How Posture and Muscle Tension Affect Mood
Body Position Affects Emotional Reaction to Stress
All moods affect the body in some way, and with feelings of tension, the skeletal muscles of the body are particularly involved. This is obvious when neck and shoulder muscles feel tense or tight.
Moods are thought of as feelings or reactions in the brain. However, all the systems of the body, including the muscle system, also contribute to what is experienced as moods or emotions. Moods are an indicator of body states that include fear, anxiety, anger and many other psychological reactions, some conscious and some not.
Lying Down Changes Mood
Body position and posture affects mood and emotional reaction to a situation. Recently publicised research in cognitive science at Texas A&M University showed that body position affected the brain’s reaction to insults. Subjects who took personal insults while standing exhibited brain activity linked to attacking and stress while the reaction subsided or disappeared in study subjects who were lying down.
Hence though muscles tighten due to feelings of stress, they will also contribute to mood and emotional reaction by becoming or remaining contracted. Muscles are more relaxed when lying down and instruct brain activity to also tone down mood and reaction to outside stress stimuli.
Muscle tension or tightness is closely linked to feelings of stress, fear, anxiety and frustration and muscles are more rigid when in an upright position. Even mild nervousness involves a certain degree of muscle tension and a certain pattern of muscle activity. According to Psychologist Dr. R. Thayer, author of Calm Energy, this is due to the activated freeze response where inhibition of action (muscles contraction and tightening) can be caused by a very stressful situation.
What is the Principle of Body Integration?
The principle of body integration states that the body operates on integrated and holistic patterns, hence changing one part of the system also relieves tension in other ways. As skeletal muscles are under a certain amount of voluntary control, this is the easiest way to change mood, much easier than changing mood by trying to simply feel better. By relaxing muscles through stretching, changing posture or position such as lying down, moods such as tension, anxiety, anger are changed as well.
Relieving muscle tension or relaxing posture to improve mood can occur in the simplest ways, such as by stretching, a short walk or light exercise. Anything that alters the pattern of muscle activity during tension also alters mood. This is why stress balls (rubber balls that are sold as stress relievers) are so popular. The same concept works with meditation using rosary beads. Relaxing one part of the activated freeze response in turn relaxes another part, as the body and mind are integrated.
Changing Muscle Tension Changes Feelings of Anger, Anxiety
Muscle tension contributes to an inordinate amount to how you feel. A small change in some muscles can have a spreading effect, reducing tension in other parts of the body and mind.
Thus in times of stress, anger or anxiety the muscles hold the mind and body in a freeze response, where they are unable to relax. Tension causes rapid breathing with short, shallow breaths because the muscles surrounding the thoracic cavity also tighten. Among other things this inhibits full lung expansion and reduces oxygen to the brain and body, causing further stress reactions.
Muscle tension interacts with many of the body systems; this is why yoga and massage are so effective with postures that systematically stretch and relax muscles.
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Decreasing Muscle Tension Changes Mood
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Walking or Exercising Improves Emotions
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