Which kind of stressed are you?

Last week I was at Moorfields Eye Hospital for a day of postural assessments with some of the theatre team.

Following this, I shared with the Moorfields Wellbeing Team a few short routines for calming the mind in times of stress. The type of routine really depends on what kind of stressed is being displaying physically at that particular moment.

I see hundreds of people for postural assessments at workplaces each year and stress-related physical tension and/or pain is definitely the most commonly occurring issue.

Because of this, I have come up with a framework for categorising how your body language demonstrates stress as this will determine the movements you can use to get you out of the funk.

Here are the three categories:

OUT THERE

Think lots of fidgeting, doing everything and anything, keeping the mind and the body busy and essentially operating at full speed. Your nervous system is overactive and this is demonstrated in how you move. I think of this as trying to get the stress out there almost as a way of trying to get rid of it.

IN THERE

This is the rounded-shoulders, slumped forward and be as small as you can type of posture. Almost like you are trying to hide away and not let any more stress come in. You may feel mentally fatigued and as though you do not have much energy to move at all. I think of this as trying to contain your stress and keeping it in.

NOT THERE

This is the stiff posture, with limited movement and an upright and tense posture. The nervous system is in flight-or-fight and the body language displays as rigid as a way of preparing to fend off threats. I think of this posture as trying to deny that it exists. You may experience this sort of body language if in times of stress you are a “everything is fine” sort of person.

It is highly likely that you may find that you present in more than one of the above ways depending on the situation. But what is super important is that wherever you are at, when using movement to reduce that stress, you want to start with movement that meets you where you are.

For example, if you are an OUT THERE sort of stressed you wouldn’t jump straight into deep breathing as that would be so far from where your body and mind were at. A good shake out, however, may be a better option followed by movements that work towards calm, slow breaths.

I will continue to share thoughts, advice and short movement videos on MAYD and in newsletters. You can also find me on Instagram @pilatesatyourdesk if you want to keep up with the development of the framework.

Excitingly, I am also putting together a series of MOVE YOUR MIND workshops for businesses. As part of this series I am working with a neurodiversity expert to develop the framework into a workshop that focuses on how to ‘Create a neuro-inclusive workplace.’ Please get in touch if you think this might of interest for your team.