An experiment if you will.
I speculate (from my own experience) that such 'tensions' such as in the chest area, arise because of the way the mind ignorantly lunges and grasps at some phenomenon or other. There is a movement of mind to grasp and such sensations will arise as a result becoming even more 'tense' and the mind will grasp and cling at even more and manifest some thought /idea/belief/evaluation associated with something that has come in contact with a sense door (thought, smell, sight, sound, touch (in and out), taste), thus giving rise to self-narratives that suck arse. Woe, is 'me'!
It is the manner in which the mind habitually segregates and sections out phenomenon and fabricates off of it that leads to the arising of these tensions and self misery. To counter this tendency, becoming aware of what happens when and how this tendency is stopped is a good idea in my experience. One understands how dukkha arises and also how its cessation comes about. And one can then continue to attend to an approach or technique or pointer which moves the mind/body organism towards the permanent 'cessation' of such unsatisfactory arisings.
One simple approach which i have found extremely useful is following
this pointer while at the same time following its instructions, having
this approach in mind.
Give it a go. See what happens to that tension and stress when you apply this pointer and manner of approaching it, Play around with the way the mind focuses, looks, observes and see which manner of focusing, looking and observing (or NOT focusing, looking or observing) leads to the arising of all that stress and what other 'angles' actually lead to its cessation.
Nick
Edited x 3