Beyond the Butterflies: Recognizing Stress in Your Body

"I have butterflies in my stomach." 

"My stomach is tied in knots."  

"I have a sinking feeling ..."

Most people know that the above statements indicate anxiety. Gastrointestinal distress, being obvious and demanding, gets the most attention, but did you know that your hips can be affected by stress?

Stress can affect every part of our body, and sometimes the tightness, tension, or pain will dissipate once the source of the stress has been removed. If you've ever suffered through shoulder pain at work, planned to get a massage but didn't have time, and then forgot to do so because the pain just disappeared, that's what happened. However, in the case of chronic stress, physical expressions of stress may feel like a permanent fixture in your body.

It is common for symptoms of stress to show up in the stomach, neck, shoulder, back, and pelvis, but we can store stress anywhere in our bodies. When people experience severe stress they sometimes feel odd or painful physical sensations long after the event has ended and/or physical healing is complete. This type of stress can be particularly sneaky, as there may not be a clear connection between our stress and that area of our body.

For example, I once worked with a client who consistently complained of a headache in the center of her forehead, but had ruled out all medical causes of this pain. Through EFT and guided imagery, my client realized that this pain increased when she did something despite her instincts telling her not to. In other words, when she ignored her gut feeling, her intuition screamed at her, and over the course of several months her intuition had been doing a lot of screaming. However, by recognizing what was causing her physical pain she was able to change her behavior, and her persistent headache eventually went away.

Any experienced massage therapist, mental health professional, or yoga instructor could cite dozens of examples where a client's emotional or psychological distress manifested as an unpleasant physical sensation. Although it is imperative that we get these symptoms checked out by a healthcare professional and not assume that they are psychosomatic, once we have established our physical health, it is equally important to listen to what your body might be trying to tell you.

Continue to Part II of Beyond the Butterflies: Locating the Stress in Your Body.