Can't relax my shoulders

[Funkyfaerie]

Hi,

My shoulders seem constantly around my ears...it's my way of coping with stress I think. But I get such headaches and neck pain and then dizziness. I cannot relax them, they feel like the muscles are burning.

Has anyone got any tips? 😊 please. JX

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I feel a lot. neck discomfort with pain sometimes. I feel burning in my back.

[Agora1]

Hi Funkyfaerie, I know the feeling. That is a sign of too much stress. I too tend to hold my stress in my shoulders which then affects the neck muscles which then causes dizziness. I have Fibro which just feeds into this. Back of neck burns because of muscles squeezing so tight. What I do is listen to Audio Relaxation/Deep Breathing on YouTube in the afternoon. I don't mind washing clothes because when they come out of the dryer, I grab a hot fluffy towel or sweatshirt and wrap it around my neck and shoulders. Immediately feeling the shoulders relax and a calm go through the upper part of my body. I do deep breathing automatically now, without a thought which helps immensely in calming the shoulders. I hydrate during the day, water is essential to our body/muscles and helps with dizziness. For neck pain, I try to adjust the position of my neck by not holding my head looking too far up or down. When reading, I place a book on a pillow on my lap. I make sure my neck isn't jutting forward which has been a learned behavior through out my anxiety. Tension headaches which are caused by our neck/shoulder muscles being so tight is also relieved. Lastly, at night I fall back on a supporting and comfortable Kowasaki pillow that cradles my head and neck offering some relaxing of the muscles. I put on my headphones and listen to a relaxation tape and drift off to sleep. Anxiety and Fibro go hand in hand, one feeds upon the other. We can either be doped up on medication or use our own modality and accept this is our new way of life. It works for me. Wishing you my best x

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I have the same problem. People are always pushing my shoulders down and telling me to relax. How do we relax? And how do we relax our shoulders?

I've noticed that if I engage my core (including back muscles) my shoulders will relax. My plan is to strengthen my core. Core is defined as knees to bottom of the rib cage ... anterior and posterior.

I am also going to try heart openers.

I believe I developed this habit during youth. There was rarely a moment without yelling or anger in my home. Tender moments were extremely rare. I never felt safe. I have healed the emotions ... now it's time to reflect it somatically.

If you'd like to connect to share what we find that works maybe we can help others with the same issue.

[littlemissworry]

I feel exactly the same. This feeling seems to have worked down my body since to my muscles. Makes my arms ache, gave me headaches. Used to be constant but now it flares when something scares me but I'm learning to deal with it so to stop the stress before it goes too far. I hope it gets better for you x

[Funkyfaerie in reply to littlemissworry]

Tension....exactly what it does....