Anxiety and Inner Stiffness, Tension

Treatment

When other factors cause or aggravate anxiety-related inner stiffness, addressing the specific cause can reduce and eliminate this symptom.

When an active stress response causes this symptom, ending the active stress response will cause this acute anxiety symptom to subside.

Keep in mind that it can take up to 20 minutes or more for the body to recover from a major stress response. But this is normal and needn’t be a cause for concern.

When hyperstimulation (chronic stress) causes inner stiffness, eliminating hyperstimulation will end this anxiety symptom.

You can eliminate hyperstimulation by:

• Reducing stress.
• Containing anxious behavior (since anxiety creates stress).
• Regular deep relaxation.
• Avoiding stimulants.
• Regular light to moderate exercise.
• Eating a healthy diet of whole and natural foods.
• Passively accepting your symptoms until they subside.
• Being patient as your body recovers.

Visit our “60 Natural Ways To Reduce Stress” article for more ways to reduce stress.

Recovery Support members can view chapters 5, 6, 7, 14 and more for more detailed information about recovering from hyperstimulation and anxiety disorder.

As the body recovers from hyperstimulation, it stops sending symptoms, including this one.

Symptoms of chronic stress subside as the body regains its normal, non-hyperstimulated health.

However, eliminating hyperstimulation can take much longer than most people think, causing symptoms to linger longer than expected.

As long as the body is even slightly hyperstimulated, it can present symptoms of any type, number, intensity, duration, frequency, and at any time, including this one.

Even so, since inner stiffness is a common symptom of stress, including anxiety-caused stress, it's harmless and needn't be a cause for concern. It will subside when unhealthy stress has been eliminated and the body has had sufficient time to recover. Therefore, there is no reason to worry about it.

Anxiety symptoms often linger because:

• The body is still being stressed (from stressful circumstances or anxious behavior).
• Your stress hasn't diminished enough or for long enough.
• Your body hasn't completed its recovery work.

Addressing the reason for lingering symptoms will allow the body to recover.

Most often, lingering anxiety symptoms ONLY remain because of the above reasons. They AREN'T a sign of a medical problem. This is especially true if you have had your symptoms evaluated by your doctor and they have been solely attributed to anxiety or stress.

Chronic anxiety symptoms subside when hyperstimulation is eliminated. As the body recovers and stabilizes, all chronic anxiety symptoms will slowly diminish and eventually disappear.

Since worrying and becoming upset about anxiety symptoms stress the body, these behaviors can interfere with recovery.

Passively accepting your symptoms – allowing them to persist without reacting to, resisting, worrying about, or fighting them – while doing your recovery work will cause their cessation in time.

Acceptance, practice, and patience are key to recovery.

Keep in mind that it can take a long time for the body to recover from hyperstimulation. It's best to faithfully work at your recovery despite the lack of apparent progress.

However, if you persevere with your recovery work, you will succeed.

You also have to do your recovery work FIRST before your body can recover. The cumulative effects of your recovery work will produce results down the road. And the body's stimulation has to diminish before symptoms can subside.

• Reducing stress.
• Increasing rest.
• Faithfully practicing your recovery strategies.
• Passively accepting your symptoms.
• Containing anxious behavior.
• Being patient.

These will bring results in time.

When you do the right work, the body has to recover!

Short-term strategies

Even though eliminating hyperstimulation will eliminate chronic anxiety symptoms, including inner stiffness, some people have found the following strategies helpful.

However, keep in mind that each person can have a unique symptom experience since each person is somewhat physically, chemically, psychologically, and emotionally unique. What might work for one person might not for another.

• Reduce stress – Since all anxiety symptoms are stress-related, reducing stress can alleviate this symptom. There are many ways to reduce stress. Recovery Support members can read about many natural stress reduction strategies in Chapter 14.

• Regular good sleep – Getting good sleep each night (6.5 to 8 hours per night) can significantly reduce stress, which can improve all anxiety symptoms, including inner stiffness.

• Regular deep relaxation – Regular deep relaxation is a great way to reduce stress, overall stimulation, and muscle tension. As stress and stimulation diminish, so will anxiety symptoms, including this one.

• Regular light to moderate exercise – Regular exercise reduces stress and improves stress symptoms. However, we don’t recommend strenuous exercise since it stresses the body.

• Catnap – Research has found catnaps can rest the body and nervous system, quickly restore energy, and improve cognitive performance. Catnaps are a quick and easy way to assist with recovery and symptom elimination.

• Go for a leisure walk – Leisure walking is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms and loosen tight muscles due to hyperstimulation. Even short walks of 10 minutes can help reduce some anxiety symptoms, including this one.

• Warm bath – Warm baths reduce stress and relax the body and nervous system, all helpful in reducing hyperstimulation and its symptoms, including this one.

• Massage – Massage can help the body and nervous system relax, which can help muscles release and relax, as well as help the nervous system become less reactive.

• Listen to soothing music – Listening to soothing music can relax the mind, body, and nervous system. Again, all are helpful in reducing hyperstimulation and its symptoms, including core muscle tension.

• Leisure swim – Leisure swimming can help the body, nervous system, and muscles relax. Many people find water therapy helps reduce stress and its symptoms.

• Float on a water device – Lying on an inflatable water raft can be soothing and relaxing, and so can leisurely floating in a boat. Some people find the gentle rocking of the waves enjoyable and relaxing.

• Spend time in nature – Research shows that spending 15 minutes in nature dramatically reduces stress and cortisol. A reduction in stress and cortisol can cause a reduction in symptoms of stress, including core muscle tension.

• Enjoy a hobby – Research has shown that spending time with your hobby also dramatically reduces stress.

• Keep well hydrated – Dehydration is a common cause of stress-like symptoms, including muscle tension. Keeping your body well hydrated can prevent and reduce anxiety-like and anxiety symptoms. Some doctors recommend drinking 2 litres of water per day.

• Don't react to this symptom – Reacting to this symptom with angst, frustration, anger, and bewilderment stresses the body, which can interfere with stress reduction and symptom elimination. Not reacting (such as via Containment) can help the nervous system disengage and relax, fostering recovery and symptom elimination.

• Avoid stimulants – Stimulants bring about their stimulating effect by causing the secretion of stress hormones. To reduce stress and symptoms, we need to decrease stimulation, not increase it.

• Eat a healthy diet – An unhealthy diet of high sugar, high fat, and fast foods can fuel anxiety and hyperstimulation symptoms. Eating a healthy diet of whole and natural foods can help the body recover.

There are many other natural and practical ways to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms. Again, Recovery Support members can visit chapters 4 and 14 for more ideas.

Therapy

Unidentified and unaddressed underlying factors cause issues with anxiety. As such, they are the primary reason why anxiety symptoms persist.

Addressing your underlying factors (Level Two recovery) is most important if you want lasting success.

Addressing Level Two recovery can help you:

• Contain anxious behavior.
• Become unafraid of anxiety symptoms and the strong feelings of anxiety.
• End anxiety symptoms.
• Successfully address the underlying factors that so often cause issues with anxiety.
• End what can feel like out-of-control worry.

All our recommended anxiety therapists have had anxiety disorder and overcame it. Their personal experience with anxiety disorder and their Master's Degree and above professional training give them insight other therapists don't have.

If you want to achieve lasting success over anxiety disorder, any one of our recommended therapists would be a good choice.

Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to treat anxiety disorder, especially if you have persistent symptoms and difficulty containing anxious behavior, such as worry.[7][8][9]

In many cases, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.

Research has shown that therapy is the most effective treatment for anxiety disorder, and distance therapy (via phone or the Internet) is equally, if not more effective, than face-to-face in-person therapy.[10][11][12]