There's an easy way to reduce stress? How come we didn't know about this sooner? We would have given our first born and our right arm for this secret knowledge. But wait, it's not really a secret at all. Reducing stress and anxiety is everyone's dream come true and if you implement these 4 simple techniques, you will soon be on your way to living a life of m ore smiles, more joy and less pulling out your hair.
Stress and anxiety come in many shapes, sizes and forms so let's not take lightly those who are under doctor's care for severe stress (ptsd) or anxiety.
Too often, we get worked up or overwhelmed by things that really aren't as big as they seem at the moment. Short of tragedy striking, most problems or situations that arise, work themselves out, some sooner than we think.
1. Remember everything is temporary.
Keep in mind that whatever you are going through right now, will eventually pass. The best way to handle the situation at the time is to remove yourself from it, even for an hour, or a day if you can, and revisit the issue with a bit of a clearer head. When we are in the heat of the moment, we feel our whole world is going to crash down around us and there is no way out of it. Tomorrow will be a better bad. Everything is temporary.
2. Unplug all your devices for a day.
That in itself just caused you anxiety didn't it? When you think about though, most of our anxiety quite likely can be caused by scrolling, texting, emailing, tweeting and everything else that keeps you distracted, which is exactly what all that is, a distraction. Take some time for yourself with no gadgets. Go for a walk in nature, sit on your balcony and look at the moon, maybe you have a good book on your shelf that you've been meaning to read. Try it and see what happens. This one might take some practice but once you get the hang of it, you will see how much more relaxed you will become.
3. Get out in the fresh air.
I know a lot of us get stressed and lock ourselves in our homes and lose our marbles. Try getting out and going for a walk for a change. Grab your iPod and put on some nice fun walking music and head outside. Even sitting by a lake or a pond is very therapeutic. The fresh air is a great and free way of clearing our minds and calming us down. Grab some lunch or a nice beverage and sit in a park and people watch! That's always a fun thing to do.
4. Take a gratitude break.
This may seem almost impossible to do in the middle of chaos but really it's a must. You should at least try it. Take a minute to take a big deep breath and thank the universe or God or your higher power or whoever and whatever you want to thank, but do it. Thank them for everything you have in your life right now that is good and wonderful. Thank them for all the things in your life that make you smile and happy. Go to that happy place.
5. Don't say yes all the time.
Translated this means, start saying no more often. Too often we desperately try to please everyone around us and forget about ourselves. All this does is cause us unnecessary stress. If we stopped for one second before we said yes, thought about what this person is asking of us and then really think about it, you will be more apt to say no. Do that more often. It's ok to say no.
If we took more time to practice mindfulness, even maybe centre ourselves a little more, we will see that it really is easy to reduce stress and anxiety. It's easy to get lost in the heat of whatever moment we're in and stress out. Remember it's not necessary. Chill out, breathe and don't forget everything is temporary.