How stress shows up in the body (and what to do about it)
Our bodies are well equipped to handle stress in small doses, but when that stress becomes long-term or chronic, it can have serious effects on your body.
Exploring how stress shows up in the body.
You know that feeling when your shoulders are practically living up by your ears, or your stomach is in knots for no apparent reason? Yeah, stress has a way of making itself at home in our bodies.
We often think of stress as a mind thing - racing thoughts, endless to-do lists, feeling overwhelmed, thinking we ‘can’t do this’. But stress doesn’t just live in our heads; it takes up space in our muscles, our breath, our digestion, and even the way we hold ourselves. The tricky part? We’re so used to it that we often don’t even notice.
So let’s slow down for a moment and talk about some of the ways stress shows up in the body - because once we recognise it, we can start to shift it.
Stress speaks through the body
Your body is always communicating with you. But when you’re moving at full speed, it’s easy to miss the signals - until they get loud enough that you can’t ignore them.
Some of the most common ways stress shows up include:
🌿 Jaw clenching & teeth grinding: Ever woken up with a sore jaw or found yourself clenching your teeth while concentrating? That’s your nervous system bracing and your body holding onto tension.
🌿 Digestive issues: Stress can mess with your gut in all kinds of ways. Bloating, nausea, stomach aches? The gut and brain are deeply connected, and when your nervous system is on high alert, digestion often takes a backseat to other bodily functions deemed (temporarily) more essential for fighting or fleeing danger.
🌿 Fatigue (even when you’ve slept): Stress can keep you wired at night and exhausted during the day. Ever had that feeling of waking up tired even after a full night’s sleep? Your body has been working overtime to process stress while you rest - and, let me tell you - this can feel like a full time job!
🌿 Tension headaches & neck pain: If you feel like your head is in a vice or your neck is perpetually stiff, it might be stress-related muscle tension. We carry so much in our shoulders and neck without realising it.
🌿 Shallow breathing: When stress kicks in, we tend to breathe from the chest instead of the belly, keeping us stuck in a cycle of tension. Shallow breathing can tell your nervous system that something is wrong…that danger is present…that it’s not safe to relax, reinforcing the stress response.
“Stress affects all systems of the body including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive systems.”
These are just a few of the ways your body can wave little red flags, asking you to pay attention.
The next question is: How do we actually listen?
Listening to your body’s signals
Instead of ignoring or pushing through these signs (which, let’s be honest, we all do at times), we can start seeing them as helpful messengers. Your body isn’t trying to make life harder - it’s trying to communicate with you.
The next time you notice a tension headache creeping in or your breath feeling tight, pause. Get curious. Ask yourself:
💡 What’s happening in my body right now?
💡 What might it be asking for?
💡 How can I respond with care instead of frustration?
Now, let’s talk about some simple ways to shift out of stress mode.
Somatic tools for stress relief
If stress is a full-body experience, then it makes sense that the solution is, too.
These gentle, body-based practices can help to settle your nervous system, supporting you to move out of a stress response and back into sustainable physiology:
🌿 Orienting: This is a simple but powerful way to bring yourself into the present. Look around the room and let your eyes land on something comforting, e.g. a soft blanket, a plant, a book you love. Let your body register those cues of safety.
🌿 Breathwork: Slow, deep belly breathing signals to your nervous system that it’s okay to relax. Try a simple inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for six. The longer exhale helps calm the system. If you’re feeling breathless, start by first breathing OUT - exhaling all the air in your lungs and then just letting yourself inhale naturally.
🌿 Using the senses to connect back to the present moment: The 5 Things Grounding Technique activates your 5 senses, inviting you to connect back to the present moment. This technique is useful if you notice your anxiety is accompanied by racing thoughts, worry and rumination, or you’re overly focused on the future or the past.
Begin with 5 things you can see. Notice the colours, shapes, location, and details of 5 things in your environment. Take your time to see what you’re seeing.
Then, find 5 things you can hear. Take your time to include sounds both near and far.
Then, 5 things you can feel. Sense the texture, temperature, and detail about each thing you contact. This could be the ground under your feet, your legs against the chair, the texture of your clothing, etc.
If you’re around these things and it feels safe to do so, you can also add on 5 things each that you can taste and smell - however just see if these 2 support you to feel settled or if they activate you. If the latter, just stick to See, Hear and Feel.
🌿 Gentle movement: If stress has you feeling stuck, movement can help shift that energy. Stretching, shaking out your hands, rolling your shoulders, swaying, it doesn’t have to be a full yoga session. Just enough to let your body know it’s not frozen in stress mode.
🌿 Supportive touch: Placing a hand on your chest or belly can be surprisingly grounding. It’s a way of telling yourself, “I’m here. I’ve got me”. You might also like to try giving yourself a gentle hug, or gently squeezing your arms with your hands.
Your body is always talking. Are you listening?
Stress is part of being human, but we don’t have to be at its mercy. The more we learn to recognise the signals, the more we can respond with care instead of pushing through until burnout. Your body has the answers.
So here’s an invitation: Take a breath out, and then in. Check in with your body. What’s it trying to tell you right now?
And, what is one thing it needs from you right now?
If this resonates with you, and you’d like support in understanding and working with your body's stress signals, I’d love to help. In my 1:1 sessions, we explore gentle, body-based approaches to regulation, so you can move through stress with more ease and self-trust, expanding your capacity to move in and out of states of stress with flexibility.. If that feels like something you need, you’re always welcome to reach out.
Jasmin 💛
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