De-stressing is a skill that can be learned and practiced. When you are under stress, it can be even harder to breathe. While you cannot change the external forces that affect your life, you can take steps to reduce your stress levels. De-stressing has many benefits beyond just making you feel happier. It reduces cortisol, a chemical in your body associated with stress, which can reduce the long term effects of stress on your health.
From a psychological standpoint, it helps you escape from stressful situations and prevent negative thoughts from recurring. It’s important to have moments where you are able to unplug from everything and just be still for a while. Taking the time to breathe deeply and slow your breathing will provide benefits not only for your physical well-being but also for your mental state. Keeping yourself relaxed takes practice but these five tips will help de-stress effortlessly:
Learn to self-soothe
When you are stressed, you have an increased physiological reactivity to external factors. You also have an increased sensitivity to internal factors such as emotions, bodily sensations, etc. Identifying and reducing these factors will help reduce your stress levels. One way to do this is by identifying certain coping strategies that help soothe you and increase your sense of calm.
One coping strategy that can be taught to yourself is self-soothing. Learn to turn off your overactive brain when it starts to get too anxious. One of the best self-soothing techniques is to take a walk or do something that helps calm you down.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
When you are under a lot of stress, it is easy to take a few “small things” and make them seem like huge deal. This can cause a lot of unnecessary stress. For example, a colleague forgetting to send you an assignment is not the end of the world but it can cause you to sweat the small stuff and worry about how you will get it done. Try not to sweat the small stuff.
Take a deep breath and realize that it’s not the end of the world and you don’t need to stress over it. It is important to not let small things take up so much of your mental energy that you forget about the bigger issues in your life.
Exercise regularly
Exercise is great for many reasons, but one of the best benefits is that it reduces cortisol in the body. Not only does exercise have direct physiological benefits such as improved immune function and stress reduction but it also has an indirect effect by positively shaping our thoughts.
When you are under a lot of pressure, it is easy to forget about yourself and the things that are important to you. Exercise provides a great way to reconnect with yourself. When you are out in nature, exercising is a great way to clear your head and remind yourself that you are more than just your job.
Breathe before reacting
When you are under a lot of pressure, it is easy to forget about yourself and the things that are important to you. Exercise provides a great way to reconnect with yourself. When you are out in nature, exercising is a great way to clear your head and remind yourself that you are more than just your job.
When you are under stress, you are much more likely to react to a situation and think negatively. The key is to prevent yourself from reacting at all. One way to do this is to find a few moments where you are breathing slowly and deeply. This will help you calm down before reacting.
Encouraging yourself
One of the best ways to de-stress is to encourage yourself. Whether it is with affirmations or completing something that you have been putting off, it can help to remind yourself that you are worth it. Even if it’s something as small as taking a walk, remind yourself that it will help you de-stress.
Finding moments where you can encourage yourself takes patience and practice. It’s important to remember that it’s not magically going to happen when you want it to. It takes self-awareness to recognize when you are encouraging yourself.
Conclusion
De-stressing is a skill that can be learned and practiced. When you are under stress, it can be even harder to breathe. While you cannot change the external forces that affect your life, you can take steps to reduce your stress levels.
Keeping yourself relaxed takes practice but these five tips will help de-stress effortlessly: Learn to self-soothe When you are stressed, you have an increased physiological reactivity to external factors. You also have an increased sensitivity to internal factors such as emotions, bodily sensations, etc. Identifying and reducing these factors will help reduce your stress levels. One way to do this is by identifying certain coping strategies that help soothe you and increase your sense of calm. Don’t sweat the small stuff When you are under a lot of pressure, it is easy to take a few “small things” and make them seem like huge deal. This can cause a lot of unnecessary stress.
For example, a colleague forgetting to send you an assignment is not the end of the world but it can cause you to sweat the small stuff and worry about how you will get it done. Exercise regularly When you are under a lot of pressure, it is easy to forget about yourself and the things that are important to you. Exercise provides a great way to reconnect with yourself. When you are out in nature, exercising is a great way to clear your head and remind yourself that you are more than just your job.
Breathe before reacting When you are under stress, you are much more likely to react to a situation and think negatively. The key is to prevent yourself from reacting at all. One way to do this is to find a few moments where you are breathing slowly and deeply.
This will help you calm down before reacting. Encourage yourself One of the best ways to de-stress is to encourage yourself. Whether it is with affirmations or completing something that you have been putting off, it can help to remind yourself that you are worth it.
Even if it’s something as small as taking a walk, remind yourself that it will help you de-stress. Finding moments where you can encourage yourself takes patience and practice. It’s important to remember that it’s not magically going to happen when you want it to. It takes self-awareness to recognize when you are encouraging yourself.
