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From our man-made environments and workstation set-ups to our interpersonal relations, work-related stress is everywhere. Last updated: Sept. 1, 2025.

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Stress in a Nutshell

You may have heard that stress is bad for you. Possibly you've tried things like mindfulness meditation, or even assertiveness training to help manage the curve balls and hits that affect your happy little life.
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Believe it or not, good things and positive emotions can cause stress, too. This lesser known type is called eustress. Like regular stress, eustress may negatively affect your health.

Whether from struggles or celebrations, the effect of stress on your well-being is largely about how you react.

Stress starts in the brain, where nerve signals from areas that “specialize” in specific functions tap hormones to release into the bloodstream. This triggers temporary changes in your physiology.

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Under the Hood:
What Happens When You're Stressed?

With stress comes muscle contraction and tension. This is a normal part of the process.

What’s not normal is when muscles stay tight beyond the inciting stressful event, for the long term.
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But in the 21st century, with its rapid pace and heightened fears, that's the norm, unfortunately. For many people, letting go of tension and allowing muscles to relax again after a stressful incident can be challenging.

A number of things may help, including the stress management techniques on this list:

1. Stretching
2. Meditation
3. Emotional release work
4. PT modalities like ice and heat
5. Somatic movement practices.

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1. Stress Hormones

Let’s discuss those ‘ole hormones in a bit more depth.

An encounter with work-related stress - for example, car trouble that makes you late for an important sales meeting - releases a number of hormones that alter physiology in the short term.

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You may have heard of one of these hormones - adrenaline.

The hormones catapult us into a “fight or flight” state, triggering a rush of blood, and directing it to life-critical organs. You might experience this as a racing heart, harder or faster breathing, sweating and more.

In the fight or flight state, much of the blood that normally serves outlying and “less important” areas like skin, appendages and others, gets rerouted to the core of the body, where the organs are.

Organs take precedence over arms, legs and skin during times of stress because for millions of years, we humans have relied on organs to keep us alive – even on a moment-to-moment basis.

Maintaining a beating heart is a prime example.

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DID YOU KNOW?

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This shunting of blood into the core of the body during times of stress can have an effect on your eyes.

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With less blood, eyes may become more sensitive to light, or become dry, fatigued or sore. They may start twitching, as well.

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2. Stress and the Immune System

Stress hormones can also hamper your immune system, the process charged with fighting disease in the body.
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In this case, the hormone cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands, leading to a build up of inflammation in the body. The amount of cortisol builds up with each stress reaction. And as cortisol builds, chronic inflammation also builds.

It’s common knowledge that many diseases start from a state of inflammation.

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3. For Work and Stress Management
Take Micro-breaks.

For jobs involving a lot of repetitive movements (monotony) like typing and mousing, the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries suggests taking microbreaks, which they call “recovery pauses.”
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Essentially, every 1/2 hour to hour, they say, it’s a good idea to stop what you’re doing and engage with a bit of movement. Recovery pauses should last between 1 and 3 minutes, the Department says.

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Five Ideas for Micro-breaks at work.

Getting up off the chair is always the best choice for a work break, unless you're dealing with a medical condition that limits you. Have a convo with your doctor or PT if that's the case.

But for those times when you're buried in work and feel you just can't interrupt (I beg to differ, but that's a post for another day,) here are a few microbreak ideas from Posturally:

(Affiliate link included.)

1. Keep a Kaleidoscope Handy

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Give your eyes quick a treat with regular use of a kaleidoscope. Watching the colorful patterns change can help relax eye muscles and vary the movements eye muscles make; both can be quite refreshing.

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2. Take 3-8 Deep Breaths

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Breathing deeply contributes to good posture and helps your overall health. It's great for productivity as it wakes up the brain which makes for clear thinking.

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3. Get Up Off the Chair and Walk - Regularly

This type of micro-break is especially effective for countering "Sitting is the New Smoking" related health risks when you do it at regular intervals throughout the day.

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4. Stretch

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Although stretching is not all that's needed for de-stressing, it does release muscle tension. I’ve also found it helpful for brain fog and joint mobility.

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5. Work on Establishing or Maintaining a Neutral Sitting Posture

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Neutral posture is a position whereby your joints are in good alignment. Well-aligned body posture encourages muscle relaxation.

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PRO TIP​
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The Washington Department of Labor and Industries suggests keeping the timing of micro-breaks organic. In other words, don’t force yourself to stick to a rigid microbreak plan.

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Instead, set reminders and decide what to do in the moment.
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This micro break strategy is about you, and your comfort. If you force yourself to take a break on a rigid schedule, you may end up with more stress!

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Sources

Fernandez, C., Pereira, A., Exposure to psychosocial risk factors in the context of work: a systematic review. Rev Saude Publica. 2016 May 6;50:24. doi: 10.1590/S1518-8787.2016050006129.

"Understanding the stress response." Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School.

WISHA Services Division. Office Ergonomics: Practical solutions for a safer workplace. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. 2002

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​ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ​ Anne Asher is certified by American Council on Exercise as a personal trainer and health coach, and certified at the 200 hour level as a yoga instructor. She has 25+ years experience using movement and body alignment techniques to help people feel better both physically and mentally. ​ For over a decade, Anne was also an award winning health journalist for a large website owned and operated by the New York Times Company. Her "beat" was spine and chronic pain management.

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