Why does tension come back?

By Dr. Sarah Shimanek, PT, DPT, WCS, PRPC

Have you ever had a massage where everything feels great for a day or two… and then your muscles feel just as tense again a few days later?

That can feel frustrating—but there’s actually a reason for it.

Muscle tension is your body’s way of protecting you when it senses danger or feels overloaded. This creates something called muscle guarding—a protective response driven by your nervous system’s fight-or-flight reaction.

So when that tension comes back, it’s not random. It’s your body responding to triggers that signal a need to protect. Those triggers might be stress, pain, or even long-standing habits your body has learned over time.

If those triggers don’t change—or if your body doesn’t learn a new way to respond to them—then the tension will keep coming back. It doesn’t matter what you do to release it in the moment, whether that’s massage, myofascial release, meditation, yoga, or anything else that helps your body temporarily feel safe enough to let go.

So what do we do about it?

It starts with awareness.

You have to be able to notice the tension before you can change it. And once you can notice it, you can begin to shift it—with patience and repetition.

Throughout your day, try gently bringing your attention back to your body. See if you can notice where you might be holding tension or guarding—your jaw, shoulders, abdomen, or pelvic floor.

When you notice it, take a few slow, diaphragmatic (belly) breaths. This helps signal to your nervous system that you’re safe, making it easier for your body to let go. This is how we start to retrain the nervous system—not just temporarily release tension.

This isn’t a quick fix. It takes practice. But over time, your body can learn a new pattern—one where it doesn’t automatically respond with tension and guarding.

And that’s when change starts to last.