We live in a world where stress and anxiety are like crowns worn by a majority of us. Have you ever wondered why do we become prey to such monstrous things? We guess it’s the fear of being judged, the fear of being weighed down by somebody else who is better at what you are doing, and it’s also the tingling fear of not being able to be yourself. Haven’t we all faced a headache because of overthinking? Haven’t we felt a pain in our neck because of trying very hard to focus on something in life? Yes, we have! We do not really but things like stress and anxiety which fall in the bracket of mental or emotional stress—these can also be linked to physical stress! Headaches and neck pains are the most common examples of the same. It is the muscles in the neck area that face the most tension in our everyday lives. Low moral support is always a cause of one or the other problem in life. The tension that you are facing in your heart and mind is transferred onto your muscles, and the neck area is where it gets affected the most. The muscles around your neck become stiff and this results in chronic neck pain.
How Stress Adds To Discomfort
You see it will be quite stupid of you to say that stress is what causes neck pain. However, stress can contribute to your body pains. In fact, doctors say that a human feels worse pain when he or she is under stress. So, certainly, stress surely does alleviate the pain. In short, we can term it as “stress influences pain.”
Stress Management
All of us experience stress in life at one point or the other. In fact, a majority of chronic health problems are either caused or are influenced by stress. This is why it makes it very vital for us to understand what causes stress and how can we manage it in a way that doesn’t harm our body.
So, let’s start with the basics—what is stress? We can call it as a manner in which our body responds to the changes that occur in our life. We tend to forget the basic rule of life that reads “life is fickle and change is a constant.” What we are trying to say here is that there is no way we can avoid stress in life. Neither can we completely eradicate it because again, change is a constant in all of our lives and this is bound to create few clouds of stress and strain for us. The only thing which is in our hands is to learn to cope with stress by managing it in a better manner.
Guide To Effective Stress Management
Stress will feel less painful when it is managed effectively. And there are different ways of doing it. The best way to do it is by trying out a combination of stress relievers which will help address the cause of stress both psychologically and physically. This will help you develop resilience and inculcate skills to cope with stress. Let’s look at some of them:
- Using Quick-Fix Stress Relievers: By the word “quick fix stress relievers” we mean stress relievers with the help of which you can feel calm in a matter of few minutes. Calming yourself down even for a minute will deactivate your stress response and this will help you approach the problem that you are facing in a much more thoughtful and proactive manner. You will probably not lash out at others because of frustration and this will help keep your relationships healthier as well. Some of the quick stress-relieving exercises include taking deep breaths, counting from 1 to 10 in your mind before reacting, listening to your choice of song, or doing any such activity that makes you feel better about yourself in your life.
- Developing Habits Which Are Stress Relieving: We agree that stress relievers, most of the time would not sound practical to you. However, practicing them regularly will help you take comfort in them when stress knocks your doors. It will help you manage the stress and not react to it relatively. By long-term stress-relieving habits, we mean practicing yoga, going for a walk every morning, exercising regularly, etc. Practicing good lifestyle and communication skills also help in managing stress changes our state of mind from feeling “overwhelmed” or “challenged” or “stimulated.”
- Eliminating Stress Activators: There is definitely no way in which you can eliminate stress completely. However, you can definitely try and minimize it by managing your stress activators. When you know that performing a certain activity will stress you out, don’t do it! Any teeny-weeny stress that you can remove will minimize your overall stress levels in the body to a great extent.
Here Are A Few Ways To Tackle Neck Pain Which Is Related To Stress
The key is to focus on ways through which you can treat both the body and mind. This will lessen the stress and the toll that it can take on you. Below are a few methods which will help manage stress-related neck pain:
- Neck Stretches
Just by performing simple stretching exercises for your neck, you can loosen up the area around your neck. This will eliminate the possibility of any stiffness and will also reduce neck pain which is caused due to stress in your body.
- Support Group Or Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to promote healthy thinking patterns. It is also said that an online forum or a support group where you can share your issue will help you to manage your concerns in a much better manner. This will help in your day-to-day stress management as well.
- Massage
Getting yourself a neck massage or doing it yourself will also relieve the stress that the neck has been facing. It will ease out the tightened muscles of your neck. Help you feel relaxed. Investing in a cutting-edge technology neck massager like Neck Relax will also prove to be beneficial to relieve neck pain that is caused because of stress.
- Prioritizing
Understand that your life isn’t like the perfectly written script of the cinemas. There are bound to be ups and downs in life. You cannot manage all the things to perfection in life. There are bound to be problems that are better off if you let them go. Focus on what is important and don’t stress about worries that aren’t of any vital importance in your life.
- Yoga And Meditation
Practicing simple yoga postures and doing basic meditation will provide your mind the bandwidth to relax and calm your anxieties. Join a yoga and meditation class or simply learn from a guided meditation tutor online. Yoga and meditation heal and this have been practiced for centuries now. So, you don’t have to have doubts about it all.
- Taking Help From Friends And Family
If you are feeling stressed about something, it doesn’t have to mean that you need to handle it all alone. Sharing your problems with your close peeps like parents, siblings, best friends, etc. will help you tackle the stress load. For example, if you have too many household chores to do, you could ask your husband to lend a helping hand while doing the same. Your work gets done quicker and in a stress-free manner as well.
- Consult A Doctor
If you are facing severe neck pain or if you are unsure as to what must be causing it, it would definitely be a good idea to see a doctor. Pain in our neck can be an outcome of more than just stress. Visiting a doctor will help you understand the underlying cause of the neck pain if any.
- Get Ergonomic In Life
Check your work station. If it’s too low or too high for you which might be stressing out the muscles around your neck. We recommend that you adjust your workstation to eye level. The right fit is crucial here. You can also opt for a standing work desk, just make sure that you install it in the right way.
Pain, in general, is a cause of an automated reaction in the nervous and musculoskeletal systems when the body faces trauma. However, pain in the neck on a majority is usually caused because of emotionally driven anxiety. Therefore stress less and practice self-care to steer clear from chronic neck pains.