When the point of stress overload is reached, the stress becomes “locked” into the body and manifests as lines of tension.

 The body adopts a protective mode of action by means of automatic reflexes, causing adjacent and overlying muscles to splint the area. It appears that this action has a dampening effect on the nervous system, thereby causing the brain’s filtering mechanism to ignore the areas of body stress.

In time when the body is required to take greater defensive action, stiffness may become noticeable, ultimately leading to postural distortion. It may also lead to loss of flexibility, pain or numbness. A person with body stress may also feel tense, tired, and lacking in energy and enthusiasm for life. Headaches, backache and indigestion may follow. It is also possible for the body stress to be present without the individual feeling any pain or stiffness – he or she will simply come to accept as normal their sense of having less than 100 per cent well-being.

While the stress or tension remains stored in the body, the normal tone of the body is disturbed, causing a reduction in its general efficiency. As its defence mechanisms become weakened, the body becomes less and less able to deal with further stresses to which it is subjected daily. In this way the individual moves increasingly further away from the optimum state of health.