Physical activity is NEVER the primary cause of tension.
The body is always just a mirror. For example, for disharmony in the mind. Back problems often occur during work, but their primary causes lie in the mind.
Standing behind a counter for long periods, sitting at a desk or steering wheel for long periods or lifting heavy loads - these are all triggers for what are often experienced as chronic complaints.
Orthopaedists or osteopaths can rarely have a healing effect on these tensions as long as the real causes are not recognized and resolved.
Do you suffer from tension or have back problems? Then the following lines may provide a few useful suggestions for you, and you will find the relief and relaxation you long for in much less time than I did.
Overview
- Fears cause tension.
- What is exciting for you, for me?
- Observe yourself - without judgment.
- The physical body does not feel.
- Tense individual muscles specifically
- The role of will
- Devotion
Fears cause tension.
In the face of a terrifying threat, we involuntarily contract all our muscles and freeze. Perhaps only for a brief moment, during which we may be completely incapable of acting. At least when we are slightly anxious.
Even our earliest years in childhood shape us accordingly.
Traumatic experiences in particular are stored in the body in the form of chronic tension and blockages. To protect ourselves, we repress such experiences into our subconscious - into an unresolved, quasi-frozen state.
Body symptoms and life events, such as a slipped disc, serve to make us aware of these split-off experiences and then to heal and release them. Read also here about the repression of abuse.
All experiences are imprinted on us as patterns, and in the course of our lives we repeatedly produce events that correspond to our fear patterns.
Never, really NEVER is a physical activity the primary cause of tension or back pain. It is always old conditioning, usually caused by fear.
Even physical accidents never happen by chance. There are always mental causes through which we attract accidents or "illnesses".
What is exciting for you, for me?
Not only body symptoms, but also exciting movies, for example, can help us to become aware of our split-off experiences. Do thrillers always make you tense your muscles with excitement? Movie themes can certainly trigger events that lie dormant in the unconscious.
However, watching action movies is rarely a recipe for success as long as we are not prepared to face our repressed traumas. Thrillers usually only remain pinpricks if we don't look closely, but simply find it "exciting".
By far the most tension-free state we could be in is PEACE. As long as we are not at peace, there will be tension and blockages somewhere in the body.
Just as fear is the main cause of tension, we can see love as the cause of peace and joy in life. Healthy self-love is definitely part of this.
Observe yourself - without judgment.
With the help of self-observation, old habits can be made conscious. We observe ourselves from the outside, so to speak. At the same time, we also succeed in turning away from false identification: because "I" am NOT my body. As I said, the body is only a reflection of our mind. And it can change.
Also observe how your fellow human beings often identify with their bodies. For example, many people talk about "my back pain", "my pimples" or "my cancer" as a matter of course. Almost as if it were a matter of ownership.
The intruder becomes a permanent guest and ultimately a possession.
Language and thought always have an effect on the experienced state. Once we "own" something, we don't give it up as easily as we would a temporary intruder.
Therefore, also observe your language. For example, from now on you could say: There has been a pain in my back (for some time). Avoid words like "always", which perpetuate an undesirable condition.
In addition, observe everything in the area of the muscles: Clenching your teeth, tensing your butt cheeks, shoulder pain (especially in the right shoulder), any back and neck tension, etc.
And finally, extend your self-observation to simply everything: All other body symptoms, all thoughts that come to you, as well as all feelings. Make yourself aware of your neutral observer role. In this way you already experience yourself a little as your true self, beyond ego-consciousness.
The physical body does not feel.
We probably think that the body both causes and feels physical pain. But this is not the case at all. In this article I take a closer look at the topic, based on a very interesting experiment in a YouTube video.
The experiment clearly shows that we see something with our eyes and are even aware that only a rubber hand is being hit. Nevertheless, we feel "pain".
It is not the body that feels. Our mind-controlled feelings are easily manipulated and not really connected to the body. In the experiment, the connection was artificially created with a trick.
It is therefore not at all surprising that we often find it difficult at first to tense individual muscles voluntarily.
Tense individual muscles specifically
My father can wiggle his ears, but not me. On the contrary: moving individual small muscles has never been my strong point. When the sun dazzled me, for example, I didn't just close my eyelids for years, but also squeezed all the muscles around my eyes.
In general, I have had a pronounced tendency to tense up since childhood - not just in my back, but especially in my lower back.
In the meantime - after many years - I have found out the real causes and resolved them as far as possible. I feel more relaxed now at almost 70 than I did when I was 20.
I recently found detailed instructions on how to tense all the main muscles (without the ears) one after the other.
The task: starting with the feet (first left, then right), up to the neck muscles, the muscles are tensed individually. I found this very difficult at first with my calves. I first had to press my finger into the calf to be able to couple it with my will.
Here, too, it becomes clear that there is no automatic connection. It takes practice - like in driving school - until it works without effort.
The role of will
The task can be varied. In any case, you tense the muscles with sheer willpower, initially also lying down, in order to be as relaxed as possible. Then you can tense all the muscles individually at will and relax them again immediately. Or you can hold the tension of the previous muscle as you move on to the next one.
Once you have tensed all the muscles from your left foot to your right foot to your neck muscles, you can hold your breath for approx. 6 seconds, tense all the muscles again and then exhale and relax all the muscles again in reverse order.
Incorrect movement sequences that we have become accustomed to at some point can be optimized very well with the “Feldenkrais”-methods . Just as an aside.
With targeted physical exercises, we gradually approach mastery of the body. Being able to activate individual muscles with willpower is not a "must" for everyday life, especially not for wiggling our ears. But it may help us to become a lot more relaxed and also to recognize the central importance of our mind.
This is because our mental habits and beliefs have so far attributed an objective meaning and effectiveness to the body that it does not have.
Devotion
So don't take the muscle tensing exercises too seriously. Of greater importance is the neutral observer role, combined with devotion to life. Because life provides us with exactly what we need for our development, relaxation and healing, and at the right time.
Dedication to love too: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
We should also keep looking at our capacity for love and the current potential for anxiety in order to take appropriate steps towards healing if necessary.
Tensions and blockages in the body can give us the necessary impetus.
You will find out whether certain physical exercises have the desired effect. However, don't wait unnecessarily to look deep enough within yourself with the right support .
These articles fit the topic well: