Are you feeling stressed?
If yes, don’t worry you are not alone. Stress has become common nowadays. 60% of the population in the US report that they are under constant daily anxiety. And it is increasing not only in the US but everywhere.
Everyone struggles and feels pressured in their life. 9-6 work life, family, and other responsibilities- managing everything simultaneously can cause mental stress sometimes. And without any means to tackle them, it becomes severe and affects your daily life. Therefore, it is necessary to learn different ways to relieve stress.
So, how do you relieve stress?
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17 ways to relieve stress and anxiety
Find the causes of your stress.
The first step is to find the root causes of your stress. You need to identify the triggers. Unless you find the source, it will be challenging to tackle it. It can be anything such as heavy workload at the workplace, financial issues, personal problems, etc. If these are the factors, then take your time and relax to find the solutions to these problems.
When you are in control of yourself, then only you can tackle your problems. The path will become much easier. When people are angry or stressed, they lose the ability to reason and make the right decision. So, it is best to find the triggers and give yourself time to think about the next steps.
Exercise
Do you exercise daily? Good if you do. Start right away if you don’t. People who exercise regularly have fewer problems to worry about. They are physically and mentally fit. They are more active than other people and don’t stress much.
Exercising regularly releases endorphins in your body. They are chemicals in the body that help to relieve stress and pain. Now, you get why exercise should be an essential part of life. Physical activities are stress busters. So, be active and move your body every day. You can dance, do aerobic exercise, jog, run, etc.
Practice yoga and meditation
Anger isn’t a solution. Instead, it adds more fuel to your problems. When you lose control, it will be harder to relieve your stress. It affects not only you but also the people around you. So, it is essential to be mindful. And the best way to do that is to practice yoga and meditation.
When you engage in yoga and meditation, the unnecessary thoughts causing you to stress slowly fade away. As a result, you will be calm and compose. Besides, it helps you read the situation before you, allowing you to know what is right and wrong and make a rational decision. So, practice yoga and meditation, never to lose your composure and relieve stress.
Surround yourself with people
Connecting and surrounding yourself with people is one of the best ways to relieve stress. Most importantly, with positive people and those who believe and support you. When you are in a group, the surroundings around you will be lively. You will be able to immerse yourself entirely at the moment and relax, preventing any unnecessary thoughts from coming into your mind.
Besides, support from your friends and family helps you get through tough times. Moreover, you will gain the strength to fight any problems when you have people behind to help you. You will be able to build self-confidence. This way, you will be able to relieve your stress to some extent.
Be optimistic
One of the leading causes of stress is doubting one’s own skills and negative self-talk. Criticizing yourself and having a “Can’t do it.” attitude will only make your anxiety worse.
When you think you can do it, you will be able to fight any problems. Moreover, you will be able to cope with stress quickly. So, stop negative self-talk and find positivity in your life to relieve anxiety. Appreciate what you have and remember your achievements. Try to look at every situation positively and as an opportunity. You will be able to find happiness this way. Therefore, always develop a positive self-talk habit.
Get quality sleep
Stress affects your sleep and not getting quality sleep can cause stress. So, gaining adequate sleep is a great stress reliever. When you feel stressed or don’t get enough sleep, you become more restless. Your body won’t be able to keep up and replenish energy to keep you moving the next day. This further will strain your body, and you won’t be able to focus on your activities. Thus, increasing your anxiety.
Moreover, when you don’t get quality sleep, you become more irritated. Slowly you will start experiencing a mental breakdown. So, it is better to get quality sleep rather than giving time for stress to dominate you.
Eat a healthy diet
Like sleep, eating a healthy diet is equally important to replenish energy to keep your body moving, engage in physical exercise, and successfully carry out your daily activities. Most importantly, a proper diet helps prevent the body from releasing hormones that cause stress.
Moreover, a healthy diet helps raise your immunity power, reasoning function, and maintain your mood. Also, it helps to protect your body from the damage stress can cause by maintaining adrenaline and hormones level. So, avoid junk, oily, and sugary foods. Focus on foods containing vitamins, omega-3 acids, and magnesium to relieve stress.
Avoid alcohol and tobacco.
Some people consume alcohol and tobacco to relieve stress. These may help you, but only temporarily. In fact, these habits will only increase your stress levels. Moreover, they affect serotonin, a hormone responsible for maintaining mood and happiness and helping with sleep and digestion. Plus, it aids in communication between the nervous system and brain cells. What if these cells stop communicating?
Furthermore, alcohol and tobacco cause stress hormones such as cortisol to increase. So, it is best to avoid them and adopt a healthy eating habit.
Reduce caffeine
It is crucial to reduce the intake of caffeine to relieve stress and anxiety. People take coffee to relieve heavy workload and stress. But, it won’t solve the problem. Instead, taking too much caffeine causes cortisol levels in your body to increase. As a result, your stress levels elevate further.
Consuming caffeine more than 400 mg makes you anxious. Coffee is good, but overconsumption is bad for health. So, limit the consumption of caffeine. If possible, avoid it entirely. This way, you will be able to relieve stress and anxiety quickly and successfully.
Try breathing techniques
Imbalance in your breathing causes your heart to beat faster, which in turn makes you overwhelmed and anxious. When breathing becomes faster and faster, the brain perceives it as stress. Thus, your body begins to tense.
According to research, breathing is effective in controlling and relieving stress. The study shows that emotions are connected to different forms of breathing. And changing the rhythm of breathing signals your brain to relax, thus reducing stress. So, try breathing techniques to relieve stress and anxiety. And one of the popular methods is the 4-7-8 technique.
Controlling your breathing can help you remain calm and compose in every situation. It helps your body to respond to stress positively.
Try aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a way to improve mental and physical well-being by using essential oils and other aroma materials. Like breathing techniques, aromatherapy helps you relax your body and mind to relieve stress and anxiety. It helps to control your breathing.
Moreover, it helps to reduce the cortisol levels in the body to reduce stress and anxiety. Plus, it helps to improve sleep quality and ease the pain.
Lavender aromatherapy is one of the best and popular methods. Other therapy includes jasmine, bergamot, holy basil, etc.
Laugh more
You might have heard about laugh therapy. You might have also seen people laughing loudly in the park. It might seem weird and think, “What are they doing?”. Actually, it has many benefits. And one of them is it helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Laughter helps to release endorphins, a chemical in the body that relieves stress and pain.
Moreover, it helps to relax you, reduces your pain, and improves your mood. It will lessen your mental restlessness. So, laugh more and ease your stress and anxiety.
Avoid sitting idle
Most people love spending time alone. However, such an action can lead to stress. When you are alone and don’t engage yourself in a task or a hobby, or any other activities, many things pop into your mind. You immerse yourself in thoughts, then overthink, and stress starts to build up.
In a sense, sitting idle is harmful, but not always. Still, we recommend you engage yourself in some tasks to avoid overthinking unnecessarily. Rather than wasting your valuable time, it is best to engage in a hobby or learn and improve your skills. Whatever you do, just do it to avoid sitting idle.
Share your problems
If things are tough for you, share your problems with someone. Sharing helps to sort out your issues. You will be able to understand the situation more clearly. When you realize that people are looking after you, it helps ease the tension in your life. You will be more relaxed and calm.
Nevertheless, some people keep problems to themselves. Instead of getting out, they get stuck deeply. It only makes the situation worse. So, it is best to share your issues with someone you trust.
Or, you can join communities. They are readily available to help people like you.
Don’t overexert yourself.
You believe in yourself and think you can do everything. In the process, you accept every request. However, overexerting yourself will only stress your body and mind. You won’t get any time to relax. And continuous work will make you restless and irritated. So, learn to say no if you think you can’t do it all.
Most importantly, go easy on yourself. If it is too much for you, ask someone for help. Or, you can take your time and have fun. If overexertion is starting to take a toll on you, it is best to take time out and relax until you refresh yourself. Work is crucial; however, your health is more important than anything. So, spare some free time out of your busy schedule and go on a vacation with family and friends to relieve stress.
Acceptance is a key
Most people don’t realize that they are stressed. They don’t accept the fact, which makes them overthink. So, it is best to embrace your problems and find solutions. For that, you can ask someone for help. It might be difficult to accept and change the situation. But someone might help you and make you feel better.
Most importantly, you should accept that mistakes are part of life. Sometimes, people overcommit and overexert themselves to be perfect. Avoiding such a mentality as quickly as possible is the best choice to relieve stress and anxiety.
Consult a doctor
If your stress is too severe and you cannot cope, it is best to consult a doctor as quickly as possible. If it goes out of control, it won’t be long before it becomes permanent. It will increase the risk of heart attack, heart stroke, and lifelong mental breakdown and disorder. The faster you consult a specialist, the faster you will be able to relieve stress.
In Conclusion
Stress is a part of life. However, they are not permanent. The more quickly you act, the faster you will be able to deal with it. So, apply these ways to relieve stress and anxiety. Once you practice these methods, slowly, your life will change for the better.
Besides these, most people listen to music, sing, cook, etc., to distract themselves and relieve their stress and anxiety. It might take some time. But, it is crucial to manage your stress and lead a healthy life.
Image Credits: Nik Shuliahin from Unsplash