What do we mean when we talk about stress and feeling stressed? For many of us, it can be that we feel overwhelmed with all of the obligations or tasks that need to get done in a very short time frame. Stress can be acute or chronic. It can be related to a sense that demands are too high or that requirements can’t be met. Overtime, thoughts become beliefs, and beliefs become state of mind, and a disposition results. Each thought sets off chemical and electrical neuronic synaptic reactions in the brain that correspond to a myriad of physiological events in the body. Over time, it becomes similar to snowy and icy roads with tracks that are frozen, and one can feel that have no choice in what path they travel. They may not even see, feel, sense, perceive other options or choices. One’s overall disposition can get constructed in this manner and from that, one begins to build a “constitution”. If there is physical pain involved, the pain receptors can constantly feed this process like a furnace. In turn the furnace can continue to stimulate the pain and inflammatory processes in our body.
The key is that this is a process that is IN process. This means that there is a possibility to intervene, slow, shift, pivot, and course correct. Most of us have heard the expression “to be in auto-pilot mode”, referring to when we do something without really consciously thinking about it or even realizing it because it is habit. Well, the systems within our bodies can get into an autopilot mode, including our brain, neuromuscular system, our endocrine system, and our digestive system. There are of course autonomic functions that are always occurring in our bodies, such as our respiration, heart beating, food digesting. Yet, the manner in which these functions operate IS within our control. This means we do have the ability to improve it and create changes in how our bodies carry out these vital functions.
How Does Rolfing help address conditions that are aggravated by stress, such as hypertension, insomnia, fertility challenges, and auto-immune conditions like eczema and fibromyalgia?
Our bodies have a Central Nervous System, which includes our brain and our spinal cord. Within the Central Nervous System, we have an Autonomic Nervous System, which controls our involuntary functions, which I previously mentioned. We have two gears in our body’s Autonomic Nervous System: one is the PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM gear and the other is the SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM gear. The Parasympathetic gear is the mode our body is in during rest, relaxation, and “cruise control”. The Sympathetic gear is the mode our body goes into during what is commonly referred to as “Fight or Flight” mode. Our parasympathetic branch should be, in a general sense, the “default mode”, and our sympathetic branch should mostly only be triggered when the body perceives a true emergency that necessitates a fight or flight. Our sympathetic nervous response to stress includes our heart rate increasing, our blood vessels constricting in order to bring blood to the skeletal muscles so that they can engage in fighting or running. Our body will also release sugar (glucose) into the circulating blood as an immediate supply of fuel for such a fight or flight. The body also naturally holds on to water during a perceived emergency to prevent dehydration and to help keep our blood volume high enough to meet the demands of a heart beating faster. The brain releases hormones that cause our kidney filtering system to hold on to water. In a sense, we stock up on water or fluid much in the way that many of us flocked to the grocery store to stock up on water during the early covid days or before a big storm. Already we can surmise that our blood pressure goes up and our blood sugar levels go up when we are in fight or flight mode.
As our heart rate goes up, our breathing becomes more rapid as it needs to meet the perceived demands of fight or flight. This can lead to shallow breathing. If this becomes habitual, chronic shallow breathing in turn can consistently signal to the brain that there is indeed stress on the system and the brain responds by releasing hormones that in turn cause our adrenal glands to release stress hormones, including one that is commonly referred to as cortisol. Cortisol is known as the body’s “stress hormone.” It is one of the hormones that causes the body to release sugar into the blood stream, increase the breathing rate and heart rate and to cause the body to retain water. Our digestive processes are inhibited during periods of fight or flight so our ability to absorb the nutrients from the food we eat is hindered. Cortisol also causes the adipose tissue (also known as fat cells) in our abdomen to hold onto fat, rather than breaking it down. If one begins to carry more weight in the abdomen, this puts one at a greater risk for developing hypertension, breathing issues, stroke, and heart issues.
Imagine if we are constantly in fight or flight mode, and this is our “default” gear. It isn’t so hard to imagine, in fact, as many of us walk through our days, and our lives in this manner.
There are ways in which we can change this. Rolfing can address the structural tension patterns that come about as a result of both emotional stress and physical trauma. By stretching and redirecting the fascia, rolfing can release the strain patterns in landmarks of the body which contribute to breathing restrictions, distortions in biomechanics, and help facilitate the metabolic exchange that is needed to break away from the constant release of stress hormones. Overtime, one begins to experience a choice in how they are breathing, walking, and moving. This has a cascade effect for the good, as it addresses one’s structural issues as well as one’s underlying physiological well-being, and the interplay between the two.