Holding Tension

Take a quick scan of your body using your mind. Go deep into your senses.

Close your eyes, sit still, and see if you can go deep inside yourself using your consciousness.

Work your way from the top of your head, down to your toes.

Feel your way through every one of your muscles and organs. 

Place your awareness on your senses rather than your thoughts.

Quickly take a minute Before your resume, notice what you feel.

Awareness

Do you feel any tightness or tension, or are you wholly loose and relaxed?

The chances are that somewhere in your body; you are holding on to some tension.

Most of us are not aware of the strain we consistently hold.

Our jaws clenched. The pressure of our tongue pushing on our pallet. The tightness in our shoulders.

It may manifest that you wear a strange expression on your face when you are concentration.

Are we conditioned to hold this tension, or is it taught?

How did we learn to become uptight?

Some of us have unconsciously held tension in our face for so long that it has changed the way we appear.

The scientific phenomenon referred to as “resting bitch face.”

For some of us, it takes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to snap out of these terrible habits, accentuated over time, compounding with each posture, thought, and motion.

Becoming aware of the state of your body is one way to rid yourself of the pent up muscle strain. 

Developing new habits will always be challenging at first. You will have to actively break your concentration by bringing your awareness inwards to your internal dialogue and chronic tension.

Do you want life to be simpler?

Breaking the habit of being so tense has a knock-on effect with a myriad of benefits.

Relaxing your body will help you to stay calm, and level headed, especially under circumstances that previously triggered you.

Reinforce the positive effects of letting go and loosening up when you catch yourself.

Routinely practising healthy posture, releasing your facial tension, and sinking your tightness inwards will also help you slow down, and possibly reverse the process of aging. 

Lines start to disappear, and ailments fade. Stress and anxiety wash away, making space for relaxation, calmness and light-heartedness.

A great starting point is your face. Try and take a minute throughout your day to relax the muscles in your jaw. You can try some of the exercises below if they help you relax.

Take ownership of thoughts and feelings in the moments when correcting your posture and releasing strain. Challenge your way of thinking and watch how your problems seem to fade.

Why so serious?

We are maddeningly paddling downstream, wasting our energy, because only a select few realise that the water was already flowing in the same direction.

Why panic and strain when the water will carry you with grace and elegance?

We often seek forceful control to push forward, rather than steering the ship to go with the flow in the direction of life.

Learning to go with the flow of life while maintaining responsibility will assure that you can release your tightness and live life with the freedom and grace to achieve your wildest dreams one step at a time with relaxed and calm energy.

It is essential to be responsible, in response to the situations and environmental factors that influence us, but why not see the light in every circumstance?

• Q. Why do we hold onto the tension?

• A. We take life too seriously. 

A failure or wrong turn is only an excuse to learn, so why are we so scared of loosening up?

Our tense state of mind affects our habitual postures, reflexes and expressions.

Removing tension starts with changing your habits. Conscious awareness of your face, body and thoughts is the first step to form good habits that will allow you to release stress and in turn, have more joy and less worry in your life.

Tension takes energy to maintain. 

All of us can benefit from releasing some of our physical tension.

We hold onto tension to the point where it starts to cause issues and pain.

It is your responsibility to notice your tension and actively let it go.

Several benefits come from regularly checking yourself using mental body scans to correct your posture, thoughts and pent up tension.

Most of us fight the natural forces, seeking control. This tightening and restrictive habit are consuming our sanity unnecessarily. Loosening up and learning to steer your life rather than fight with it, will bless you with youthful energy, calmness and joy.

Facial Exercises

Exercise of your muscles helps relieve tension because it involves stretching, moving and contorting and then giving your muscles a chance to relax.

An excellent place to start is the facial muscles. The face hides tension, and then your body also takes the cue.

Below are some Neuromuscular Release (NRW) Exercises for your Face

Here are some face exercises that can relieve facial tension as an example:

• Happy face. Smile as wide as you can, hold for the count of 5 and then relax. Do 10 repetitions (reps) per set of exercises.

• Slack jaw. Let your jaw fully relax, and your mouth hang open. Bring the tip of your tongue to the highest point of the roof of your mouth. Hold this position for a count of 5, and then ease your jaw back into a resting closed-mouth position. Do 10 reps per set.

• Brow furrow. Wrinkle your forehead by arching your eyebrows as high as possible. Hold this position for a count of 15, and then let it go. Do 3 reps per set.

• Eye squeeze. Close your eyes tightly and hold this position for 20 seconds. Then, make your eyes go blank: Completely let go of all the little muscles around your eyes and stare expressionless for 15 seconds. Do 3 reps per set.

• Nose scrunch. Wrinkle your nose, flare your nostrils, and hold for the count of 15 and then release. Do 3 reps per set.