When was the last time you spoke to someone who didn’t say they were under a lot of stress lately? Unfortunately, many people have stressful experiences daily. Yes, stress is our response to a certain outside stimulus. We’re the ones who label things as stressful, so the best piece of advice would be simply to not stress about things. Sadly, not many of us can turn the switch off in our bodies and minds to stop stressing. We need to learn ways to relieve stress and tame stress with ease. Luckily for you, we have some great suggestions to help you fight stress easily.
Manage your triggers
Stress is our body’s response to something it considers a threat. Sometimes these feelings become overwhelming, so we have the urge to run away and crawl under our covers and forget about the world. But, since we cannot do that in the middle of our workday when something triggers our stress response, we can adopt a different tactic. We can invest the time into learning our triggers. The best way to approach this is to talk to a professional, who’ll know how to help you by creating a safe space for you to express your emotions.
Call someone you trust
After you experience something stressful, you’ll need immediate help and support. You can achieve this by talking to someone you trust. But, make sure you don’t just call your sibling or a close friend and simply perform emotional dumping on them without considering them first. If you need to talk to someone regarding your stressful situation in life, ask them first if they are available to listen. If they have the emotional capacity to listen to you, you can proceed. They’ll know how to listen and give you a fresh perspective on your current issue.
Do a quick calming exercise
Deep breathing exercise is the quickest way to lower the body’s stress response. Whenever you feel stressed, you can take a few minutes to instantly lower your stress levels by inhaling slowly, holding your breath by counting to four, and slowly exhaling. Repeat this inhaling holding your breath and exhaling technique for a few minutes until you observe the change in your posture, pulse and state of mind. You can practice calming breathing exercises whenever you feel like you need a time out to calm your emotions and clear out your mind.
Take a nap
People struggling with stress usually have problems sleeping because their bodies are so tense and they can’t seem to quiet their minds. So, taking a nap is beneficial to those struggling with stress. A short nap, lasting between 20 to thirty minutes can reinvigorate your body and boost your energy levels even during stressful times. If you want to boost your sleep, you can take a supplement by AlphaCell to boost the time spent in deep sleep mode. Since the amount of stress can disrupt the time you spent deep sleeping, taking a supplement that can restore your deep sleep is beneficial and stress relieving.
Take a walk
Walking is an activity that is always available, no matter where you are. If you feel stressed at work and you could use a break, you can take a short walk around your office building. If you have a par nearby, you can spend your time surrounded by nature. You can also perform breathing meditation in the park by sitting on a bench surrounded by calming nature. The change of scenery is a great technique to disrupt your stressful thought pattern and calm yourself. You can always take a walk, whenever you need a quick physical exercise that will help you calm your nervous state and induce some feel-good hormones.
Do some exercise
Walking is a great stress reliever, but have you tried an intense workout? Exercising can induce the production of happy hormones which are beneficial for the reduction of stress. If you find yourself in a difficult and stressful period, start exercising. People who exercise regularly feel less stressed and overwhelmed because they know that a workout can help them relieve stress. If you haven’t found your perfect exercise regime to fight stress, try different ones until your find the one that works great. Maybe you’re a solo player who enjoys the benefits of working on your own at the gym. Or, you feel best when you join an exercise class and work out with a group. Either way, find an exercise regime that works for you and repeat it three to four times a week.
Write your emotions down
Journaling is a useful and quick technique to calm yourself down in stressful situations. You just need a piece of paper and a pen to get an honest perspective on the stressful situation. Ask yourself the following questions:
How do I feel?
What caused these emotions?
How did I respond?
Why did I respond in this way?
How do I want to respond in the future?
What did I learn?
These and similar variations of these questions can be therapeutic and calm your nerves in a stressful situation. Try to be as honest as possible because there’s no one else writing and reading apart from you. There’s no judgement when you’re the only one reading your journal. So, feel free to express your emotions and identify your triggers.
Busy yourself with a creative hobby
Something you do for fun, just because it feels great and relaxing can do wonders for your stress levels. We’re always in a rush, trying to fulfil our goals that we simply forget about the importance of hobbies. That’s why we feel stressed or burnt out – we simply fail to strike a balance between always being in a rush and doing something for fun. A hobby is an answer because it will help you release all those negative and burdensome thoughts that spike your stress levels. Being immersed in a creative endeavour stops time and helps you feel less stressed and lighter. So, find a hobby that is calming, fun and gives you joy. Get lost in it whenever you feel like the stress is draining all your energy.
There are ways to banish stress and you can find at least one from our list that works for you. Hopefully, you’ll embrace more than one and see how your fight against stress become easier every day.
