How Tension Accelerates Time
Last week, we introduced our September series, The Myth of Aging. Today, I want to go deeper into why this work matters, and why so many of us feel “older” than we actually are.
Aging is a reality. Certain systems in our bodies change over time: collagen production slows, muscle mass naturally declines, and bone density can decrease to name a few. Those are real physiological processes. Not to mention, our environment and the world can certainly have a big impact on our aging.
But here’s something most people miss: a lot of what makes us feel old isn’t age... it’s tension.
The tension we accumulate over years of stress, repetitive patterns, and unconscious holding shapes how we move, how we feel, and even how we look. It compresses the spine, tightens muscles, and restricts the flow of information through our nervous system. When the body is constantly “on,” it never resets to neutral—and that constant state of contraction ages us faster than the passage of time.
Stress plays a huge role in this. When your body lives in a stress response, cortisol floods your system. That one hormone alone can:
* Disrupt digestion
* Weaken your immune system
* Deplete energy and focus
* Accelerate cellular aging
Add in the physical side - tight shoulders, clenched jaws, rounded spines - and you have the perfect storm for fatigue, pain, and that heavy sense of “getting old.”
I saw this up close at my 25-year high school reunion a couple weeks ago. I had just turned 43 the day before, and being in a room with 50 people my age hasn't happened in a long time. It was eye-opening. Everyone had lived their own story: stress, careers, families, joys, and hardships. But the differences from one person to the next were striking. Not in judgment, but in realization: time affects us all differently.
We can’t eliminate stress. We can’t stop time. But we can change how our bodies carry it.
That’s where Clinical Somatic Movement comes in. This practice helps us release deeply held patterns and return to our natural state of ease—what Thomas Hanna called neutral. When we practice regularly, we:
* Soften long-held tension
* Restore mobility and fluidity
* Improve posture and breathing
* Reduce pain and stress responses
Neutral is our reset. It’s where the nervous system works best, where muscles can fully rest, and where energy flows freely. It’s what keeps us moving well, and feeling vibrant as we age.
Aging isn’t just about time, it’s about tension. And tension, we can change.