There is more than one way to reduce tension.   Whether it be your approach to the treatment of pain, weakness, and numbness, or toward reducing total load (the total number of things that don’t allow you to get well), finding a healing path that works for you is what counts.   Over the course of my career I have used several tools in my practice, and even created some of my own.   The Challenge and Choice Program makes use of cognitive restructuring to provide insight into a person’s relationship with the terms and conditions of their life.  Brain Highways, originally intended to enhance brainstem development in children with behavior disorders, has proven itself to be a powerful method for improving proprioception, balance, and motor coordination at the brain stem level in both children and adults.  This matters as brainstem development frees up the brain to problem solve rather than divert its attention to the stress and tension of maintaining oneself in space.  While each of these has had a great impact upon my life Systema Health has given me the most personal freedom.  Systema is a Russian Martial Art that is based upon four principles: Breathing, Posture, Continuation of Motion, and Relaxation.  People of all levels of brainstem development can benefit from Systema.  Naturally there are other methods as well.  For example NCSYSTEMA is sponsoring a seminar on Somatic Resilience Training.   In the end it doesn’t matter how you get there.   Any tool that works for you to increase awareness of your response to an impending stress, to break the cycle of nervous system activation that leads to anxiety and panic, to retrain your brain to ignore harmless stressors, and to raise your threshold of resilience allowing you to function without tension in high-stress situations is well worth your time and effort.   Call us at Piedmont Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, PA, in Greenvlle, SC or read more about Systema Health and related healing programs at piedmontpmr.com.