Feeling Stressed? Your Body Might Be Trying to Tell You Something
- Dec 15, 2015
- 7 min read
Updated: May 17
By Anthony Dileo (Osteopath)
Stress is not always dramatic.
It is not always a crisis, a major life event, or a complete emotional meltdown in the supermarket car park because someone bought the wrong yoghurt.
Sometimes stress is much quieter than that.
It can look like waking up tired, clenching your jaw, getting more headaches, feeling short-tempered, breathing more shallowly, sleeping badly, or noticing that your neck and shoulders seem to have moved permanently closer to your ears.
In clinic, I often see people who come in with neck pain, headaches, back pain, jaw tension, or a flare-up of something that had been fairly settled. They often say something like:
“I don’t know what I’ve done. I didn’t really injure it.”
And often, that is exactly the point.
Pain and tension do not always arrive after one obvious incident. Sometimes the body has simply been carrying more load than usual for a little too long.
What is stress?
Stress is often described as feeling overloaded, wound-up, tense or worried, particularly when we are facing something we feel we may not cope with well. Importantly, stress is not always bad — some stress can help us perform, focus, adapt or get things done. The problem is when stress continues for too long, or when the total demand on the body and mind is greater than our ability to recover.
In a practical sense, stress can be thought of as any demand placed on the body that requires a response.
That might include:
poor sleep
a hard workout
not moving enough
prolonged sitting
pain or injury
illness or infection
work pressure
financial stress
relationship stress
too much caffeine
not enough food or water
emotional overload
trying to do too many things at once
Your body does not separate these neatly into different boxes. It just keeps a running total.
A poor night’s sleep plus a stressful workday plus skipping lunch plus sitting for eight hours plus doing a hard gym session may be fine once in a while. But stack that pattern over days or weeks and the body may start to complain.
Sometimes that complaint sounds like: “My neck has seized up.”
How stress can show up in the body
Stress can affect people in different ways. For some people it shows up emotionally: irritability, anxiety, tearfulness, low mood or feeling overwhelmed. For others it is more physical: headaches, muscle aches, stomach upset, poor sleep, fatigue, a racing heart, jaw clenching or increased pain sensitivity. The Australian Psychological Society lists symptoms of chronic stress as including palpitations, fatigue, sleep disturbance, stomach upset, frequent headaches, muscular aches and pains, high blood pressure, worry, irritability and feeling overwhelmed.
In osteopathy, we are not treating “stress” as a diagnosis. But we do pay attention to how stress load may be affecting someone’s pain, movement, recovery and overall capacity.
A stiff neck is still a stiff neck. A sore back is still a sore back. But the context matters.
If someone has been sleeping badly, working long hours, exercising less, clenching their jaw, and feeling under pressure, that may influence how their body feels, how sensitive their nervous system is, and how quickly they recover.
This is sometimes discussed through the idea of allostatic load — the cumulative effect of repeated or ongoing stress on the body’s systems. It is not the only model for understanding stress, but it is a useful way of thinking about how long-term pressure can affect health and wellbeing.
Not all stress is bad
This is where stress gets interesting.
Some stress is useful. Exercise is a good example. When you lift weights, go for a run, or challenge your body in a sensible way, you are applying stress. The body responds by adapting. Muscles can get stronger. Fitness can improve. Confidence can build.
The important word here is dose.
A brisk walk after work? Often helpful.
A hard workout after four hours of sleep, three coffees, no lunch and a horrible day? Maybe not your finest recovery strategy.
The goal is not to avoid all stress. The goal is to build capacity while allowing enough recovery.
Or, put another way: the body can adapt to challenge, but it still needs a chance to catch up.
Why breathing matters
When people are stressed, breathing often becomes faster, shallower and more upper-chest dominant. This is not a moral failing. It is just one way the body prepares for action.
But breathing is useful because it is one of the few parts of the stress response we can consciously influence.
The evidence for breathing exercises is promising, but it is worth keeping the claims sensible. A 2023 meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials found that breathwork may help reduce self-reported stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, but the authors also urged caution and called for better-quality research.
A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that slow-paced breathing had short-term effects on cardiovascular measures, including reduced heart rate, increased heart rate variability and reduced systolic blood pressure. The effect on perceived stress was more modest, and the authors noted that longer-term effects still need more research.
So, breathing exercises are not magic. They are not a cure-all. But they are simple, free, portable and often useful.
That is a pretty good start.
A simple breathing exercise: left-nostril breathing
One breathing exercise I have liked for a long time is left-nostril breathing, also known in yoga traditions as chandra nadi pranayama.
The evidence for slow, comfortable breathing is stronger than the evidence for left-nostril breathing specifically, so I would frame this as a simple calming breathing drill rather than a miracle technique.
How to do it
Sit comfortably somewhere quiet if possible.
Keep your mouth closed and breathe gently through your nose.
Use your right thumb to lightly close your right nostril.
Breathe in through your left nostril for a count of 4.
Breathe out through your left nostril for a count of 6 to 8.
Repeat for 2–5 minutes.
The out-breath should be a little longer than the in-breath. Do not force it. You are not trying to win a breathing competition.
Think of it less like “hacking your nervous system” and more like giving your body a small, repeated cue that it is safe to slow down.
If you feel dizzy, panicky, short of breath or uncomfortable, stop and return to normal breathing. If you have significant breathing, heart or neurological symptoms, check with your GP or relevant health professional.
The boring basics still matter
Breathing can help, but it works best when it is not being asked to compensate for everything else.
Sleep
Sleep is essential for physical and emotional health. It supports tissue repair, memory, attention, emotional regulation, immune function, heart health and appetite regulation.
In real life, perfect sleep is not always possible. But small changes can still help: a regular bedtime, less late-night scrolling, reducing caffeine later in the day, morning daylight, and giving yourself a short wind-down period before bed.
Movement
Regular physical activity has significant physical and mental health benefits. The World Health Organization notes that physical activity can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, support brain health and improve overall wellbeing.
Australia’s 24-hour movement guidelines also emphasise regular activity, reducing and breaking up sitting time, and getting enough good-quality sleep.
This does not mean you need to train like an athlete. A walk, a short mobility routine, gentle strength work, gardening, or simply breaking up long periods of sitting can all be useful.
The best movement is usually the movement you will actually do.
Food, fluids and recovery
When people are under stress, the basics often drift first. Meals become irregular. Water gets replaced by coffee. Movement drops off. Sleep gets squeezed. Recovery disappears.
You do not need a perfect wellness routine. You just need something that is repeatable.
Eat something that looks vaguely like food. Drink some water. Move a bit. Get outside if you can. Take a few slower breaths. Go to bed slightly earlier than your phone wants you to.
None of this is glamorous, which is annoying, because it often helps.
When to get extra support
Stress is part of being human. But if stress is persistent, intense, or affecting your sleep, mood, relationships, work, pain or ability to enjoy life, it is worth getting support.
A GP, psychologist or counsellor can help you work through what is contributing to your stress and what support might be appropriate. Medicare Mental Health can also help people in Australia find mental health and wellbeing resources, services and supports.
If you need urgent support in Australia, Lifeline provides 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14. If life is in danger, call 000.
Final thought
Your body is not fragile, but it does have limits.
A sore neck, headache, tight jaw or flare-up of back pain is not always just about one muscle, one joint or one “thing you did”. Sometimes it is the body’s way of saying:
“There is a lot going on here.”
That does not mean the pain is imagined. It means the body is responding to load.
So yes — try the breathing exercise. Go for a walk. Get some sleep. Drink some water. Move your body in a way that feels manageable.
And if your shoulders are still trying to become earrings, it might be time to get some help.
References and further reading
Australian Psychological Society — Stress.
Australian Psychological Society — Symptoms of chronic stress.
Fincham GW, Strauss C, Montero-Marin J, Cavanagh K. Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials.
Scientific Reports. 2023. Shao R, Man ISC, Lee TMC. The Effect of Slow-Paced Breathing on Cardiovascular and Emotion Functions: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.
Mindfulness. 2024. World Health Organization — Physical activity fact sheet.
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing — 24-hour movement guidelines for all Australians.
Healthdirect Australia — Sleep: stages, tips, disorders and apnoea.
Guidi J, Lucente M, Sonino N, Fava GA. Allostatic Load and Its Impact on Health: A Systematic Review. 2021.
Medicare Mental Health — Find mental health support in Australia.
Lifeline Australia — 13 11 14 crisis support.
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