In today’s fast moving world, people are leading increasingly stressful lives, for a number of reasons. Which is why stress relief has become so important. Stress affects one’s life in both positive and negative ways.
Positive stress works like a powerful motivator that helps you to accomplish your goals. And “seize the day”, if you will. But when not aimed at the proper goals, negative stress can be a dangerous strain with very harmful long term health effects.
You deserve to relax, it is most important to your emotional well-being and definitely your physical health, that you have a few stress relief methods in order to decompress.
Though you can spoil yourself once in a while; and relax with a weekend retreat, or a day at the spa (and you should). But they may not provide you with the instant relief you need in the moment while running your day to day life.
There a number of stress relief tactics that can help in relieving your stress within few minutes (or even instantly) without spending a fortune on them. Some of these instant stress relieving habits include:
Meditation
One of the greatest and most essential forms of mind-body relaxation. It has been proven through various research, and used as a staple by many health & wellness coaches, that you can easily lift your anxiety levels with just even a few minutes of meditation a day. The neural pathways in your brain can actually be changed and your mind can be made more flexible by meditating daily.
Meditation is a very easy practice; in that it involves doing pretty much nothing. Just by sitting on the floor and closing your eyes. Practice deep slow breathing, and just let your cares leave from your body as you exhale. You can practice positive mantras while meditating. Saying things like “I love myself”, or “I feel at peace with myself”, silently or loudly. Or you can just relax with a clear mind with no mantra at all.
When practicing mantras, you should synchronize your breath with the mantra while putting your hands on your belly. If any distracting thoughts come to your mind during meditation, then you should just allow it to flow away like wind.
Deep Breathing
When you’re too stressed out, it really is important to take a break for 5 minutes and decompress. Otherwise the stress will continue on throughout your day. Even a simple count to 10 can reset yourself if you really don’t have the 5 minutes.
Again, incorporating some meditation with it helps too. Sitting up straight with your hands on your belly and closing your eyes. Now you should focus on your breath while inhaling through your nose slowly. You should feel that the breath while it’s starting in your stomach and goes to the top of your head. The same process should be repeated while exhaling through your mouth.
According to certified life coaches and psychologists, the effects of stress can be eradicated by breathing deeply as it lowers both, your blood pressure and heart rate. It is literally impossible to feel stress and anxiety while your body is in a loose and relaxed state. Your mind and body work hand in hand.
Feel Your Presence
According to experts, at your times of high stress, you should take 5 minutes and focus on one of your behaviors with complete self-awareness. These behaviors may include the feeling of your feet while hitting the ground or the feel of the air on your face while walking, feeling of taste and texture of every bite of the food you eat etc.
You will feel less stressed out when you spend some time focusing on your senses. It gets you out of your head, and resets your whole mind state. You should feel a complete washing over of relief through your whole body and mind when you do this. It comes instantly.
Reach Out
When stress gets the best of you, it can really help to talk to those you care about. Social media is a great outlet for keeping in touch; but still lacks the personal connection we need as humans. You need the real thing. Call somebody up.
Talk to your sister, a close friend, your significant other. Keep in touch with the people you care about, & care about you. Often times, just hearing their voice on the other end of the line can bring fast stress relief. Sometimes just a few minutes or even a few seconds will lighten your mood and brighten your spirits.
And if you’ve got the time pay them a visit. Sometimes when we’re in a bad mood, we talk ourselves out of going to see a friend or loved one. Usually, once you get there, your perspectives will soon change and you’ll be glad you came.
Scan Your Body Mentally
In order to assess the stress level of your senses you should scan your entire body mentally. You can sit or lie on your back on the floor and start scanning your body from your toes to scalp to notice its feeling at that moment. According to wellness experts you should notice the places in your body where you feel a bit relaxed or tight without changing anything. For few minutes you should feel the depth of the breath flowing through your body. The process should be repeated every time you shift your focus to other body parts while observing your sensations closely.
Change Your Posture
It’s a psychological fact that your body positioning effects your emotions. Try holding your head up straight. You’ll begin to notice a shift in your mood instantly. It lifts your spirits and makes you feel more confident.
When you walk, stand up straight, and walk like a person in a good mood would walk. You will almost instantly feel a rush of stress relief. This is a common exercise used by actors. How the body acts, the mind will follow; and vice versa.
Relax Your Muscles
As previously mentioned, Your body has a big to do with how your state of mind is. When you are feeling tense, try wrapping your shoulders and neck with a warm wrap for few minutes. You should relax your neck, face, back muscles and upper chest while keeping your eyes closed.
After removing the wrap you should massage your tensed body parts with the help of a foam roller or tennis ball. According to experts, you should lean on the ball while placing it between the wall and your back and put gentle pressure on it for few seconds. Then you can repeat the process by shifting the ball to another location.
Laugh More
They say laughter is great medicine, and there is science to prove it. When you laugh loudly, deep down from your belly, it not only lightens your mood, but also reduces the stress hormones in your body. It improves the chemical levels in your brain to help in changing your mood. It sends a rush of dopamine (a feel good chemical in your brain) and other chemicals to give you a tidal wave of instant stress relief.
Hobbies are a great way to activate those feel-good chemicals too. Do something you really enjoy; something that gives you great pleasure. You can clear your mind by reading one of your favorite books, watching a good movie, taking an evening walk, or chatting with someone whom you really enjoy talking with.
Tune In
According to various studies, we can lower your heart rate, anxiety and blood pressure by listening to some soothing music. You should create a list of natural sounds like bubbling steam, chirping birds or the ocean, or the songs of your choice. Whatever you prefer.
This is a great natural relaxation technique. What is actually going on here is your mind, body, and heart rate are syncing up to match the different tones. Focus your mind on the different sounds and different instruments; parts of the song that speak to your spirit, or melodies that set you at ease.
You can actually feel the lightening up of your muscles, and the soothing feeling rush over your whole body. Not having a care in the world. Experience the moment you’re in while listening, breathe deeply and slowly. And as you exhale, let go of whatever tension you have in your body.
Easy Activity
You can also reduce your stress levels just by moving your body gently as opposed to intense workouts. Those high energy workouts have their own form of stress relief too, but you’ll also find peace and clarity by doing light & easy exercises like walking or yoga.
Both are a good way to clear your mind, loosen your body, and release those feel good chemicals in your brain. This is such a great help during moments of experiencing heavy stress, anxiety, or depression.
At such times you can walk up and down a few flights of stairs, do some stretching exercises like shrugging shoulders or head rolls or go for a quick walk around your place to take control, and manage stress effectively. Just feel all your cares roll right off your shoulders as you do so.
Be Thankful
Gratitude is one of the highest and most powerful emotions we can tap into. You should always remember the good things in your life and be grateful for the people who are in your life and what they mean to you.
Take the time to count your blessings on a daily basis. Take inventory of all you have to be thankful for. If you make it a common practice, you might be surprised at the dramatic change in your attitude. Or even the way it can transform your life over the long haul.
We all have plenty of things in which we can easily be un-thankful for; but it’s only fair to ourselves that we shine a little spotlight on the many things we do have to be thankful for too. We owe it to ourselves, it’s the least we can do for ourselves. Because what we focus our attention on, is what controls our emotional state.
Consciously running through a mental list of all of our blessings will help you begin to take on a whole new form. Everything in life becomes sweeter, brighter, and better with a heart full of gratitude.
You can also make few copies of your gratitude list on a piece of paper, and place them in different spots you visit frequently as a good way to remind you. It’s a great way to surround ourselves with more positive, and tap into the finer part of our nature; experiencing the very best version of ourselves; we all have it, and we all deserve it.
At the end of the day, stress relief is like exercising, the more you practice it, the stronger you get at it. And there are a ton of different exercises you can do to strengthen yourself for it.
