Stress is a part of life and even though you cannot always control your circumstances, you can easily control how you respond to a situation. If you want to find out more, then simply take a look below:

Meditate:

Meditation will offer you a lot of short-term stress relief. You may even find that it helps you to develop your own mantra as well. you can repeat this in your mind as you take slow and deep breaths. You might also want to take a few minutes to practice mindfulness too. This will help you to be in the present moment. All you have to do is pay attention to what you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. If you can make yourself focused on what is happening right now, then you won’t be as likely to focus on things that have already happened.

Muscle Relaxation:

Progressive muscle relaxation often involves trying to relax all of the muscles in your body. You need to do this group by group and take some deep breaths too. It is a good idea to start with your head and work your way down to your toes. If you can practice, then you will be able to learn how to recognize tightness in your muscles and you can also help yourself to relax more easily.

Take a Walk:

Exercise is a great stress reliever and it can work in a matter of minutes. Taking a walk gives you the chance to change your scenery and it also helps to put you in a better frame of mind. This will give you all of the benefits that you get with exercise too!

Give Someone a Hug:

Physical touch can help you to relieve your stress more than you realize. When you hug someone, you will release oxytocin, and this is known as the “cuddle hormone”. This is associated with happiness, and it can also go a long way when it comes to relieving stress too. Another great thing about this hormone is that it helps to reduce your blood pressure. It’s a win/win. 😀

Aromatherapy:

Aromatherapy offers a lot of major benefits when it comes to stress relief. It helps you to feel more relaxed and it also helps you to feel like you are in the current moment more as well. Research is showing time and time again that scents can alter your brain wave activity and they can also boost the amount of feel-good hormones in the body. Light your favorite scented candle to see what we mean!

Create some Art:

Coloring is a fantastic stress reliever and research has shown consistently that it can offer you a meditative effect. Those who color using complex patterns often report way less stress during the day. Not to mention how much fun it is!

Balanced Diet:

A bad diet can make you far more reactive to stress. Emotional eating with high fat and high sugar food can give you a sense of relief but it can lead to you experiencing even more stress in the future. Refined carbohydrates such as cookies or potato chips can cause your blood sugar to spike. When this happens, you will then experience a sugar crash, and this can make you way more likely to experience stress and anxiety.

Make Time for Leisure:

It doesn’t matter whether you enjoy making your own quilts or whether you love to play basketball because this is the key to helping you unwind. If you love watching sports, why not try and play one? You can also lookup the best NBA odds if you live for live games.

Positive Self-Talk:

The way that you talk to yourself does matter. That little voice at the back of your head has a far bigger impact than you realize, and you may even find that it causes you more stress. Talk to yourself in a realistic way and focus on being compassionate too. Positive self-talk will help you to develop a much healthier outlook on your life and to manage your emotions better.

The past year and change has been grueling, to say the least. Use the tips above for a mentally stronger and healthier you in the new year!

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