10 Ways to Reduce Stress

These common sense tips from our article 10 ways to reduce stress can help reduce your stress levels. Tips include getting enough rest and eating sensibly.

10 ways to reduce stress:

1. Eat, drink and drink sensibly! Alcohol use and food abuse may seem to reduce stress, but they actually contribute to it.
2. To reduce stress, advocate for yourself! You don’t have to meet the expectations and demands of others. It’s never okay to say “no.” Remember, being assertive allows you to stand up for your rights and beliefs while respecting the rights of others.
3. Stop smoking or other bad habits! Besides the obvious health risks of smoking, nicotine acts as a stimulant and brings more stress symptoms. Give yourself the gift of quitting unhealthy habits.
4. Exercise regularly! Choose a non-competitive exercise method and set reasonable goals. Aerobic exercise has been shown to release endorphins (natural substances that help you feel better and maintain a positive attitude).
5. Study and practice relaxation techniques to reduce stress! Relax every day. Choose from different techniques. Combine opposites; a time of deep relaxation and a time of aerobic exercise is a sure way to protect your body from the effects of stress.
6. Don’t avoid taking responsibility! Control what you can and leave behind what you can’t. Don’t waste time on these.
7. Reduce stressors (the cause of stress)! Many people feel that life is filled with too many demands and too little time. Often, these demands are demands we choose. Effective time management skills include asking for help when appropriate, setting priorities, pacing yourself, and taking time for yourself.
8. Identify your values ​​and live by them! The more your actions reflect your beliefs, the better you will feel about yourself, no matter how busy your life is. Use your own core values ​​when choosing your activities.
9. To reduce stress, set realistic goals and expectations. Understanding that you can’t be 100% successful at everything at once is good and helps you feel healthy.
10. You can sell yourself to yourself! When you feel overwhelmed, remind yourself of what you have done and accomplished. Have a healthy self-esteem. If you do not lose sight of the things you have accomplished, your self-confidence will be stronger in your later life.

There are other ways you can reduce stress and relax:

• Deep breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Relaxation with mental imagery
• Music relax
• Biofeedback (explained below)
• Get counseling to help you identify and release stress

Consult your healthcare professional for more information about these techniques.

Stress reduction with biofeedback

Biofeedback helps a person learn stress reduction skills by providing information about muscle tension, heart rate, and other vital signs as a person tries to relax. It is used to gain control over certain bodily functions that cause tension and physical pain.

Biofeedback can be used to help you learn how your body responds to stressful situations and how to better cope. If a headache, such as a migraine, starts slowly, many people can use biofeedback to stop the attacks from occurring until they subside.

What should you do if you have trouble sleeping?

You may experience insomnia (inability to sleep) due to discomfort, stress from personal concerns, or side effects of your medications.

If you can’t sleep, try these tips:

1. Create a regular sleep schedule – go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
2. Make sure your bed and surroundings are comfortable. Arrange pillows to help you achieve a comfortable position.
3. Keep your bedroom dark and quiet.
4. Use your bedroom only for sleeping; do not do activities such as working or watching TV in your bedroom.
5. Avoid napping too much during the day. Also, remember to balance activity with rest during recovery.
6. If you feel tense or anxious, talk to your spouse, partner, or a trusted friend. Take your mind off your problems.
7. Listen to relaxing music.
8. Do not take sleeping pills – they are very harmful if taken with other medications.
9. If possible, take diuretics or “water pills” beforehand so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom.
10. If you can’t sleep, get up and do something relaxing until you feel tired. Don’t worry about when you’ll fall asleep in bed.
11. Avoid caffeine.
12. Maintain a regular exercise routine; do not exercise within 2-3 hours before going to bed.

What is stress and why is the ability to reduce stress important?

Stress can be thought of as any physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes physical or mental discomfort and can be a factor in causing disease. Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress include trauma, infections, toxins, diseases, and injuries of any kind. The emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied. While many people associate the term stress with psychological stress, scientists and doctors use the term to refer to any force that disrupts the balance and equilibrium of bodily functions.

If stress disrupts body balance and function, then is all stress bad? Not necessarily. Mild stress and tension can sometimes be beneficial. For example, feeling slightly stressed while doing a project or homework often pushes us to do a good job, focus better, and work more energetically.

Likewise, exercise can temporarily stress some bodily functions, but its health benefits are indisputable. It is only when the stress is too great or poorly managed that its negative effects become apparent. For all these reasons, it is important to personalize your stress reduction methods.

Who is most susceptible to stress?

Who needs stress reduction skills the most? Stress comes in all forms and affects people of all ages and walks of life. There are no external standards that can be applied to predict stress levels in an individual – one does not need to have a traditionally stressful job to experience stress at work, just as a parent of one child may experience more stress related to parenting than a parent of several children.

The degree of stress in our lives depends largely on individual factors such as our physical health, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, the number of commitments and responsibilities we carry, the degree of dependence and expectations of others on us, the amount of support we receive from others, and the number of recent changes or traumatic events in our lives.

However, some factors can increase our susceptibility to stress or act to reduce it. People with strong social support networks (including family, friends, religious organizations, or other social groups) report less stress and improved mental health overall, compared to those without these social contacts.

People who are malnourished, sleep poorly, or physically unwell also have reduced ability to handle the pressures and stresses of daily life and may report higher levels of stress. Some stressors are particularly associated with certain age groups or life stages. Children, teenagers, college students, working parents, and older adults are examples of groups that are frequently stressed about life transitions.

People who care for the elderly or disabled can also experience a great deal of stress as caregivers. Having a loved one or family member under a great deal of stress also often increases our own stress levels.

It may be more important for these people to examine methods of reducing stress.

References:

1. 10 ways to reduce stress
2. National Institute of Mental Health: Stress
3. US Department of Health & Human Services: Manage Stress
4. American Heart Association: How Can I Manage Stress?
5. US Department of Health & Human Services: Get Enough Sleep
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