Life can become hectic. Regardless of your age, background, location, status, etc., you may encounter more stressful situations than you’d like throughout your day. That stress can certainly add up and over time, causing you to feel weighted down.
Good news is that there are various stress reduction tips and techniques that can help you reduce stress. The key is to actually implement them regularly in your life.
The following are several effective ways you can reduce stress. Practice them regularly so you can keep the weight of stress off and experience more peace and joy.
Get Moving
Regular exercise is a great way to relieve stress, as physical movement can help get that excess stress out of your body. Not thrilled about exercising? No problem. There are many ways to get your body moving without hitting the gym or sweating profusely.
Take a brisk walk around your neighborhood. Do some gardening. Go for a bike ride or swim some laps, take up yoga or Tai Chi, or take a fitness class. Do a “Google” search on ways to exercise and jot down what sounds good to you.
Try to get your body moving every day for at least 15-20 minutes. As you move, your brain releases endorphins that help you feel better. And, your body lets go of accumulated stress.
Meditate
Begin the practice of meditation daily. Even if you begin with just a few minutes at a time, sitting in silence and going within can help melt stress away. The aim of meditation is to quiet the mind. When the mind is quiet, you enjoy more peace.
If you’re not sure how to meditate, do a bit of research on the topic. You can also use a guided meditation, where someone leads you through a visualization to help you relax your mind and body. YouTube has a plethora of guided meditations for stress.
Enjoy Good Company
Sometimes stress reduction can occur when you take time to spend with family or friends. It’s easy to get so stressed out that you isolate. You head to work or school, go straight home, and plop on the couch all evening by yourself. However, isolation may increase your stress levels.
If you’re feeling stressed, check in with yourself. Are you depleted because you’ve been so focused on work/chores/tasks and haven’t connected with anyone lately? Are you just going to work and going home and that’s it?
If so, consider getting together with a loved one to have good conversation and fellowship. Sometimes all it takes is some time with loved ones to decompress and de-stress. Be sure you do this regularly.
Make A “Not-To-Do” List
It’s easy to get so busy that you’re stressed to the max. There’s work, chores, taking care of the kids (if you’re a parent), hobbies, relationship, and so on. You may be stressed because the majority of your time is taken up. You feel like you have very little time to do anything to decompress.
But the reality is that you might be doing things that you don’t necessarily have to do. Maybe you’re doing them out of habit. Or maybe you’re just so used to being on the go that you can’t slow down.
Make a “not-to-do” list. Write down the things you’re currently doing that you don’t really have to do. The things that are wasting some of your precious time – that you can live without. Examples might be surfing the internet for nothing in particular, scrolling social media, watching television, talking for hours on the phone, gossiping, checking cell phone continually, and more.
Make that list and commit to NOT doing those things for a while or forever. It will help you free up some time so you can feel less stressed. So you can relax and enjoy your life more.
Conclusion
Practicing self-care daily can help you carry less stress. As the saying goes, you can’t pour out from an empty cup. Therefore, do what you need to do to de-stress, relax, and allow time to fill up with peace and joy. You’ll feel better and you’ll be able to show up for others from a place of feeling well-rested and revived, which is a win-win for all!
BROTHER BE WELL
