Simple Ways To Immediately De
Stress can grow higher and higher if left untreated. So try these methods to immediately de-stress yourself and live a stress-free life.
When our heart rate spikes, we breathe heavier requiring the use of more oxygen, thus constricting our blood vessels. This means that we are stressing ourselves out. Sometimes over nothing truly important.
Regardless of what events cause stress in our lives, nobody can argue that letting ourselves succumb to stress spells disaster for our bodies.
However, when life throws curveballs that can make everything seem like an unending nightmare.
Listen To A Relaxing Song
Emmeline Edwards, Ph.D, Director of the Division of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, said music therapy can also be a great way to relax wherever you are.
The auditory cortex is connected to other areas of the brain that are connected to our reward system, motor systems, centers for motivation and emotion regulation, Edwards said.
In fact, research shows music can help people dealing with stress-related disorders, mild depression and anxiety.
Number : Count Slowly To 10
This suggestion is so common as to be a bit cliché. But the reason this technique is recommended so often in connection with stress relief is because it works. Giving yourself the space of 10 seconds to center yourself, regroup, and breathe oxygen into your body is sometimes all it takes to release anxiety and feel calm again. For even more stress-fighting power, you can combine this with the above visualization suggestion of imagining stress leaving your body with each exhale and calmness entering with each inhale.
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I Need A Break But I Can’t Sneak Away From My Desk Right Now
A full-on power nap isn’t exactly realistic in the middle of your crazy day, but that doesn’t mean some downtime is out of the question. Kate Hanley, author of The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide: 77 Simple Strategies for Serenity, suggests a move she calls “head-down time-out.” Stack your forearms on top of each other at the edge of your desk, rest your feet flat on the floor and scoot your chair away from the desk to release tension in the muscles in your back then rest your head on your arms, just like you did in elementary school. “Any time you put your head down and allow yourself to rest, you give permission for your thoughts to rest and for your pace to slow,” she says.
Number : Take Some Healing Breaths
When you feel your stress level rising, take a moment to perform some healing breaths. It can be amazing what simply breathing deeply can do to lower your anxiety. When people are anxious, they tend to breathe in a more shallow manner, and it may become necessary to remind yourself to breathe deeply. You can learn more in our article .
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Simple Ways To Relieve Stress And Anxiety
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Stress and anxiety are common experiences for most people. In fact, 70% of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily.
Here are 16 simple ways to relieve stress and anxiety.
Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.
It might seem contradictory, but putting physical stress on your body through exercise can relieve mental stress.
The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who dont exercise .
There are a few reasons behind this:
- Stress hormones: Exercise lowers your bodys stress hormones such as cortisol in the long run. It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
- Sleep: Exercise can also improve your sleep quality, which can be negatively affected by stress and anxiety.
- Confidence: When you exercise regularly, you may feel more competent and confident in your body, which in turn promotes mental wellbeing.
- Try to find an exercise routine or activity you enjoy, such as walking, dancing, rock climbing or yoga.
Activities such as walking or jogging that involve repetitive movements of large muscle groups can be particularly stress relieving.
Play Secretary For Someone Else
As overachievers, we tend to have higher expectations for ourselves than for others. So when creating your weekly schedule, pretend youre doing it for your boss or mom. Would you feel guilty asking so much of her, or be surprised if shes overwhelmed?
If you spend just 20 minutes on Saturday creating a to-do list for the week, you’ll feel more in control.”
Not only does this exercise help you be more realistic about what youre asking of yourself, but it can also take the personal attachments out of your responsibilitieslike your anxiety about having to give a presentation, says Miller. When were less emotional, we make better decisions and perform at a higher level.
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Number : Count Your Blessings
Its hard to feel anxious when youre focused on being grateful. So the next time you feel yourself getting stressed, take a moment to list in your mind a few things in your life that make you happy. If you have trouble thinking of any at first, start small. You could begin with something as simple as Im grateful for the sunny day today or Im thankful to have a job. As you practice counting your blessings, it will become progressively easier to do.
Number : Create A Gratitude Practice
Gratitude is a powerful force that you can use to expand your happiness, improve your health, andyou guessed ithelps you cope with stress.
Many scientific studies, including research by renowned psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, have found that people who consciously focus on gratitude, experience greater emotional wellbeing and physical health than those who dont.
Read More: Learn more about the healing power of gratitude, and how to begin your gratitude practice
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Write About Your Stress
Writing about your stress and how you feel is therapeutic. And it helps you to organize your thoughts and how theyre affecting you so that you can better understand whats going on inside your mind.
Moreover, your increased awareness will help you to identify the most effective, healthy solutions.
To de-stress using this method, start by setting a timer for at least 5 minutes . Get a journal or piece of paper out and begin writing.
Write about whats going on, your feelings and the beliefs you have around your situation. Get curious about how you could be exacerbating your stress. Ask what you want to do about the situation and write about that.
Once your timer goes off, make a choice to let go.
Stress Management Isnt Just About Stress Relief
Heres the thing: learning how to reduce stress wont help all that much if you cant keep stress levels low for the long-haul.
Stress has a ripple effect . The key to effective stress management is to help reduce much of this ripple effect. That will ultimately help you to remain calm, think rationally and respond appropriately so that you can more quickly bounce back instead of allowing stress to take control of you and emotionally react.
And thats what control is really all about. Controlling your thoughts and emotions. You cant be in control of your life if you dont first learn to manage your stress levels.
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Think Of Weekends As ‘weekstarts’
We heart our two-day breaks from the office as much as the next girl, but using them purely for having fun or catching up on sleep only makes Monday seem that much worse. If you spend just 20 minutes on Saturday or Sunday creating a to-do list for the week, or at least for Monday, youll feel more in control, which is key to starting off strong and getting more done, Miller explains. You essentially set yourself up to think of weekends as a chance to regroup and rechargea subtle mental shift that can help you feel less depleted.
Quick Ways To Reduce Stress
Taking care of your long-term mental and physical health is an important part of stress management. However, there isnt always time to take a nap, hike a fourteener, or read a novel. Thus, here are 25 ways to reduce stress in five minutes or less. From eating chocolate to meditating, there is a quick stress-relieving tactic for everyone.
1. BreatheSlow, deep breaths can help lower blood pressure and heart rate. Try pranayama breathing, a yogic method that involves breathing through one nostril at a time to relieve anxiety. The technique is supposed to work the same way as acupuncture, balancing the mind and body.
2. Listen to Music No matter what the song, sometimes belting out the lyrics to a favorite tune makes everything seem all right. If youre in a public place, just listening to music can be a quick fix for a bad mood. Classical music can be especially relaxing right before bedtime.
3. Take a Quick Walk When youre feeling overwhelmed or having trouble concentrating, go for a quick stroll around the block. Youll get the benefits of alone time, physical activity, and a few minutes to gather your thoughts.
4. Find the Sun If its a sunny day, head outside for an easy way to lift your spirits. Bright light can be an effective treatment for people who suffer from depression, and can even cheer up otherwise healthy people.
8. Rub Your Feet Over a Golf Ball You can get an impromptu, relaxing foot massage by rubbing your feet back and forth over a golf ball.
12. Be Alone
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Mindfulness And Mantra Meditation
Mindfulness is an ancient form of meditation that promotes awareness of whats happening in the moment.
It encourages you to focus on your body, your thoughts, and whats going on around you.
Mantra meditation, on the other hand, is the opposite of mindfulness. In this practice, you place all your attention on a single target, like a mantra, a candle flame, or a phrase.
In both types of meditations, whenever your mind wanders — and it will Smith says — you simply re-focus.
It’s a brain skill, he says. In that in the first 2 weeks you won’t be able to do it very well. Your mind will constantly chatter and distract, and that’s normal, that happens.
But as you practice, youll get better at it.
My Boss Is Driving Me Nuts
If every time your boss flips the bitch switch you’re tempted to bad-mouth her to your nearest work buddy, listen up: Larina Kase, a business psychologist in Philadelphia and author of The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go From Effective to Exceptional, advises finding that same friend and thanking her rather than gossiping. “Expressing gratitude focuses you on the positive and brings you an instant mood boost,” she explains. Besides, bad-mouthing your boss is just bad form.
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Chomp Some Chewing Gum
Maybe youre stuck in annoying traffic, frantically cleaning the house before your in-laws show, or hammering out that final term paper. Chewing gum is an easy way to keep the stress monster at bay while potentially boosting your mood and productivity Allen AP, et al. . Chewing gum: Cognitive performance, mood, well-being, and associated physiology. DOI: 10.1155/2015/654806 .
Listen To Your Favorite Tunes
Surely you have a Spotify playlist to pep you up or soothe your soul. Crank it. Just listening to music has relaxation benefits, one study shows Linnemann A, et al. . Music listening as a means of stress reduction in daily life. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.06.008 .And if youre not going to bug anyone else, go ahead and sing along. You know you want to.
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Number : Read An Inspirational Quote
Spend a few moments one day collecting and recording your favorite inspirational quotes. You may record them by writing them all in a notebook, printing them individually and hanging them in various places around your workspace, leaving them scattered throughout your home on sticky notes, buying them as framed art to display prominently, or simply by memorizing them. When youre feeling stressed, read or remember one or more of these quotes. This can leave you inspired to handle your current situation in a positive way and help you release the stress.
Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation involves relaxing all the muscles in your body, group by group. To practice, you can start with a few deep breaths.
Then, practice tightening and relaxing each muscle group, starting with your forehead and moving down to your toes.
With practice, you’ll learn to recognize tension and tightness in your muscles and you’ll be able to relax more easily. Each time you practice, however, you should experience a feeling of relaxation sweeping through your body.
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Quick Stress Relief On The Go
In traffic. Play music or listen to an audiobook. Take a different route to see something new. Do neck-rolls at stoplights. Sing in the car to stay awake and happy.
Public transportation. Take a break from reading, cell conversations, and music to tune into the sights and sounds around you. Try noticing something new, even if youre on the same old bus ride.
Running errands. Wear a special perfume or lotion so you can enjoy it while you rush from place to place. Carry a stress ball in your pocket. Take a mental snapshot or postcard at each destination.
Waiting in lines. Instead of worrying about time slipping away, focus on your breathing. People watch. Chat with the person ahead of you. Chew a stick of minty gum.
Quick Stress Relief At Home
Entertaining. Prevent pre-party jitters by playing lively music. Light candles. The flicker and scent will stimulate your senses. Wear clothes that make you feel relaxed and confident.
Kitchen. Ease kitchen stress by breathing in the scent of every ingredient. Delight in the delicate texture of an eggshell. Appreciate the weight of an onion.
Children and relationships. Prevent losing your cool during a spousal spat by squeezing the tips of your thumb and forefinger together. When your toddler has a tantrum, rub lotion into your hands and breathe in the scent.
Sleep. Too stressed to snooze? Try using a white noise machine for background sound or a humidifier with a diffuser for a light scent in the air.
Creating a sanctuary. If clutter is upsetting, spend 10 minutes each day to tidy. Display photos and images that make you feel happy. Throw open the curtains and let in natural light.
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Number : Identify Your Stress Triggers
Recognizing the triggers to your stressful reactions is an important first step in managing your stress. True, it might be impossible to remove lifes stresses, but understanding the things that stress you outand in what waysis particularly helpful in solving the underlying problems.
What stresses you out? And how do you react to it? There are a host of physical and mental reactions to stress, and everyone reacts differently. Understanding how it manifests in your life is the first step to finding balance.
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Relax With An Activity You Enjoy
Spending time on your hobbies can be difficult during the fast pace of normal life, but if you find yourself with extra free time while self-isolating, dedicate some of it to relaxing activities like reading, watching TV, or painting. Distracting yourself with an activity you love can go a long way towards relieving your stress.
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Guided Imagery Or Visualization
Imagine yourself lying on a sandy beach with a soft breeze gently stirring the warm air. Use your senses to smell the saltwater and feel the sun as you transport yourself there. Thats guided imagery or visualization.
It uses the power of your mind to change your focus to a peaceful time or event.
If were in a stressful situation, you know, just shifting our mind and focusing on a time when we were really, really relaxed is an effective way to calm down, Brown says.
Take A Break From Your Phone
Constantly checking your phone for the latest notification can overwhelm you, according to Kristine Carlson, co-author of the book Dont Sweat the Small Stuff,” which she wrote with her late husband Richard Carlson.
We are so tied to our technology, she said. Email, text message, checking your Instagram all of that, its very addictive.
Instead, she advised, really unplug from your email or phone and take what Carlson refers to as a golden pause.
By snoozing your notifications, you create the mental space to focus on yourself and how youre feeling. While you focus on yourself, practice breathing slowly, closing your eyes and turning your thoughts toward something youre grateful for, Carlson suggested.
Research backs up this up: Focusing on gratitude has been shown to increase a persons level of happiness.
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S To Help Ease Anxiety
As schools and businesses across the U.S. close their doors, anxieties about the disease and its impact increase as well. This economic impact is particularly palpable in college towns like Reading, MA, as colleges and universities begin to extend Spring Break or close their campuses in favor of online learning for the rest of the school year. Whether you work at a university or run a business that relies heavily on patronage from students or the university itself, adding stress about where your next paycheck will come from to your worries about how to stay safe and healthy is far from ideal. As a result, its a good idea to take time to focus on self-care during a stressful time. Here are 10 tips that will help you reduce your stress while youre hunkered down at home.
