Managing Stress in a Hectic World – Techniques and Strategies
Stress may help us remain alert and active, but long-term exposure can cause serious mental health problems like anxiety or depression as well as physical ailments. There are various techniques available for relieving stress including exercise, diet, mindfulness exercises and relaxation techniques.
Locate the source of your stress, and take steps to manage it. For example, if work worries are an issue for you, speak to your boss about making reasonable adjustments or seek additional support from them.
1. Exercise
When stress levels start to escalate, using healthy coping mechanisms such as exercise is key. Exercise can be one effective solution.
Massage helps release tension and release pent-up energy, improving sleep and decreasing headache severity.
Locate a physical activity you enjoy, such as yoga or walking with friends. Or join a fitness class or workout group so that you can socialize while exercising.
2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation alters your brain by activating its “being” mode and decreasing activity in the amygdala that triggers stress responses. Furthermore, mindfulness increases compassion toward oneself and others thereby further decreasing stress levels.
Basic mindfulness meditation entails sitting quietly and concentrating on natural breathing or silent repetition of a word or mantra, paying attention to subtle body sensations like itching or tingling and accepting and acknowledging any emotions that surface without judgment.
3. Meditation
Meditation can be an effective way to manage stress by strengthening the ability to focus and calm the mind. Furthermore, it helps gain perspective on what’s causing your tension while developing coping mechanisms.
As important as it may be to identify any unavoidable sources of stress, the key lies in learning how to cope with them and accepting what cannot be changed.
4. Yoga
Yoga is an invaluable way for individuals to stay healthy and enhance their morale, with many advantages extending into the workplace as well.
When feeling overwhelmed, try telling someone close to you what is bothering you. They should be understanding and willing to provide assistance; together you may find solutions that work.
5. Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is a type of relaxation meditation practice which has been found to effectively combat depression and anxiety, as well as improve sleep by helping people fall asleep more easily and getting an uninterrupted night’s rest.
At the start of their practice, students set an intention or Sankalpa which they then repeat over and over to plant seeds of change within their subconscious minds.
6. Meditation
Meditation can help relieve stress by regulating the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary physical processes like heart rate and blood pressure. Studies demonstrate that regular meditation enhances attention and concentration.
Meditation can also help people learn to let go of stressors that they cannot change, like grieving over the loss of a loved one or economic recession. Other forms of meditation, like Metta (loving-kindness) meditation, promote compassion and empathy towards others.
7. Breathing exercises
Breathing exercises can help you ease tension by forcing you to slow your breathing, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system and induces relaxation. Here is one such breathing exercise:
Breathing exercises can teach you to consciously shift to this response when feeling stressed, which may reduce overall stress levels and may even lower production of proinflammatory cytokines. Studies suggest this could lower production.
8. Yoga poses
Yoga poses (known as asanas) may appear daunting for beginner yogis. But this lifetime pursuit offers plenty of opportunity to master an array of asanas.
Corpse Pose activates your body’s relaxation response and deactivates stress responses, providing relief from physical tension and anxiety. This restorative pose can serve as an excellent way to end class.
9. Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are exercises designed to stimulate people’s natural calming responses and can include progressive muscle relaxation (systematically tensing and relaxing different muscles), guided imagery, autogenic training, or breathing exercises.
Safety-wise, they’re generally safe but may not always work for everyone – particularly people suffering from anxiety disorders. Before using them if you have back problems or other health conditions that could be aggravated by tightening muscles.
10. Meditation
Millions of people worldwide turn to meditation as an effective means of relieving stress. There are various types of meditation practices, from guided imagery and breathing meditations, to practicing mindfulness-based stress reduction by sending love out into the world or specific people – giving thanks and sending good wishes can also be powerful forms of stress reduction.
Stress management can help protect both physical and mental health. Speak to your doctor about enrolling in a stress-reduction course or working with a therapist that uses mindfulness-based therapies.
