Emotions influence our mind and body reactions. Happy emotions produce smiles. Sad emotions produce frowns. These reactions are
the outer reactions we usually notice. What
about other emotional, inner reactions? Researchers are analyzing
these. A new study regarding emotions and back muscle
reactions captured the eye of Pflugerville Wellness Center who
cares for many Pflugerville back pain sufferers. It is a
reminder to consider the whole person - mind and body! – and to
sit upright.
EMOTIONS AFFECT POSTURE
When someone is depressed or just in a sad mood,
how can you tell? Slumped forward,
eyes to the ground, fatigued? We’ve all seen this.
Upright posture does so much to increase positivity and decrease
fatigue and anxiety. (1) Body posture may well influence emotional
reactions! In an interesting twist
in this story of the relationship between muscular states and emotions,
researchers found that upright seated postures are advantageous.
Upright seated posture in constrast to a slumped seated
posture was found to improve self-esteem, arousal, and
mood as well as reduce fear. Linguists noted that
slumped posture people used more negative emotion words and fewer words than upright posture
people. They therefore recommended in their study to sit
upright when facing a stressful situation as it can keep self-esteem in check, decrease focus
on self, decrease negative mood and produce
a positive mood. Speech rate increased, too. Sitting
upright may be a means to build
resilience to stress. (2) Pflugerville Wellness Center sees firsthand how
emotions impact Pflugerville chiropractic patients, especially
Pflugerville
back pain patients who are stressed and down.
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AFFECT BACK MUSCLES
For back pain sufferers – who are certainly not
immune to a down mood! – physical responses like slumping
are not unusual. In an electromyographic study of back
muscles, it was found that
negative emotions raised differential back muscle activity
while positive emotions did not. The muscles were left
alone, not having to respond at all. (3) While healing, the back pain
sufferer’s spine does not
need any additional stimuli. Pflugerville Wellness Center offers gentle Pflugerville
chiropractic spinal manipulation in the form of Cox®
Technic to calm its muscles and lessen its pain.
CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares the
benefits of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management benefits aback
pain patient’s spine, muscle, and system.
Make your Pflugerville
chiropractic appointment today. If stress or emotions make you slump and worsen your back pain,
Pflugerville Wellness Center is here to ease the pain, prompt you
to sit up straight (like your parents used to say!), and get you to smile!