A SENSE-ble Look at Healthy Living: Pressure

I sense, by now, it’s been established that the eighteen senses being refracted upon are all linked, working together to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Today’s sense-ble look deals with pressure.

Pressure is the physical force exerted on an object by something in contact with it. It may also be an influence or persuasion to make someone do something. Refracting on this explains how the body has the ability to feel the sensation of pressure, both externally and internally.

Here’s an example of external pressure. If I push my hands against a large boulder, I’ll feel pressure pushing back. No matter how hard I push, I can’t put enough pressure to move it. If I push too long, I’ll start to feel pain. Here, a sense of pressure will prevent me from doing harm to my hands and arms. This is a fairly easy concept to see.

Another example I’ve mentioned in other blog installments is the pressure I feel on my skin caused by my belt when I start to gain weight. Both of these examples provide warning signs to adjust my behavior to avoid further damage or weight gain. I need to listen and adjust to this sense of pressure.

However, internal pressure is very difficult to adjust. Society in a broad sense applies pressure (influence and persuasion) on how I should look and act. It pressures or tempts me to purchase certain items. It applies influence on what my body type should be. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was fat-shamed. This internal pressure can be very subtle. Sometimes I sense strangers, friends, and family are judging me.

As I mentioned, it’s difficult to manage internal pressure. I admit that I didn’t handle this well in my formative years. The support from TOPS members has helped me manage these pressures by providing a safe place to release this internal pressure.

For example, think about how a pressure switch works. A force, either external or internal, causes the switch to make a connection to set a chain of events to happen. If that switch fails or isn’t supported, a disaster may happen. I need to pay close attention to these connecting switches.

External or internal sense of pressure is an important item on our journey and must be managed properly. Strengthen the connections made from a properly-functioning switch. But, I also need to manage the internal pressure I place upon myself. We all can do better. So take a deep breath and blow it all out to relieve that pressure and flip the right switch.

This is part 11 of the multipart series, “A SENSE-ble Look at Healthy Living.” In my next blog, we’ll look to the human sense of chemoreceptors.

Missed the beginning of our journey through the human senses? Check out the rest of A SENSE-ble Look at Healthy Living.