Stress Relief
Everyone experiences stress in their lives. When we are under too much stress with no outlet, it builds up and can lead to many different health problems. Having a “toolkit” of effective stress relief methods is essential if we want to maintain healthy stress levels. Here is a list of 20 stress relief techniques that you can use on a daily basis to relieve the stress in your life.
1. Guided Imagery is a stress relief technique that involves using a tape or a therapist that describes relaxing images to you and you visualize them. This puts you mentally in the place that you are imagining. Eventually, you move on to using your own imagination to create your visualizations.
2. Journaling is a great stress relief tool. Simply writing about the stresses of your day, your feelings, and whatever else comes to mind is quite freeing. By putting it on paper, you are able to distance yourself from it to a certain degree. Later, you can look back through the journal and identify common triggers and events that cause stress in your life and work towards avoiding those things or changing the behaviours.
3. Sex can be a really good stress relief activity. Having sex releases endorphins that make you feel happy and relaxed. The physical activity of sex also helps to burn off excess tension and energy left behind by the stress hormones.
4. Deep abdominal breathing has been shown to have significant effects on the mind, the body and your moods. Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, feeling your abdomen expand. Exhale slowly through the mouth, feeling your abdomen go back down. Think only of the breathing and the movement of your abdomen. Continue with this for a few minutes until you are completely relaxed. This is an excellent stress relief technique that you can do anytime and anywhere.
5. Exercise is one of the top stress relief methods. 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day will clear your mind and detoxify your body of the residual hormones and chemicals left behind by the stress.
6. Make time to relax. Be sure to include rest and relaxation into each and every day. Make an appointment for yourself if you need to and give yourself the full hour just as if you had an appointment with someone else. Take this time to do something relaxing that you enjoy to recharge your batteries.
7. Socialize. Take time to spend with positive people in your life. Go for lunch with a friend, make a date night with your significant other or play a game with your kids. Having a network of supportive friends will help you deal with stress.
8. Yoga is a very effective stress relief technique. The combination of deep abdominal breathing and engaging the muscles and stretching calms the mind and detoxifies the body.
9. Aromatherapy can be used for relaxation and stress relief. Use essential oils of lavender, chamomile or Jasmine to scent bath oil, potpourri, room scents or applying to the skin. Smelling these scents or allowing the skin to absorb them will relax you and melt the stress of the day away.
10. Do something fun each day. Make time to do something you enjoy every day. Any activity that you find enjoyable will work to make you feel good and relieve stress.
11. Laugh. They say laughter is the best medicine, and it's true. Laughing releases endorphins and serotonin in the brain that help you to feel happy, relaxed and de-stressed.
12. Autogenic training is a technique of changing the fight-or-flight stress response by attaining a meditative state and being conscious of the reactions in the body. As you reverse the body's stress response, you begin to relax and the adverse effects of stress begin to subside. This can be used in the moment to relieve the sensations of stress as will as a long-term strategy to help treat specific stress-related conditions.
13. Biofeedback is a method where you learn to deliberately generate the body's relaxation response and manage involuntary stress reactions from your autonomic nervous system. An electronic device measures body temperature and muscle movement and tension. As you see the stress reactions happening, you consciously relax your body, changing your muscle movements, heart rate and brain waves in the process. Over time you learn to do this automatically without the biofeedback machine.
14. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a great technique for tension and stress relief. You contract and relax each muscle group in the body, usually starting with the feet and moving up to the head. This helps to release the stress hormones that build up in the muscles and relaxes the entire body and mind.
15. You may not think of nutrition as a stress reduction factor, but in fact, eating a healthy balanced diet is very important. If your body is not well nourished it can’t deal with the physical aspects of stress. Also be sure to drink lots of water to help flush the toxins that stress leaves in the tissue.
16. Music can be a powerful stress relief tool. Whether you prefer to listen to soothing music to calm your mind, or blare heavy metal and scream along to release pent-up tension, music is great for stress relief.
17. Drink herbal or green tea. Chamomile tea is particularly useful as a stress relief tea. Green tea is not only a potent anti-oxidant; it is very good for you, has no caffeine and is a relaxing drink.
18. Time Management – with good time management skills you can plan your day and organize your priorities and duties, giving you more time to spend on yourself or with those you love. Being organized works as stress relief because you will feel less rushed and busy.
Stress is not always a bad thing, but too much negative stress can wreak havoc on your life and your health. Using these stress relief techniques will help you to manage your stress level and maintain a healthy balance.
