Many of us with chronic pain and stress have felt "knots" in their muscles. But have you ever thought about where those knots come from?

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And why they keep coming back?

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When your nervous system is stressed, it tells the muscles to tighten. It's easy to see why outside events, like work, difficult relationships, current events, etc. can cause stress and tight muscles.

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But what about internal stresses?

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Of course we all have external events that we can't control. We can, however, decide how we react to any given circumstance.

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Often we have knee-jerk reactions... like anger, disapproval, blame, hurt...to situations we view as negative that arise around us.

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We might be too distracted, or it might not be appropriate in the moment, to examine and "process" every difficult incident we encounter.

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So we "buck up" "grow up" "toughen up" or whatever other words we use to mean stuff down our feelings and get on with daily survival.

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Over time we develop chronic aches or debilitating pain. We feel anxious and not quite the vibrant confident selves we used to be.