A Tea That Helps You Wind Down
Never underestimate the power of a good cup of tea. Its not a panacea for all the ill in the world, but sipping on a warm, fragrant drink is a pleasantry that can lift your mood and help you find calm. The popular Sleepytime tea from Celestial Seasonings is caffeine-free and has flavors of chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn, and rosebuds.
Lemon Balm A Nervine Herb With Powerful Relaxing And Mood
A member of the mint family, lemon balm has been studied for its anti-anxiety effects. For thousands of years, people have used it medicinally. And today, its often combined with other calming herbs, such as chamomile, valerian, and lavender.
With its citrusy notes, the scent and the delightful taste make it an enjoyable way to soothe and boost your mood.
Yoga Meditation For Stress
Yoga meditation is generally when you perform a series of different posturesat the same time, controlling your breathing and observing your breathing in a certain way.;
This meditation for stress reduction is beneficial again for physical; mental well-being can also be perfect for pregnancy-related issues.;
It can be perfect for digestion; it can be there are different poses for different things. So, you can also be ideal for flexibility.;
If youre trying to work on that, yoga meditation should generally be done supervised by somebody.;
So, if youre reading articles, watching youtube videos, and trying it on your own, you might have an instructor.;
Whos there to teach you how to do this and it can be beneficial if youre into sports because it helps your flexibility.;
It helps to keep you fit, healthy and your muscles kind of you know it relaxes your muscles a lot more while you train them, so its kind of exciting one.;
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More Ways A Hot Bath Can Reduce Stress
There is mental and physical stress. The two often co-exist and one can cause the other. That said, there are plenty of other stressors on the mind and body that are alleviated by a bath. These include problems with:
- congestion,
- depression and
- inflammation.
If youd like to alleviate the tension and want to know more about how a hot bath can help, read 20 Hot Bath Benefits for Mind, Body and Soul.
Remember That Adaptogens Arent A Cure
Dont rely on adaptogens for logging pillow time or taking good care of yourself. Use them to cope with intense periods like holidays, finals, and taxes and to stay gently energized long term. I definitely love my adaptogens! Nayak says. I dont feel the same without them. In fact, I would say that I didnt realize how much stress I was holding onto until I was helped back into balance.
As with any drug or supplement, adaptogens do have side effects, interactions, and contraindications. So do your research, especially regarding any current health conditions. Its also recommended you contact your healthcare provider before beginning a herbal regiment.
Jennifer Chesak is a Nashville-based freelance book editor and writing instructor. Shes also an adventure travel, fitness, and health writer for several national publications. She earned her Master of Science in journalism from Northwesterns Medill and is working on her first fiction novel, set in her native state of North Dakota.
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Talk It Out With A Friend
When youre really feeling stressed, relax to call a friend and speak about your problems. Great connections with good friends as well as liked ones are essential to any healthy lifestyle.
Theyre specifically vital when youre under a whole lot of stress. A reassuring voice, even for a min, can place everything in perspective.
What Science Says About Ashwagandha
Research is now proving the abilities of ashwagandha to ease anxiety and reduce feelings of stress.
In a 2012 study published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, patients were given 300 mg of ashwagandha root extract twice a day for 60 days. What happened? The participants scores of;perceived stress dropped by 44% and their levels of the stress hormone cortisol decreased by almost 28%.
Then, in 2014, a systematic review of five controlled studies involving humans found that this herb significantly improved anxiety and stress levels.
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Powerful Herbs Proven To Reduce Stress
Do you want to find natural stress remedies that work for you? Here are four herbs to reduce stress levels at home and work.
As you no doubt know all too well, we live in a chronically stressed culture. Most of us exist in a state of near-constant overwork and overwhelm.
And all this stress is taking a serious toll. An estimated 90% of all visits to primary care doctors are for stress-related complaints.
Some stress can help you, by driving you to heightened alertness or intensity of focus. But too muchstress can cause serious damage to your health from contributing to weight gain to damaging your heart and making you look older. Stress can also affect how you feel physically and mentally.
Plus, chronic, or lasting, stress is linked to every chronic disease because it lays the foundation for inflammation and other health ailments.
You cant avoid all the stress in your life. So, whats the solution? How can you cope and not let all the little things, or the big ones, get you down?
You have more power over your stress than you may realize. Life isnt only about what happens to you its also about how you respond. The right herbs can be a potent tool to help you calm the stresses and enjoy more resiliency.
Vitamins And Minerals For Anxiety And Stress: Take The Next Step
Virtually all vitamins and minerals are important for overall health, mental well-being, and your ability to cope with anxiety and stress.
But a few, specifically the B complex vitamins, vitamin C, and the minerals magnesium and zinc, excel at helping your body offset the negative effects of stress.
Eating a diet that includes a wide variety of fruit and vegetables and some animal foods will help ensure that you get enough of these nutrients.
But if you dont regularly eat as well as you should, consider supplementation.
If you arent sure where to begin, start with a high-quality multivitamin-mineral supplement.
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What Is The Fastest Way To Relieve Stress
There are countless techniques for managing stress. Yoga, mindfulness meditation, and exercise are just a few examples of stress-relieving activities that work wonders. But in the heat of the moment, during a high-pressured job interview, for example, or a disagreement with your spouse, you cant just excuse yourself to meditate or take a long walk. In these situations, you need something more immediate and accessible.
One of the speediest and most reliable ways to stamp out stress is to engage one or more of your sensessight, sound, taste, smell, touchor through movement. Since everyone is different, youll need to do some experimenting to discover which technique works best for youbut the payoff is huge. You can stay calm, productive, and focused when you know how to quickly relieve stress.
Social interaction is your bodys most evolved and surefire strategy for regulating the nervous system. Talking face-to-face with a relaxed and caring listener can help you quickly calm down and release tension. Although you cant always have a pal to lean on in the middle of a stressful situation, maintaining a network of close relationships is vital for your mental health. Between sensory-based stress relief and good listeners, youll have your bases covered.
Tip : Bring Your Senses To The Rescue
To use your senses to quickly relieve stress, you first need to identify the sensory experiences that work best for you. This can require some experimentation. As you employ different senses, note how quickly your stress levels drop. And be as precise as possible. What is the specific kind of sound or type of movement that affects you the most? For example, if youre a music lover, listen to many different artists and types of music until you find the song that instantly lifts and relaxes you.
Explore a variety of sensory experiences so that no matter where you are, youll always have a tool to relieve stress.
The examples listed below are intended to be a jumping-off point. Let your imagination run free and come up with additional things to try. When you find the right sensory technique, youll know it!
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How Do You Measure Your Stress Level
Sometimes it is clear where stress is coming from. You can count on stress during a major life change such as the death of a loved one, getting married, or having a baby. But other times it may not be so clear why you feel stressed.
It’s important to figure out what causes stress for you. Everyone feels and responds to stress differently. Tracking your stress may help. Get a notebook, and write down when something makes you feel stressed. Then write how you reacted and what you did to deal with the stress. Tracking your stress can help you find out what is causing your stress and how much stress you feel. Then you can take steps to reduce the stress or handle it better.
To find out how stressed you are right now, use this Interactive Tool: What Is Your Stress Level?
Vitamin C Food Sources
Almost all animals synthesize their own vitamin C, except humans.
So we must get it from food or supplements.
The top vitamin C; fruit sources are citrus fruits, strawberries, and the tropical fruits pineapple, papaya, and kiwi.
The best vegetable sources are peppers of all kinds , tomatoes, and cruciferous vegetables .
But typically these foods contain less than 100 mg per serving.
So, you have to regularly eat a lot of these foods to meet the amounts considered therapeutic, generally 500 to 1,000 mg per day.
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An App For Guided Meditation
Meditation is a helpful skill to learn if you often experience racing thoughts or restlessness. Not sure where to start? The Headspace app, our favorite meditation app, offers a library of themed courses, daily meditations, sleep sounds, and bedtime exercises to get you into the practiceand it’s free to try.
Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
Although this is a basic rule for achieving peace of mind, we don’t always follow it. Sometimes you fall victim to laziness and when you get home, all you want to do is lie down and rest. But taking a few minutes to get your priorities in order and make preparations for the next day allows you to fall asleep without distractions.Indeed, prepare the clothes for the next day, make a list of things you do not want to forget, tidy your living room before going to sleep … These small gestures help the mind to stop thinking about details that, if not controlled, generate anxiety and make you turn over in your bed.
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Personal Problems That Can Cause Stress
- Your health, especially if you have a chronic illness such as heart disease, diabetes, or arthritis
- Emotional problems, such as anger you can’t express, depression, grief, guilt, or low self-esteem
- Your relationships, such as having problems with your relationships or feeling a lack of friendships or support in your life
- Major life changes, such as dealing with the death of a parent or spouse, losing your job, getting married, or moving to a new city
- Stress in your family, such as having a child, teen, or other family member who is under stress, or being a caregiver to a family member who is elderly or who has health problems
- Conflicts with your beliefs and values. For example, you may value family life, but you may not be able to spend as much time with your family as you want.
What If You Are Not Eligible
If your company isnt large enough, or you havent worked there long enough, or your doctor doesnt consider your condition severe enough to leave work, you wont have a protected leave of absence. This doesnt mean that your company cannot approve a stress leave, its just that they dont have to guarantee you a position when you return.
Certainly, do ask about taking time off as an unpaid personal leave of absence to get the rest and treatment you need. Many companies will offer you unpaid time off even without the FMLA time off. Your state or region may also have different requirements for employers so ask your HR department.
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Muscle Relaxation To Relieve Stress
Your body may respond to stress by tensing up, which can cause pain. If you learn to relax your muscles, you can reduce muscle tension and anxiety. Progressive muscle relaxation is an exercise that can help you do this.
In progressive muscle relaxation, you tense and then relax related groups of muscles. You can use a relaxation tape or CD to help you go through all the muscle groups. Or you can learn the muscle groups and work through them from memory.
Find a quiet place where you won’t be bothered. Be sure you can lie on your back in comfort.
For each muscle group:
Here are the muscle groups:
Hands and arms
Head and neck
- Forehead: Wrinkle it into a deep frown.
- Around the eyes and bridge of the nose: Close your eyes as tightly as possible. If you wear contact lenses, remove them before beginning the exercise.
- Cheeks and jaws: Smile as widely as you can.
- Around the mouth: Press your lips together tightly.
- Back of the neck: Press your head back against the floor or chair.
- Front of the neck: Touch your chin to your chest.
Upper body
- Chest: Take a deep breath and hold it, then breathe out.
- Back: Arch your back up and away from the floor or chair.
- Stomach: Suck it into a tight knot.
Lower body
Capture Your Thoughts By Writing
Often, the lack of sleep is caused by our own thoughts, which are repeated in our heads. Did I lock the car door? Did I buy the cat food? I hope I haven’t forgotten to pay my brother back. Do you see these thoughts that keep you awake?Whatever it is that we’re worried about, it’s very likely that we can’t do anything about it at the time, and all we do is obsess about it. To keep those thoughts from spinning, it’s best to get them out!Writing down our thoughts, concerns, or thoughts in general helps us to put them in order and give them structure. Once organized and out of our heads, they stop weighing us down. Whether it’s in a notebook, your computer, or just a sheet of paper, don’t be afraid to write down what’s on your mind. Once on paper, you will be in a better position to fall asleep.
Stay Active And Exercise
Participating in physical activity can improve your stress resilience. During exercise, the body releases chemicals such as endorphins, which can improve mood and reduce anxiety. Adults should participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week to reap the many health benefits exercise offers.
Introduce More Hops To Your Routine
Hops might be most well known as one of the main ingredients in beer, but the plant has also been used as an herbal remedy for stress for centuries.
Although hops doesn’t appear to lower cortisol levels directly, the bitter acids that give hops their signature taste have a calming effect that can help alleviate stress and the muscle tension that comes along with it.
In addition, hops can interact with the neurotransmitter GABA. GABA plays a role in brain signaling and nervous system activity and can contribute to an overall calming effect.*;
Curcumin An Herb Component That Can Boost Your Mood And Help Offset The Impact Stress Has On Your Body
Curcumin is the most active compound in the turmeric root. Youve probably heard about the vast range of health benefits curcumin and turmeric can provide. In fact, here are 600 reasons turmeric may be the worlds most important herb.
But you may not be aware that this magical herb can help relieve stress and anxiety.
Other Proven Supplements For Anxiety And Stress
Its always wise to address the basics first.
Thats why making sure youre meeting your vitamin and minerals needs is an excellent first step in getting your anxiety and stress under control.
However, there are many other supplements, such as herbs and amino acids, with calming properties.
Some proven natural remedies for anxiety include bacopa, ginseng, kava, taurine, tryptophan, and various teas, essential oils, and homeopathic remedies.
Try A Hemp Oil Supplement*
Hemp oil is becoming increasingly popular due to its many potential benefits, especially when it comes to stress.*
Hemp oil is extracted from the aerial parts of the hemp plant, which contains less than 0.3% THC, so it’s nonpsychoactive. The extraction process leaves in the native, beneficial plant compounds , like hemp-derived CBD, which gives the oil its stress-relieving properties.*
When the phytocannabinoids in hemp oil interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system, it can promote a sense of calm and balance.*
How Are You Coping With Stress
Your lifestyle choices can prevent your body from recovering from stress. For example, as you sleep, your body recovers from the stresses of the day. If you’re not getting enough sleep or your sleep is often interrupted, you lose the chance to recover from stress.
The way you act and behave can also be a sign of stress. Some people who face a lot of stress react by smoking, drinking too much alcohol, eating poorly, or not exercising. The health risks posed by these habits are made even worse by stress.
Your body feels stress-related wear and tear in two ways: the stress itself and the unhealthy ways you respond to it.
- Use this coping strategies evaluation form to help you find out how you cope with stress.
- Try this Interactive Tool: How Well Do You Bounce Back? It measures your ability to deal with life’s challenges.
