Easy ways to reduce stress

Most modern day people tend to spend a significant amount of time at their workplace. They struggle to strike the perfect balance between their professional and personal lives and find that they are extremely stressed out at all times. 

If this sounds like you, it is essential that you take the time to de-stress and relax, whenever you get the opportunity to do so. You don’t reallyneed hours every day to relax and de-stress your body and mind. You don’t need to go to an expensive weekend retreat or spa either. Here are some tips that can help you reduce stress.

1. Meditation Is Very Effective 

Meditating for just a few minutes every day can go a long way in reducing anxiety. There is a lot of research which indicates that meditation is effective in altering the neural pathways in the brain, which increases your resilience to stress. All you have to do is sit upright,cross-legged on the floor and close your eyes. You can recite any mantra you like such as “I am feeling at peace”. Keep doing this for a few minutes without getting distracted, all the while taking deep breaths. Thiswill help calm your mind and reduce stress. 

2. Do A Few Deep Breathing Exercises

Exercise: One certain way to keep stress at bay is to train your mind and body to exercise. If you simply hate exercise, try these exercise tips for people who hate exercise.

Thisis something you can do it any time of the day, even while you are at work. Simply take a short break, sit upright and close your eyes. Now place your hand on your belly and inhale very slowly through your nose. Focus on the path that the breath takes and on your abdomen as well as your head. Exhale through your mouth, and while you do so, reverse the process of focusing on different parts of your body. This kind of deep breathing exercise helps lower the blood pressure and slows down the heart rate, both of which counter the harmful effects of stress.

3. Increase Mindfulness 

Take a few minutes out of your day and focus on the things you are doing. Be aware of what you are doing at that point in time, as well as the environment around you. For example, if you are walking through a park, take the time to notice how the surrounding air feels. When you are eating your food, enjoy every morsel and the different flavors and taste of the food. All of these may seem like inconsequential things, but they are great stress-busters as they help you take your mind off work and other concerns.

4. Maintain Strong Connections With Friends 

Communicating with people via social media might seem like the ideal way of building your social network. However, it is better to focus on making strong connections with people in your life. Try to meet up with your friends at least once each week. If you are unable to do that, contact them via phone, and share your thoughts with them. 

5. Be More Attuned With Your Body 

It is essential for you to realize that stress has a very negative impact on your body. Scan your body mentally as it will help you get a better sense of the stress it harbors. Simply sit cross-legged on the floor, or lie down on your back and notice how your body feels while you work your focus from your toes up towards your scalp. You will realize that some parts of your body feel more wound-up than others and these are the stress areas. Once you have identified which areas are too tight, focus on them and imagine your deep breath flowing to that spot to ease the stress. 

6. Laughing Is A Great Stress Buster 

When you laugh heartily, it lightens your mental load. It lowers cortisol (the stress hormone) levels in your body and boosts endorphins (brain chemicals), which help enhance your mood. During the day, dedicate some time chatting with someone you like orsimplywatch your favorite show on television.

7. Listening To Music Helps Calm Frayed Nerves 

It is a proven fact that listening to soothing music is one of the best ways to reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety. You can create a playlist of different types of nature sounds or songs and listen to them when you are feeling stressed. Focus on the different instruments, the singers and the melodies in the piece. Alternatively, if you like singing, that is another way of blowing off steam as well.

The idea is to give yourself the time to build some inner peace and calm. These are just a few of the things you can do to reduce mental and physical stress and become a healthier and happier version of yourself

Conclusion

Above are some easy ideas for decreasing stress. None of these are costly. If making multiple changes at once seems overwhelming, start with one change per week until you’ve incorporated all these tips. A low-stress life is a very healthy life and you deserve this!

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