6 Effective Ways To Reduce Stress

No matter what we do or where we go, stress will always be a part of our lives. You may not always be able to control the circumstances or situations you will find yourself in, but you do have control over how you choose to respond to those circumstances.

Stress can easily become unmanageable and overwhelming for us and can also take its toll on our well-being. It’s important for us to manage our stress and have a toolbox of ways to effectively relieve our stress.

Certain options to help us relieve our stress may not always work in every situation. For this reason, it is a good idea to have a variety of different ways to help you get rid of your stress, or at least lower your stress levels.

Stress Relief Strategies

Guided Imagery

If you take the time to think about it, most people will be able to imagine a “happy place” that works best for them. This method involves imagining yourself in your “happy place” through your mind and imagination.

If you don’t know how to do this yourself, there are many different audio recordings, or YouTube videos with guided imagery audios to listen to. These recordings can help you to practice guided imagery and eventually you may find you can do this without the recordings.

Since you are using your mind and imagination, this can be done anywhere, you just need to take a few minutes to yourself for a quick getaway.

Meditation

There are many different types, or ways, of meditation. Everyone is different and some methods work better than others for different people.

Another type of meditation that is quickly becoming popular for stress relief is Mindfulness.

Both mindfulness and meditation will take some practice to get the hang of in the beginning, but can easily be done anywhere in a few minutes at a time.

These methods involve bringing you back to the present moment and experiencing everything in your present moment with your senses, not your thoughts.

Practice Deep Breathing

Changing the way you are breathing can dramatically change how you’re feeling at the moment. The major benefit to deep breathing is that no one will know what you’re doing or why you are simply breathing.

When you are anxious or stressed, people tend to take shallow breaths through their chest. When you’re calm and relaxed you tend to take deeper breaths through your abdomen/belly.

You want to slow your breathing down while taking a deep breath. Try taking a deep breath in through your nose, extending your belly, and counting to four as you’re inhaling. Hold your breath for one to three seconds and then slowly breathe out, counting to four again as you exhale.

Continue to do this for at least a few minutes and you should feel yourself starting to relax and calm down. The longer you do this the more benefit you will notice.

Use Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy has been known, and shown, to alter our brain wave activity as well as help to decrease our stress hormones.

Certain essential oils can help us to feel relaxed, sleepy, and even more, energized.

You can use diffusers, candles, or some body products that give off the proper scents. If you look up an essential oils guide, you will be able to find the proper smells for what you are trying to accomplish.

Take Part In Leisure Activities

Too often we get caught up in our busy lives and forget to take some time out to enjoy the activities and hobbies we get the most enjoyment from. These activities can help us to relax and start to feel better.

Try sitting down and inputting into your schedule some time slots to engage in activities that are fun and relaxing to you. This could be something as simple as gardening, writing, sewing/knitting/crocheting, and so on.

Exercise

It can be hard to get started, but physical exercise can help to greatly reduce our stress levels. This doesn’t mean that you have to join a gym. This can be done in your local area outside or at a gym.

Doing some exercise outside will also give you the benefits of getting some fresh air. This can be cardio, strength, or both. You can do this by yourself or join an exercise group, or even find a couple of friends who want to get some regular exercise.

Putting one or more of these techniques for stress reduction will help you better manage your stress levels on a day-to-day basis. You don’t need to spend a lot of your time doing these activities.