Everyone feels occasional stress, but regular stress can cause health issues. Large amounts of stress can induce heart attacks or anxiety, in addition to many other health problems. This article will give you some great ideas for cutting out some of the stress in your life.
Number your stress triggers on a scale of one to ten. Using this scale, one would be small problems and ten would be major issues. This method can often help you to stop suffering from stress due to minor issues.
If you stay current on all of your repairs you will have less stress. Now imagine only three things that are in need of repair, and you have tripled the energy and time required to accomplish three tasks that could have been avoided if you had taken the time to keep up with the repairs!
A great way to relieve stress is to exercise and get yourself active. Although it is never a quick remedy, but more of a consistent way to make your life easier, while giving you something to feel better about the next day. It reduces stress, it improves mood and gives a person a sense of responsibility for their own life.
One method involves placing your palms against a stationary surface and pushing with all the power you can gather. This will relieve tension in your hamstrings, which is one of the places that often “hold” stress.
An excellent method of lessening stress and feeling better is to have a relaxing bath. Try putting in some oils and soaps that are scented to make it feel more luxurious. To further deepen your relaxation, listen to quiet music or read a book as you soak. Having a relaxing bath is an excellent method of allowing your body and brain to properly rest so that stress can be eliminated.
Whenever you feel stressed, you should do a quick scan of your body to check for any tense areas. Often these are your shoulders, lower back muscles, teeth or fingers. After you have identified your stress areas, try and stretch them out often. Stretching these muscles will release tension and allow you to relax.
Listening to music can help reduce stress. Research has shown that many types of music have therapeutic effects, including reducing stress. Select music that you personally find to be soothing. What’s soothing to someone else may not be to you. Music causes you to breathe more deeply and triggers the brain to create more serotonin, thus helping you relax.
Make yourself feel better by doing something nice for someone else if your day is being too stressful. Go get flowers for a loved one, make a special treat for your child, or give a bit of money to a homeless person. These random acts of kindness can take your mind off the stress you are feeling, especially if the other person reacts very positively to your actions.
A good tip that can help you keep your stress levels down is to plan things ahead of time. When you find yourself low on gas, fill up your tank before it gets empty.
You can ease some of your physical stress while on the go by consuming some citrus. Colds and other illnesses caused by stress can be defeated with the help of vitamin C.
One easy, often overlooked way you can fight stress is to smile. The muscles you use when you smile trigger your limbic system, which controls your emotions. Smiling will tilt your limbic system to a calmer state, which is a great way to lower your stress levels.
Do not skip your sleep if you want a properly functioning body. Being tired can negatively affect your ability to handle the day-to-day up and downs of life. To remain alert and in control all day, every day, you must provide your body with the chance to rest and recuperate.
Snacks can even beneficially impact your state of mind. Unprocessed carbs will naturally increase the amount of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, that your brain releases. Do not go overboard on carbohydrates, but smart choices such as whole grain foods can help raise serotonin and temporarily reduce stress.
Use aromatherapy daily to reduce stress. The sense of smell is very powerful. Soothing scents, such as chamomile or lavender, will get picked up by your olfactory senses and help calm down your brain waves. Scented candles are a wonderful option to fill an entire room with relaxing smells.
If you want a great way to handle stress, try some yoga. You can align body and mind in peaceful coordination by practicing yoga. In yoga, your mind is emptied of extraneous thoughts, and the focus is on your body. The various positions also increase your physical flexibility and personal strength. All of this works together to bring calmness to your whole person.
As you read earlier in this article, stress has the potential to cause your body harm if you experience higher than normal levels. The good news is that there are a lot of simple things to do that will help reduce those stress levels in your life. Put the advice from this article into practice and begin living a life that offers you more peace of mind, without all that stress.
