The October Shoulder Check: Where Are You Carrying Your Stress?

Let me guess: your shoulders are somewhere around your ears right now.

Okay, maybe not literally. But if you've been moving through a busy season, there's a pretty good chance you're carrying more tension than you realize.

I think most of us are pretty good at getting used to it. We sit at our desks for hours, spend too much time looking down at our phones, drive across Kitsap with one hand on the wheel, carry bags on the same shoulder, and spend our days moving from one thing to the next.

Eventually, tight shoulders just start to feel normal.

And that's why I think October is a good time for a little shoulder check.

Where Are You Holding Your Stress?

For a lot of us, the neck and shoulders are where stress likes to settle in.

We tense up while we're concentrating. We hunch without noticing. We clench our jaws. We wake up with a stiff neck and assume we just slept funny.

Sometimes, we don't even notice how much tension we're carrying until we finally have a chance to relax.

That's one of the things I love about massage. It gives you a reason to stop long enough to actually pay attention to how you're feeling. It's also a chance to give those areas of tension a little extra attention instead of simply pushing through and hoping they'll eventually loosen up on their own.

October Is a Good Time to Check In

There's something about October that makes me want to take a little inventory.

Summer is behind us. The days are getting shorter. The holidays are starting to appear on the calendar, and suddenly the end of the year doesn't seem very far away.

Before we get swept up in everything that's coming, I think it's worth asking ourselves:

How am I actually feeling?

Not how much is left on your to-do list. Not what you still need to accomplish this week.

How are you feeling?

Are you tired? Tense? Restless? Have you been sleeping well? Have you had any real time to slow down? When was the last time you did something that wasn't for work, your family, or someone else?

Sometimes the answer is simply, “I could use a break.”

And that's a perfectly good answer.

You Don't Have to Wait Until You're Worn Out

I think there's sometimes a misconception that you need to be in pain to justify a massage.

You don't.

You don't need a terrible backache or a particularly stressful week. You don't need to have a knot in your shoulder that you can practically name.

Sometimes you just need an hour.

An hour without your phone. An hour without taking care of someone else. An hour where you can lie down, breathe, and let someone else take care of you for a change.

I think that's a pretty good reason to make an appointment.

And if massage isn't what you need, that's okay, too. Maybe your version of a reset is a facial, a haircut, a quiet cup of coffee, or an evening where you don't put anything on the calendar.

The point is to notice when you need a little care and actually give yourself permission to receive it.

So, consider this your October shoulder check.

Drop your shoulders.

Unclench your jaw.

Take a deep breath.

And if you realize you've been carrying more tension than you thought, maybe it's time to put some of it down.

I'll see you at Seaport.

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