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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Week if 10/6/2009 Sensing in motion inquiry #4
Please notice your movement when you are stressed out. Tell/discuss more than the obvious. Are your joints dry, tight? What is the quality of your breath? What is your contact like with the earth, with your center, with your skin, with others, with the weather. Please tell a bit of the story: why are you stressed, how long where you stressed, how did you interact with others, what was your general overall mood/movement?
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When I am stressed out I stomp really bad when walking. I think I just feel heavy and am not very tuned into that part of my movement because I am thinking of whatever I am stressed about. I also do not make as much contact of any kind with others. Especially my housemates. For example I was really stressed out on a recent morning and did not talk to, look at, make eye contact with anyone in the kitchen. I was not mad at any of them, but really absorbed in my stress and worry about getting all my work done at the quality and accuracy that I intend to give. I am figuring out how to balance my energy and time between school, work and play as my schedule keeps changing and I have to re-adjust over and over. It is starting to ease up as this week continues and I get more and more comfortable and familiar with my jobs and teachers/assignments. The maps that are just being written/created are now getting regular use and it feels good to get back into the groove.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that when I get stressed out there are various ways that my body lets me know, whether I am mentally aware of being stressed out or not. First I can feel tension rising from my lower back up into my shoulders and my neck. Due to that tension my whole body gets tight, sometimes it is so subtle that I don’t realize it until I feel a release in my whole body right before I fall asleep. I then tend to get an anxiety stomach ache that I cannot get rid of. When I first noticed this stomach ache I thought it was hunger and when I ate it did not go away. I have only started having these anxiety stomach aches since I started college and I now know that it is from high stress levels. It usually lasts about a week, or until my life becomes less chaotic. I now drink calming tea and try to sleep more to get rid of my stress.
ReplyDeleteI've been incredibly disconcerted and stressed the past week or so because every day it seems I fall further and further behind--it begins to feel like there's no way I'll catch up. Because of this, I've noticed my response has been to turn inward, to not connect with people-or even try to. To not start up conversations or interactions, and to avoid them whenever possible. I think this becomes very obvious to others in my body movements and how I'm communicating non-verbally and it really is making it that much worse. Because I think the very thing I need the most to get through this is connections and interactions with others. It helps things feel less serious and intense and allows for more play--which I think is the best way to combat this stress.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed all of my energy is focused on my thoughts, ignoring my body, not giving myself time or energy to feel things, and causing me to not focus on or pay attention to how my body interacts with others. I feel very disconnected (from myself and from other people) and I think I need to spend some time listening to my body, remembering to breathe deeply, and allowing myself to loosen up and connect with myself in order to be able to connect with others.
When I am stressed out, my sense of vision changes distinctly. My sight becomes hard and focused and everything seem to be high contrast and distinct, very separate from me. I feel a thinness and sensitivity to the surface of my skin, as if it is a delicate shell around my body. my breath becomes shallow, more like a panting. I feel a tightness develop in my lower back and my body feels generally less flexible. I tend to have a more difficult time being comfortable sitting still, but when I do move it is more erratic and jerky. I also experience a distinct stiffness in my neck and a tightness that develops in my temples and jaws. When my body is fluid, my mind is fluid.
ReplyDeleteI was out mushroom collecting in the woods the other day and after a while I noticed that my vision felt very hard and glazed over and my skin felt thin and sensitive and I also felt this racing feeling rushing up from my belly into my chest. I felt noticeably ungrounded and disembodied. I think that these sensation were caused for the most part by the very focused and outward pouring energy of my attention and vision in looking (and in a sense hunting) for mushrooms growing among the rest of the woods. It seems that when I am stressed out I feel similar symptoms because so much of my attention and energy is leaving my body in the form of anxiety, leaving me disembodied and ungrounded.
adam k
i experience the most stress while driving. while i am in my car and i see the cops..... flashing lights... hear sirens. i feel invaded. attacked. vulnerable. weak....and of course very stressed. after a not so great experience with those that enforce the law every time i see one in the rear view mirror or any other of the cues above, especially while on my phone/ illegally driving in the carpool lane late for an appointment ( i know, i am an awful lawbreaking citizen, but at least i confess like the catholics) i experience what could definitely be described as PTSD. my jaw clenches, i freeze, my heart races, pupils dilate, i become ultra perceptive and aware. i go into flight or fight with nowhere to run, for i am in a car. when the "threat" is gone my jaw stays tight, my grip on the steering wheel stays strong, i begin to perspire, my whole body is vibrating, the energy is trying to exit my body in whatever way possible. then i play my favorite song by NWA and have a party.
ReplyDeleteI get stressed most often when I think about how much I have to do. My focus becomes hard, my eyebrows furrow, and my neck and jaw tighten ever so slightly, but enough that--after a day-- my neck and shoulder muscles stay tensed. I try to relax all the way, and can often release three or four times. Often when I'm stressed, my voice hardens and my body movements become sharp because my muscles are tense and I don't move as fluidly. People often ask if I'm angry. Often my thoughts start 'whirling' and songs get stuck in my head. My knees hurt and my quads tighten; my fingers and toes get colder.
ReplyDeleteMy possibilities for movement are far less when I am stressed. It seems like my body has much less potential and a much smaller range of motions. My joints feel stiff, my skin feels dry, and in general it just feels like it takes a lot more effort to create movement. It isn't fun or within the flow, it leaves me energetically at an imbaance to move and express. It is hard to get out of feeling that way sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am stressed is really the only time I feel like I get mean. Often I will blame others for things that are unnecessary. I feel a heightened desire to feel pain. It i like a frenzy almost, like I lose a huge part of myself to something. There is of course a terrible tightness of muscles and clenching of jaw and a horrible buzzing of heart. It's almost like a bull seeing red or what I imagine that would be like. I am stuck in a position and cannot really move out of it. When the stress subsides it is a refreshing feeling, much like the ocean.
ReplyDelete