Eight Stress Banishers
Whenever we find ourselves feeling stressed, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the feeling. Rather than doing anything to help us stay on track, stress can make us more prone to mistakes, cause us to have a foggy brain that hinders creative thinking and problem solving, and lead to other physical symptoms like shaking or experiencing difficulty breathing.
But there are plenty of ways for you to banish stress for good! With these simple techniques, you'll be able get back on track and live your best life.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to banish stress is to practice what's called mindfulness. Mindfulness is a state in which you are focused and concentrated on something with great attention, but without allowing any judgment or attachment. When you can achieve the state of mindfulness, stress will melt away before it's even realized and you'll take care of yourself – making the best decisions possible that will help you be in harmony with your world.
Another way to banish stress is by staying active! Physical activity can reduce your overall stress levels simply by strengthening your body, helping regulate your heart rate and blood pressure, giving your brain new oxygenated blood, giving you more energy throughout the day and generally just being able to think clearly.
Practice these 8 stress banishers and you'll find yourself less stressed, more productive and able to enjoy life again!
1. Practice breathing exercises. Catching your breath can be a great way to take a moment of mindfulness and calm yourself in the midst of stress or being overwhelmed. There are several different types of breathing techniques that can be helpful to try out: Breathe In: Close your eyes, inhale deeply through your nose for as long as you can, and then exhale through your mouth with a sigh or a "whoosh." Repeat this cycle 10 times. Breathe Out: Similar to breathing in, but with a slightly longer exhale. Repeat as above. Inhale-Hold: This is the same as inhaling and holding for a moment before exhaling, except this time you're focusing on the breath itself rather than getting so caught up in the action of your exhale that you forget about your inhale. Repeat this cycle 10 times. Breathe-Hold: This is similar to the above technique but with an even longer hold at the end before exhaling again. Repeat as above.
2. Breathe with your full body. Relaxing all of your muscles so that none are tensed while you're working, doing exercises or resting will help you achieve a deeper level of relaxation and stress relief. You can do this by imagining all the muscles in your body at rest, and then imagining that you're one with those muscles. Your stomach can relax from the top down, so when you visualize it relaxing all the way down to your feet, try to repeat this five times. This exercise can also be done with your arms and other body parts.
3. Focus on the present moment. Meditation is a great way to focus on the present moment, and it can also help you reach a state of mindfulness which is at the heart of removing stress from your life. Try practicing meditation for five minutes a day, and as you get more comfortable with it, you can increase that time to 20 minutes or even longer if desired. There are a few different types of meditation you can try:
Body scan : Close your eyes and focus on one body part at a time, one at a time. Feel yourself relaxing even if it doesn't feel possible right away. Visual meditation : This is similar to a body scan, except you visualize yourself relaxing each part of your body. Deep breathing : Slow, steady breaths will help you relax even more than shallow breaths do. This exercise can be done while lying in bed or sitting in a chair as well as standing up. Mindfulness walking: Focus all your attention on your breathing and the sound of your footsteps as you walk for 10-20 minutes.
4. Get some physical activity. Physical activity can help you remove stress and relax more than sitting on the couch. Try doing activities that are enjoyable for you like dancing or playing sports, or try more intense workouts like running, biking, etc. to help get your blood pumping and your heart rate up to help get rid of any toxins in your body.
5. Focus on how your body feels now compared to before. Part of stress is the feeling that we have too much to do and not enough time in which to do it all, which can make us feel stressed when we're actually only stressing ourselves out a little bit (which would be normal if we had a demanding job or other busy stuff going on). Using the techniques above, you'll learn to focus on keeping stress at bay while still giving yourself tasks to do so that you can get everything done.
6. Get rid of negative thinking. When you're stressed, trying to think negatively is going to add more stress and make it worse. Instead, think positively about what you have rather than what you don't have and how bad things are going. Find more positive things in your life and focus on them!
7. Meditate. As mentioned above, this is one of the best ways to banish stress as well as help with any other health issues you may have. There are many different ways to meditate and there's something out there for everyone!
8. Look at stress as a normal part of life. When you accept that stress is a normal thing that happens in life, your stress levels will drop right away because you're focusing more on the fact that these things are bound to happen and not letting it bother you so much.
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Conclusion
Stress is a normal part of life and if you have it, it's not an issue that will control your life or leave you feeling hopeless. There are several ways to stress less, including these 7 tips and the 4 ways in this article!
You will lose weight if you stress less and there are many ways to do so, such as following these 9 simple weight loss tips.
If you're stressed out with anxiety or depression, click here for some great tools that help people overcome their mental health issues. With something as serious as mental health issues, being stressed can make things worse instead of better.
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Eight Stress Banishers