It’s a highly stressed world out there. We have to move faster, work quicker and make more money than ever before in order to get by.
Balancing our personal responsibilities with the demands of the modern world can cause even the strongest person to fall prey to debilitating stress – but are there ways to cope and even eliminate stress – yes there are, and here are some great tips on how to remove that stress load from your shoulders. Try these out – and remember that practice makes perfect.
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1. Just breathe
2. Meditation
Meditation isn’t new age rubbish – it works. Meditation is a fast-acting stress reliever with benefits that really build over time.
Meditation builds on deep breathing techniques and takes it a step further. When you meditate, your brain enters into a state that’s similar to sleep, but carries some added benefits you can’t achieve as well in any other state. It allows you build greater resilience toward stress over time. Also, the focus on the present moment keeps your mind from working overtime and increasing your stress levels. Once again Youtube has some great hints on how to get started.
3. Guided Imagery
It takes a bit of practice to enjoy the benefits of guided imagery, but it’s a great way to leave your stress behind you and relax your body. Some find it easier to practice than meditation, as it allows more engagement with the conscious mind. You can play natural sounds in the background as you practice, to promote a more immersive experience. There are plenty of soundtracks out there on the Internet for you to enjoy.
If you can visualise it, it’s a lot easier to achieve it. Visualise yourself more relaxed. Building on guided imagery, you can also imagine yourself achieving goals like becoming healthier and more relaxed, doing well at tasks, and handling conflict in better ways. Although this could sound like the old mantra ‘in every way, every day, I’m getting better and better’ the fact of the matter is that it actually works.
Yoga classes provide exercise and meditation benefits in a socially supportive environment, a winning combination when it comes to stress relief. Yoga is one of the most ancient self-improvement practices around, dating back over 5 thousand years. It combines the practices of several other stress management techniques such as breathing, meditation, imagery and movement, giving you a lot of benefit for the amount of time and energy required.
Self-hypnosis incorporates some of the features of guided imagery and visualizations, with the added benefit of enabling you to communicate directly with your subconscious in order to enhance your life skills and more easily give up bad habits. It can also help you feel less pain and more effectively develop healthier habits. It takes a bit of practice but the effort is well worth it.
One of the most important approaches to dealing with stress is exercise. It takes your mind off your problems and helps your brain secrete those feel good chemicals that keep you healthy and happy.
Some people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise provides a distraction from stressful situations, as well as an outlet for frustrations, and gives you a lift via endorphin’s as well. You don’t have to attend a gym – just get out into nature and enjoy a walk or hit the beach.
We’re fans. What can we say – sex is great (if you’re doing it right according to the instruction manuals – and fabulous every other time when you’re following your own internal guidelines). Sex is a fabulous tension reliever, and stress relief can lead to better sex. Everyone wins in this equation. The physical benefits of sex are numerous, and most of them work very well toward relieving stress. Sadly, many people have less sex when their stress levels are high, so use some of the approaches in this list to up the fabulousness of your sex life.
9. Get Organized
Being organized can help you free up your energy for other more important challenges. Although getting organized and staying organized is not often thought of as a stress management technique per se, it definitely reduces the amount of stress you go through every day. By working through the clutter of your life, you can eliminate those energy low spots that can make you feel like you’re ‘being pecked to death by angry chickens’ and reserve that energy for dealing with those everyday challenges.