The Anatomy of Unrest - Burdens of Stress on the Physical Body

Unrest at the atomic level eventually articulates into the denser cellular and bodily systems, sending its messages seeking deeper care and support.

Beyond natural stressors, chronic and untended stress can become held and stored in different parts of the body, being felt as acutely as discomfort, intense pain or dysfunction and dis-ease.

‘Untitled’, cacti reaching into the night sky on 35mm film © Flory Huang.

There’s a remark about how some of the kindest people we meet are those who have been treated terribly themselves. Or we think of the people who “have little” giving the most. I see a parallel in many of us who develop a non-negotiable radical self-love practice that involves our health and wellbeing; the majority of people that are most mindful in their bodies have experienced extreme conditions, health crises or other life-transforming events that deeply influence their relationship with their mortality and ability with no tolerance for taking it all for granted. Upon introspection, many of us largely feel gratitude for the difficult yet reformative experiential learning. I had a recent experience during the first year of COVID-19 that landed me in the ER multiple times and a path for recovery that required almost a full year for me to feel remotely in my baseline health without the issue. That’s another article for another time. But I will tell you it was directly impacted by untended stress and my naive attempt to bypass certain undesired emotions (there was no clinical or medically determined cause other than my own body’s inflammation). I digress.

In a world full of stressors— ranging the full spectrum of natural, healthy stress through to that which is personally held, chronic, systemically perpetuated by dominant culture and current ideologies— we are all exhausted. The degree of honesty and self-awareness is what varies person to person. This contemplation examines the ways in which stress burdens our physical bodies over time, connected to our energetic and emotional forms. For some, this will be a new invitation to being in relationship with nuance, hopefully deepening self understanding, responding to what you can exercise control in and then giving yourself permission to truly release what you cannot with the rest. It is not a single individual’s responsibility to master the stressors that exist in our world, and yet we can uncover the power in our internal resources and through our own relationships beginning with ourself.

Our relationship to self directly shapes our capacity and methods of being in relationships with others: people, places, perspectives inclusive. If you only care for yourself to obtain or get something “more”, it is likely this dynamic is echoed in the level of intimacy and friendships you have with someone else. This is why green smoothies and regular exercise do not equate to someone being wholly well. Self-awareness and resiliency are ever-evolving abilities that are bolstered by an individual’s gradual expansion and experimental learning: how does your relationship with stress influence your relationship with resting? Then vice versa.

We know we are physically hardwired to create labels that help us avoid discomfort, pain, restlessness, sadness, helplessness, grief, shame, disappointment, anger, fear, stress which is normal and natural. Yet what if we removed the judging labels so that we could see more clearly what the contents of these emotions are all about? The choice here is not to eliminate or dominate our own human nature, but to lean into our consciousness and begin to discern that acknowledging, processing and honoring all forms of our experiences is what liberates us. Yes, in spite of how challenging and extreme it can be. This is not overnight; this is throughout a lifetime of many lifetimes, often generations for cycle-breakers and change makers. Is it not stress (nor the undesired emotional messengers that are present with it) that are harmful, but our avoidance, resistance and denial. We cannot lie to our bodies— that only festers as deep unrest breeding even more restlessness and inner conflict— and we can even see through language that stuck energy affects our bodies. How revealing that we have come to express,

“That’s not your responsibility to shoulder.”

“Their boss is such a pain in the neck!”

“That’s scary. I feel sick to my stomach.”

“It’s breaking my heart.”

“This is so heavy, I’m going to snap.”

Sciences in Traditional Chinese Medicine understood that atomic well being with emotional and nutritional health accumulate into the ranges of our more positive vs dys-functioning through the quality of flowing Qi (chi, energy, life force) and the holistic health of our blood, touching all aspects of our physical body. There are overlapping meridiens of the body that echo throughout multiple cultures now being studied through the lenses of psychological research. Yogic chakras map similar relationships between governing energetics and emotions with our flexibility and fluidity.

May the following be a high level, summarized resource and/or a remembering towards more insight into the multitudes of your own bodies. This is another portal of sorts, for tending the metaphysical in conjunction with the densest physiological. After all, the parts accumulate to the whole. Choose your own adventure for how far you will go, and remember there is no rush here despite what your ego and internalized capitalism or oppression may demand. Be gentle. I hope we all give ourselves permission to be authentically whole.

The neck, shoulders

• tension and bracing are common here beyond the postural habits of front-oriented desk occupations or technological accessory use. Responsibility weighs in adaptive and maladaptive ways alike. This space is also a bridge, block or hybrid pathway between our spiritual and worldly connections. It’s no wonder there’s a cliché binary to the head and heart being split or conflicted.

Liver, gallbladder, stomach, intestines (digestive tract)

• what we deny or diminish is not real release. Anger, frustration, irritation and aggression are reflected in poor uptake, exchange and disposal of our nutrients and waste in the body.

The low back, hips

• if we do not sit with our emotions to understand what actions need to be taken, big or small, they will sit in us. The low back is often associated with anger, grief, shame and fear as it interconnects with our senses of worth in addition to what our physical body is able to pass and not pass.

Heart, chest

• an open heart doesn’t hurt any less but it will pump blood and receive life in a much more nourished way than a close, hardened one. This is both figuratively and literally true. Clinical research reveals that a broken heart shows in physiological impact, changing the physical heart’s structure and affecting future cardiac risks. At the same time, if we can gradually support our heart towards resiliency, we explore a newfound vastness in our ability to care and love, not very unlike our cardiovascular capacity. The chest’s depth for breathing also reflects our level of presence in the moment, as well as our attachments to past and future projections.

Remember, it’s not about gathering as many solutions as possible. I welcome you to asking the questions that will set you free: towards more life, more love, more limitlessness.

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