Anxiety, stress, and worry can trigger a host of health problems, but there are ways to cope with these feelings. You can reduce your stress in 15 easy ways.
1. Go for a walk
Any exercise can relieve stress, but repetitive movements of large muscle groups, such as walking or jogging, can be especially relaxing since they offer many of the same benefits as meditation. Regular exercise provides the greatest benefits. Exercise regularly reduces anxiety compared to those who do not exercise.
2. Connect with nature
You can improve your physical and mental health by spending time in nature. It relieves anxiety, stress, and worry. Natural beauty distracts us from problems and makes us feel good. There is research that shows being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. In addition to making you feel better emotionally, getting exposure to nature reduces your blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones.
3. Journaling
Stress can be managed by writing things down. Journaling has been shown to be a valuable tool for improving mental health in many studies. Journaling can help with anxiety in many ways:
- If you are struggling with negative or overwhelming thoughts, one way to help relieve tension and stress is to write down all the negative thoughts. Write until you run out of ideas. Then, tear up the paper and burn it or throw it away. Symbolically, this helps your mind understand that these thoughts are garbage. Replace the negative thoughts with new positive ones. Reread your positive thoughts often.
- Gratitude journal: Expressing gratitude can help reduce anxiety by focusing on the good things in your life.
4. Listen to soothing music
Music has a soothing effect. It affects our emotions and can be very effective at reducing stress.
It can also lower blood pressure, decrease stress hormone levels, and slow the heart rate, as well as distract us from our worries. Listening to music during a person’s lowest moods can help them cope with clinical depression or bipolar disorder.
People tend to avoid actively listening to music when they are stressed and overwhelmed. Perhaps it feels like a waste of time when there is so much to do and worry about. Adding music to our day can produce great rewards since we are more productive when we are less stressed.
5. Sing
Science has proven that singing can reduce stress, relieve anxiety, and elevate endorphins, which make you feel happy and uplifted. It can relax muscles and reduce the levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream and boost your mood by taking your mind off the day’s troubles.
Additionally, scientists have identified an organ in the ear called the sacculus that responds to frequencies created by singing. It does not matter what you sing, the response creates an immediate sense of pleasure, so you don’t have to have an amazing voice to reap the benefits of singing.
6. Laughter
Laughter is the best medicine when it comes to distracting yourself. Laughter relieves distressing emotions. It allows you to see situations in a more realistic and less threatening light.
The joy of laughter is contagious. It releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. The good feeling you get when you laugh stays with you even after you stop laughing. Through difficult situations, disappointments, and losses, humor can keep you optimistic and positive. Life becomes more joyful and zestful, anxiety and tension is eased, stress is relieved, the mood is improved, and resilience is strengthened.
Where do you find laughter? Is that a good joke? Do you like funny cat videos? Make a list of things that make you laugh and keep it handy because nothing works faster or more reliably to relieve stress, worry, and anxiety than a good laugh.
7. Connect with friends
Nowadays, we can be tempted to replace face-to-face contact with phones and computers, especially when we feel vulnerable. Humans, however, are social creatures. We need to feel supported, valued and connected. Researchers have found that being socially connected can increase happiness and lead to better health. It helps to overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation.
8. Just say “no”
Stress levels can be reduced by selectively taking on tasks – and saying no to tasks that will unnecessarily add to your workload.
Take charge of the parts of your life that you can change and are causing you stress. Saying “no” more often may be one way to accomplish this. When you take on more than you can handle, as juggling many responsibilities can leave you feeling overwhelmed, this is especially true. By finding ways to simplify, you can prevent, manage, and relieve stress, worry, and anxiety.
9. Avoid procrastination
Stay on top of your priorities and stop procrastinating to reduce stress. It takes energy to worry about something you need to do. The energy expended in this way is in addition to the energy required to actually accomplish the task. Procrastinating undesirable tasks requires more effort than completing them.
Procrastination can cause you to act reactively, leaving you scrambling to catch up. The stress caused by this can negatively affect your health and sleep.
10. Pet the dog
Spend some time petting a dog or cat if you’re feeling anxious, stressed, depressed or lonely.
It has been shown that petting or playing with animals can reduce stress as well as reduce feelings of isolation and help us feel more connected. The act of petting a dog or cat releases “feel good” neurotransmitters in the brain, which reduces stress and increases feelings of happiness. Additionally, it decreases the production of stress hormones, so you calm down and feel better in multiple ways.
11. Mindfulness and meditation
Studies have shown that mindfulness and meditation ease anxiety and mental stress. Practicing mindfulness involves paying attention to the little things in life that we usually overlook. By returning to your body, you can turn down the volume in your mind.
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12. Practice abdominal breathing
Next time you feel anxious, try this simple relaxation technique:
1. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose. Relax your shoulders. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should barely rise.
2. Slowly exhale through your mouth. Keep your jaw relaxed as you blow air out, but purse your lips slightly.
3. Repeat this breathing exercise several times.
This exercise can be performed as often as necessary. Standing up, sitting down, or lying down are all options.
If you find this exercise difficult or if it makes you anxious or panicky, take a break and try again in a day or two. Gradually increasing the time is okay.
13. Yoga
Yoga has become a popular method of stress relief and exercise among people of all ages. Yoga has been shown to improve mood and may even be as effective at treating depression and anxiety as antidepressants. Yoga lowers cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate, and modulates stress responses.
14. Serve others
Depression, worry, stress, and anxiety tend to make a person withdraw. Helping others can help us step outside of ourselves. Additionally, it can help us divert our attention from our own problems. Studies have shown that people who help others have lowered levels of depression and anxiety. As a matter of fact, in the research study, service was more effective in affecting how participants felt about themselves than pampering themselves or making self-esteem goals.
15. Reduce caffeine intake
According to research, high doses of caffeine, a stimulant found in coffee, tea, and energy drinks, can increase levels of anxiety, depression, and increase the need for anxiety medication. Caffeine may cause anxiety and panic in people with panic disorder, as well as aggravate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. In people who are caffeine-sensitive, they may develop caffeinism, a condition defined by restlessness, nervousness, irritability, insomnia, diuresis, tremors, and tachycardia at relatively low doses of caffeine. After abstaining from caffeine, heavy users may show signs of caffeine withdrawal syndrome.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In spite of stress and anxiety arising at work and in your personal life, there are many ways to reduce the pressure.
Stress management tips often involve removing your mind from the source of your stress.
Work-life balance can be improved by exercise, mindfulness, music, and physical intimacy, all of which can reduce anxiety.
By
Tarannum Yogesh Dobriyal
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