Tips for Reducing and Managing Stress

Useful Tips That Work Wonders in Cutting Down and Managing Stress

There is much more to life than just increasing its speed, live it!

-Mahatma Gandhi

There can be anything behind you getting stressed. It can be excessive work, broken relationships or fear of forthcoming exams. But, underlying reason in all cases remains one and the same: over thinking about things that are beyond your control. Resistance is the cause of sufferings. Stress happens when your mind resists the reality. So, managing stress is all about training your mind, following a healthy lifestyle and eating the right food.

Given here are a few useful tips that can help you alleviate and manage stress levels successfully

• Talk to Someone Close to You or a trained professional:

When your mind is cluttered with thousands of thoughts and fears, the best thing you can do is to vent them out. Talking to somebody closer and reliable to you works because distracts you from stressful thoughts and relieve you from the built-up tension. When you are overwhelmed and fail to take the right decision, speak your mind off. It can be your close friend, relative or anybody you trust.

Alternately, you can seek the help of a trained professional also to discuss your problem and seek the right solution.

• Learn to Manage Your Time:

You feel stressed when you are overburdened. When you have tons of work to do, you need to learn how to prioritize things. It is good to make a “To do” list as this will enable you to be organized. It is true that you cannot do everything at once and your willingness to do so will stress you. You need to make a list of all the tasks that are to be carried out urgently and focus on doing them first without getting overwhelmed.

After that, make a list of tasks that need to be done in the following week, month and so on. Adhere to the list and keep yourself organized.

• Make Physical Activities a Daily Ritual:

When you are stressed there is a sudden increase in the level of stress hormones like Cortisol, Adrenaline etc. in your body. These are “flight or fight” hormones that are hard-wired deep into our brains. These hormones are designed for protecting your body from any harm when you are stressed or feel threatened. But, if you are excessively stressed these flight or fight hormones may or may not work.

Indulging in physical exercises is the best way to metabolize stress hormone as a result of which your mind and body get into a calmer and relaxed state. You can go in for a brisk walk, breathe in fresh-air and incorporate physical activities in your routine life on a regular basis.

You can incorporate an amazing therapy called Laughter therapy in your daily ritual of physical exercises. It works wonders! It is a full-scale work-out of your facial muscles and produces stress-busting endorphins that can make you feel good immediately. Therapy is aimed towards making people laugh in groups and in individual sessions. This reduces stress and makes people feel happier, better and committed.

• Sleep Your Head Off:

Lack of sleep is the major contributing factor for stress. However, stress also interrupts our sleep because thoughts keep whirling all through your heads and do not allow you to feel relaxed. Some people begin to take help of medication but it is not advisable as it can hamper your health.

To get completely relaxed in your bedrooms, you can practice mediation for sometime before going to sleep. Also, make your bedroom a perfect place to get complete peace of mind with no reminders of things to be done and tasks to be committed.

• Mediation is a Savior:

In simple terms, mediation is a technique of deep and relaxed breathing which involves the use of diaphragm muscles for the purpose of expanding lungs. The aim here is to slow down your breathing, take in more oxygen into your body and reducing the use of chest muscles, neck and shoulders so that you can breathe-in efficiently. When you meditate, you get connected to your inner resources that gradually help you release even the chronic stress and rejuvenate your body.

With the help of mediation your mind enters into a state of deep-rest. It triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin etc. which develops a feeling of well-being and calms your mind. Meditation produces brainwaves which promote relaxation.

• Avoid Alcohol, Nicotine and Caffeine:

Following a healthy life style helps you manage stress in a better way. You should avoid or reduce the nicotine consumption and the drinks containing alcohol and caffeine. Most of the people are under a wrong impression that taking alcohol or nicotine will cut down their stress. So, you should swap caffeinated drinks with a lot of water and herbal or green tea or freshly squeezed fruit juices. Keep your body adequately hydrated to handle stress.

• Tune into a Soothing Music:

Music has a positive effect on body and brain. Playing a calm music can lower down your blood pressure level, reduce the amount of cortisol (a hormone related to stress.) Like mediation it relieves you from an overwhelming stress because it produces neurotransmitters that soothe your brain.

A number of researches have proved that soothing music like flute and bird chirping or any other similar nature sounds has a relaxing influence on brain.

• Incorporate Herbal Teas in Your Daily Routine:

When you take caffeine especially at the bed time, your blood pressure gets spiked. It causes hypothalamic, pituitary and adrenal glands to remain excessively active resulting in lesser sleep and more stress. Instead of energy or coffee drinks, you can try having green or herbal teas.

Both herbal and green tea have half the level of caffeine of the coffee. They contain a lot of antioxidants and theanine. Theanine is an amino acid which has a soothing impact on the nervous system. An herbal tea before sleeping and throughout the day helps in cutting down stress.

• Develop an Assertive Attitude:

A talk with a professional expert helps you a lot. It is good to discuss your thoughts and concerns that are aggravating your stress levels. But, most important of all you need to develop a positive attitude towards your life. Be assertive try to figure out things which are beyond your control. This will help your brain relax and get focused on the issues that really matter to you.

Get surrounded by positive minded and confident people. Try to give up on things that you fail to perform on. Set out your limits and learn to say no to the requests that can create an excessive burden on you.

• Eat Well:

There can be nothing easier and better for cutting down stress levels than eating well. A well-balanced diet can be satiating and help you control your moods. Your meals should comprise of a lot of veggies, whole grains, fruits and lean proteins. Apart from keeping yourself adequately hydrated, you should take foods that can cut down your stress levels.

Eggs, turmeric, dark chocolates, pumpkin seeds and foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids like fatty fishes can help you cut down stress. Ashwagandha, an ancient Indian medicinal herb is known for calming down the brain nerves and brings down anxiety. This prominent herb can be taken as a supplement to fight stress.

• Take Out Time for Hobbies:

Excessive amount of work gives you stress and to do things you love doing acts as an antidote. Relieving your stress can be as simple as indulging in your favorite past time on a daily basis. Just 15-20 minutes of playing cards, reading, listening to music or shopping etc. are sufficient to give you a feel good factor you are looking forward to.

• Keep a Stress Diary:

Keep a diary for stress that can help you become more aware of the stressful situations in your life. Locate your stress triggers. Just keep note down on the stressful episodes of your life and find out the reasons behind them. Identifying the factors behind your stress can help you cope in a better with them. You can make a strategy for dealing with such factors or can avoid them altogether.

• Train Your Brain and Go Easy on Yourself:

You need to accept the fact that you or nobody on this earth can do everything in a perfect manner. When you cannot control everything in your life, it is better to stop thinking so much about them. Give up those things, feel happy about it and start living easily.

Get yourself surrounded by jolly and witty people. Laugh your way out and the let the things take their own course. Breathe easy and let them go when you cannot control them!