Nobody admires having stressful days, but it isn’t in anybody’s control. It is usually unprecedented and if not treated right, it can take over your life decisions; one day at a time.
Since uncalled stress is not in your control, the only thing that you can control is your response to it. This power is often underestimated because fighting your natural instinct to lose control is extremely difficult. If you ace this situation, the situation where you are responding calmly, you will feel peaceful that will eventually add to your well-being.
One way to go about it is including effective stress relievers in your schedule. Be it best quality CBD oils or small changes in your lifestyle, stress reliever of any sort can take you a long way.
Additionally, you need to have a variety of these because, for instance, what might work for you at home might not work for you in your workplace (like dancing and singing loudly in your living room).
Have a variety of stress relieving tools at your disposal to have a better lifestyle, free of stress.
Here are some of them, based on categories that might help you cope with stress.
Short Term Stress Relief Strategies
Breathing exercises
Quite underrated, but extremely useful technique to calm yourself down is by simply focusing on your breathing. Changing the way you breathe can make a difference on your reaction to stressful situations, eventually minimising stress by instantly calming your body and brain, within a few minutes.
This technique is extremely useful in public places because no one will ever know that you’re doing it. Doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a crowded theatre or a business meeting, breathing exercises can help you in ways unimaginable.
To do it, simply take a deep breath all the way to your stomach; count slowly to three as you inhale. Hold the breath for a second and slowly breathe out while counting to three.
While exercising, try to think of peace and calm and surround yourself with positivity. Inhale this positivity through your nose letting the purified air spread through your body. While breathing out, imagine all the stress and tension going away with that breath.
Meditation
Meditation is a boon for every person out there. Be it kids or your grandparents, meditation should be practised by everyone as it brings short term as well as lasting stress relief benefits.
However, there are many types of meditation. You have to have a thorough knowledge about all of them and choose the one that suits you.
Take a walk
‘Out of sight; out of mind’ – this phrase has magical powers. Put simply, once you decide to change the scenery around you, it naturally changes your frame of mind. Here comes walking, a kind of exercise that doesn’t require much strength and once you go out, you can surround yourself with a change in scenery.
Next time, when you are stressing out in your office, take a walk in the neighbourhood. Enjoy the fresh air and come back to work with a fresher and stressless mind.
Long Term Stress Relief Strategies
Practise Yoga
Yoga is an all-round lifesaving stress reliever of all times. We say allrounder because it combines physical movement, meditation, exercise and breathing techniques – put together to prove as an excellent stress reliever.
Sure, practicing yoga once will give you benefits, but consistency in this exercise will give you long-term benefits and make your well-being more profound.
Eat a balanced diet
‘You are what you eat’ – this famous saying is popular for a reason. It is true that whatever you give your body to consume, you’re going to get back. This is why you need to incorporate healthy eating habits in your routine.
Additionally, stress eating might be your defence mechanism and truthfully, it might give you momentary relief. But in the long run, unhealthy, high carbs, sugar and fat will only add to your long term stress.
Social support
Last but not the least is seeking help and surrounding yourself with people who care about you. Having social support is the key to stress management.
However, not everyone is lucky enough to always have some loved one in close proximity all the time. In this case, you should consider joining an organisation, enter support groups more than often or get professional support if needed.
In a Nutshell…
Your response, as mentioned above, towards stress matters the most. It is a ‘make or break’ kind of a deal where you need to actively be the spotlight of your life, turn things around in your favour and feel peaceful at the end of the day.
If you still are at the early stages of getting yourself to do things when you recognise stress, it’s okay. The important thing is that even if you fail to practise these exercises one day, you at least need to be vocal to someone about how you feel.
Vulnerability and communication are often underestimated too, but it can take you a long way!