in other places too. I don't mean to criticize, but I also don't think it is unfair to suggest that the way we think about experiences in our lives shape those same experiences. To that degree, it may be useful to check in and dig deeper, introspectively, to understand your own stress. Otherwise another opportunity to expand ones consciousness regarding one self and the body has been lost to glibness, desperation, and role expectation.