These days it’s hard not to get overwhelmed once in a while. Between juggling work, family, and other commitments, you can become too stressed out and busy. But you need to set time aside to unwind or your mental and physical health can suffer.
Learning how to manage your stress takes practice, but you can — and need to — do it. Here are 10 ways to make it easier.
1.Exercise
Working out regularly is one of the best ways to relax your body and mind. Plus, exercise will improve your mood. But you have to do it often for it to pay off.
So how much should you exercise every week?
Work up to 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise like brisk walks or 75 minutes of a more vigorous exercise like swimming laps, jogging or other sports.
Focus on setting fitness goals you can meet so you don’t give up. Most of all remember that doing any exercise is better than none at all.
2.Relax Your Muscles
When you’re stressed, your muscles get tense. You can help loosen them up on your own and refresh your body by:
- Stretching
- Enjoying a massage
- Taking a hot bath or shower
- Getting a good night’s sleep
3.Deep Breathing
Stopping and taking a few deep breaths can take the pressure off you right away. You’ll be surprised how much better you feel once you get good at it. Just follow these 5 steps:
- Sit in a comfortable position with your hands in your lap and your feet on the floor. Or you can lie down.
- Close your eyes.
- Imagine yourself in a relaxing place. It can be on the beach, in a beautiful field of grass, or anywhere that gives you a peaceful feeling.
- Slowly take deep breaths in and out.
- Do this for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.
4.Eat Well
Eating a regular, well-balanced diet will help you feel better in general. It may also help control your moods. Your meals should be full of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and lean protein for energy. And don’t skip any. It’s not good for you and can put you in a bad mood, which can actually increase your stress.
Have you been feeling stressed out lately? As if you can’t handle work, home, family, or life in general. The stress is piling up and you are not sure what to do. Well here are some quick tips to managing stress so you don’t feel so chaotic in your life:
1.Take a 10 minute walk. According to a few experts if you take a walk it will help reduce endorphins in the system that cause stress.
2. Practice mindfulness. Learning to focus on your breathing can help you reduce stress. If you are able to take a few minutes out of day and breath in silence this can greatly help you reduce your stress.
3. Create an exercise regiment. If you can spend some time of your day getting in a workout that you enjoy for about 45 this can also help reduce the amount of stress that you recieve and help you manage it.
4. Write a reflection journal. Create a journal where you can write down your thoughts and process events that have happened to you. This can help you get a fresh prospective about the situations you are in.
5. Organize yourself. Set aside a few minutes a day to create a planner in order to get your thoughts straight and take in a chill pill to avoid the chaos that might be taking place around you currently.
These are just a few points and tips to help get the stress you may have under control. One of the best ways you can help control your stress is by coming up with ideas on your own that have worked on reducing those stressful moments. The best stress manager is yourself.
Written by: Jasper Gates, M.A., LPC Intern
Relaxation techniques: Try these steps to reduce stress
Relaxation techniques can reduce stress symptoms and help you enjoy a better quality of life, especially if you have an illness. Explore relaxation techniques you can do by yourself.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
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Relaxation techniques are a great way to help with stress management. Relaxation isn’t only about peace of mind or enjoying a hobby. It’s a process that decreases the stress effects on your mind and body. Relaxation techniques can help you cope with everyday stress. And these techniques can help with long-term stress or stress related to various health problems, such as heart disease and pain.
Whether your stress is spiraling out of control or you’ve already got it tamed, you can benefit from learning relaxation techniques. Learning basic relaxation techniques is easy. Relaxation techniques are often free or low cost, pose little risk, and can be done nearly anywhere.
Explore simple relaxation techniques and get started on de-stressing your life and improving your health and overall well-being.
The benefits of relaxation techniques
When faced with many responsibilities and tasks or the demands of an illness, relaxation techniques may not be a priority in your life. But that means you might miss out on the health benefits of relaxation.
Practicing relaxation techniques can have many benefits, such as:
- Slowing heart rate
- Lowering blood pressure
- Slowing breathing rate
- Improving digestion
- Controlling blood sugar levels
- Reducing activity of stress hormones
- Increasing blood flow to major muscles
- Reducing muscle tension and chronic pain
- Improving focus and mood
- Improving sleep quality
- Lowering fatigue
- Reducing anger and frustration
- Boosting confidence to handle problems
To get the most benefit, use relaxation techniques along with other positive coping methods, such as:
- Thinking positively
- Finding humor
- Problem-solving
- Managing time and priorities
- Exercising regularly
- Eating a healthy diet
- Getting enough sleep
- Spending time outside
- Reaching out to supportive family and friends
Types of relaxation techniques
Health care providers such as complementary and integrative health specialists and mental health providers can teach many relaxation techniques. But you can also learn some relaxation techniques on your own.
In general, relaxation techniques involve refocusing your attention on something calming and increasing awareness of your body. It doesn’t matter which relaxation technique you choose. What matters is that you try to practice relaxation regularly to reap its benefits.
Types of relaxation techniques include:
-
Autogenic relaxation. Autogenic means something that comes from within you. In this relaxation technique, you use both visual imagery and body awareness to reduce stress.
You repeat words or suggestions in your mind that may help you relax and reduce muscle tension. For example, you may imagine a peaceful setting. Then you can focus on relaxing your breathing, slowing your heart rate, or feeling different physical sensations, such as relaxing each arm or leg one by one.
-
Progressive muscle relaxation. In this relaxation technique, you focus on slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle group.
This can help you focus on the difference between muscle tension and relaxation. You can become more aware of physical sensations.
In one method of progressive muscle relaxation, you start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. This is best done in a quiet area without interruptions. You can also start with your head and neck and work down to your toes. Tense your muscles for about five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat.
-
Visualization. In this relaxation technique, you may form mental images to take a visual journey to a peaceful, calming place or situation.
To relax using visualization, try to include as many senses as you can, such as smell, sight, sound and touch. If you imagine relaxing at the ocean, for instance, think about the smell of salt water, the sound of crashing waves and the warmth of the sun on your body.
You may want to close your eyes, sit in a quiet spot, loosen any tight clothing, and focus on your breathing. Aim to focus on the present and think positive thoughts.
Other relaxation techniques may include:
- Deep breathing
- Massage
- Meditation
- Tai chi
- Yoga
- Biofeedback
- Music and art therapy
- Aromatherapy
- Hydrotherapy
Relaxation techniques take practice
As you learn relaxation techniques, you can become more aware of muscle tension and other physical sensations of stress. Once you know what the stress response feels like, you can make a conscious effort to practice a relaxation technique the moment you start to feel stress symptoms. This can prevent stress from spiraling out of control and decreasing your quality of life.
Remember that relaxation techniques are skills. As with any skill, your ability to relax improves with practice. Be patient with yourself. Don’t let your effort to practice relaxation techniques become yet another stressor.
If one relaxation technique doesn’t work for you, try another technique. If none of your efforts at stress reduction seems to work, talk to your health care provider about other options.
Also, keep in mind that some people, especially those with serious mental health issues and a history of abuse, may experience feelings of emotional discomfort during some relaxation techniques. Although this is rare, if you experience emotional discomfort during relaxation techniques, stop what you’re doing. Consider talking to your health care provider or mental health provider.
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- Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: What’s in a name? National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-health. Accessed Dec. 22, 2021.
- Relaxation techniques for health. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/stress/relaxation.htm. Accessed Dec. 22, 2021.
- Pizzorno JE, et al., eds. Stress management. In: Textbook of Natural Medicine. 5th ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Dec. 22, 2021.
- Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
- Seaward BL. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 9th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2018.
- AskMayoExpert. Stress management and resiliency (adult). Mayo Clinic; 2021.
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