Relieving work from home pain
Are you in pain? Have you noticed a new injury or issue since working from home? Or perhaps a chronic issue has returned to plague you?
Get ready for some neuroscience. Working from home means a drastic reduction in the sensory input we receive from being out in the world. Some people are call this “skin hunger.” There is a neural explanation for this phenomenon. The primary sensory cortex in the parietal lobe of the brain processes sensory input so that the frontal lobe (executive functioning) can make decisions about how to keep you safe. In order for your brain to produce high-quality decision making, you need to have good sensory information. With limited information, the frontal lobe is likely to set up protective safeguards. In other words, if the world *feels* scary, then it makes sense that you should be anxious, depressed, and alert to react from a perceived attack. Your movements become protective and defensive—in other words, tight.
Take vision, for example. Most of us are now restricting our eye movements to the size of a screen for a much greater part of the day. After a while, our eyes “forget” that they can move beyond that limited space and our world becomes myopic. Our shoulders pull forward to get closer to the screen, we slump forward, making it more difficult to breathe deeply. Our posture, gait, and eventually, all of our movement compresses closer to our midline: flexed forward, turned in. The brain sees this as an expression of the startle reflex, further reinforcing the idea that we should be alert to threats. No wonder your back/neck/knee/etc. hurts!
What is there to do? Add sensory stimulation to your day.
Use a handheld massager or a body brush on your skin. Do this several times a day!
Try differentiating between various smells in your household (Is this oregano? Or basil?).
Experiment with different flavors in your cooking. Add novel spices to your regular meals or try a new recipe.
Set a timer on your computer and take 60 seconds to look up and out. Focus on something across the street. Take a pencil and follow the tip with your eyes in a big circle—one LARGER than your computer screen.
Move your body! Move your feet, ankles, knees, hips, pelvis, spine, neck, shoulders, elbow, wrists, and hands. Every joint in your body has receptors that give your brain a wealth of information (and information = less threat = better movement). Stand up, breathe deeply, open your arms wide, and pull your shoulders down and back. Extend your spine and open your arms to counter the “forward and inward” pull.
And most of all, get outside—feel the summer breeze, the sun on your skin, the smell of last night’s rain. Let your eyes look at expansive views and help your nervous system remember that the world is big and beautiful. Remember that you’re part of it. You might notice that you feel better.