You're Probably Storing Stress In Your Body: 6 Common Areas + Tips To Release The Tension

Stress is tricky to conquer—that's an understatement. Those feelings manifest in numerous ways, not all of them easy to spot with a simple mental check-in. In fact, according to psychologist and certified yoga teacher Gail Parker, Ph.D., C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, you hold stress physically in your body—sometimes without even knowing it. "We experience stress and trauma in our bodies. It lands with great force viscerally," she says on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. Meaning, you might not think you're feeling stressed—you may even feel totally fine!—but your body language tells an entirely different story. 

OK, so you're storing stress in your body. Now what? Well, says Parker, the first step is identifying where you're holding on to that tension. "I ask people to body map—draw a picture of where you feel relaxed, and draw a picture of where you feel stressed," she explains. Then, she suggests cultivating an inner gaze: Close your eyes, paying attention to your breath, and focus on where you may be holding that stress. "Just pay attention to it," she notes. "You don't have to do anything about it. Just notice it." 

After you've targeted the specific areas you want to focus on, Parker says to breathe awareness into that aspect of your body. Here's how: "Imagine you could feel any way in the whole, wide world that you want it to feel," she says. "And instead of thinking about what that is, just let that answer bubble up in you. And when you get an answer within yourself, imagine that you can breathe into that feeling. And when you exhale, breathe it out and let it surround you." 

After that breathwork, Parker says there's usually some sort of release over time. "It doesn't happen instantly, but maybe within about 20 minutes, when the mind comes into stillness, the body relaxes, and it releases stress." That release also manifests differently for everyone—perhaps you feel an involuntary jerk or an emotional response like laughter, tears, or a rush of anger. Or your mind may become super busy—"mind chatter," as Parker calls it.