Well of course it will! You already know that when you are sore after a long day at work you will tend to be a little grumpy. But it goes so much further than that! Stored tension, whether we are aware of it or not, will affect our emotions.
A psychological study by Dr. J.D. Laird demonstrated this beautifully. Two groups of subjects were asked to hold a pencil in their mouth while they watched different cartoons. They were asked to rate the cartoons on howfunny they were. One group was asked to hold the pencil between their teeth, so that they inadvertently tightened the muscles used in smiling. The second group was asked to hold the pencil with pursed lips, which kept them from smiling. The first group, the “smilers”, statistically rated the cartoons as funnier than the second group. The frowners found the cartoons much less funny.
The subjects of the study were not aware that their facial muscles were affecting their perception of the cartoons. In the same way, we can be oblivious to how stored tension in our bodies may be affecting our experience of any given situation. We have become masters of ignoring tension in our body, much like we can sweep dirt under a rug when we are trying to do a quick clean up. This may be a good short term strategy- it gets the job done for the moment, but it is a terrible long-term strategy. Dirt accumulates under the rug until there is a lot more to deal with!
When we ignore tension patterns in our body, they become so normal to us that we don’t try and correct them. An individual that has carried a purse or shoulder bag always on the same side over many years no longer recognizes that their muscles have developed more on the one side, and that their shoulder is regularly carried higher to accommodate the bag. An imbalance in one’s muscles may be caused by many different reasons, from carrying something always on the same side to a regular asymmetric activity such as a golf or tennis swing(!). Any imbalance in muscles will affect nerve function and eventually affect one’s overall health. It will even affect how they feel emotionally.
I frequently hear patients report a change in their mood after they start network care. I have had a mother report that her teenage son described himself as feeling much happier and not getting so upset about doing homework after starting care. Another patient found increased energy and decreased depressive episodes since she began care at our office. Here is a quote from Yvonne, from our Patient Testimonials Book:
“… Network Care has helped me in many areas of my life. I used to dwell on the past a lot, especially my relationship with my parents, my childhood experience, and the guilt that I have held on to- the pressure I have in my heart. Since I started under care, the entrainments have helped me to release that pressure, especially the emotional side of my life. I feel like a rock inside my body has been released. I can think more in the present and I am not holding on to the past. I am more relaxed and more focused- my thoughts are not scattered like before. Most important, I feel I am really dealing with the emotions that have been trapped inside my body for over 10 years.
I did not realize how connected my physical body is with my emotional stress- even stress from the past! I am glad that the muscle tension that brought me here is better, (she became a patient because of a neck problem) I am even more grateful that my body is dealing with stress, and I am healing- emotionally and physically.”
Holding on to tension patterns in our bodies will affect how we feel, whether they are patterns from physical stress that we have learned to ignore, or patterns from emotional stress that we have buried. If you want to be like the first group in Laird’s study, and find cartoons and life “funnier”, then learn how to let go of your accumulated stress.