8 Simple Ways To Manage And Relieve Stress At Home
When I was still attending college, I had a defense with a professor regarding a seminar assignment. The defense was conducted individually with the professor, where I presented my topic and how I envisioned my seminar assignment, which we later presented to the entire class. While waiting in the hallway, other students were also present. I couldn’t believe how differently, we functioned in a particular situation. Negative thoughts and scenarios raced through my mind, fear crept in, my hands sweated, my heart raced, and I felt confused, while the girl next to me casually browsed the internet and occasionally smiled. So, I want to tell you that we often create a lot of stress ourselves.
Let me tell you the outcome; at the beginning of the conversation, my voice was hoarse, and my words stumbled, but after two minutes or more, the tension escaped from me, hurray, everything ended well.
Are stress and anxiety the same?
Yes, we just name them differently. If we lie in bed and hear an unexplained noise in the kitchen, we might describe our unease as anxiety and fear. But if our job is threatened with dismissal or we have received a hint of the possibility of dismissal, we will feel distress and stress, which suffocates us.
Strengthen Your Endurance And Overcome Anxiety More Easily
Have you ever thought about an event awaiting you the next day before going to bed? Be it a meeting or a long business trip. And you just couldn’t close your eyes? Even though you wanted to sleep and recharge for the next day, your brain started working full steam ahead. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, begins releasing energy in the form of glucose into your bloodstream. This filled you with energy that you might not have wanted just before bedtime. Often, this leads us to excessive thinking, making it difficult to fall asleep.
What can you do to manage and relieve stress at home?
1. Meditacija kot orodje za obvladovanje stresa
Meditacija ni le minljiv trend, ampak je lahko učinkovito orodje za izboljšanje kakovosti življenja, kar potrjujejo številni znanstveniki. Ko nas preganja dolgotrajni stres, težko najdemo čas za sprostitev in odklop. Čeprav lahko meditacija za mnoge predstavlja izziv, je to orodje, ki ne zahteva veliko. Miren prostor, udobno sedenje, zavestno dihanje in predajanje trenutku.
Discover The Incredible Benefits Of Meditation And Its Debunked Myths
There are several types of meditation beneficial for coping with stress:
Guided Meditation
This technique involves being led through exercises of awareness. Turn to YouTube, where you can find plenty of excellent guided meditations. A guide will lead you through conscious breathing and other individual parts of the body. Most guided meditations last from 30 minutes to 1 hour, but recent studies have shown that even 10 minutes of guided meditation can be beneficial.
Mantra Meditation
This meditation involves repeating soothing words, thoughts, or phrases. This way, you can dismiss all troubles and worries and focus on pleasant words and concepts.
Mindfulness Meditation
A type of meditation based on awareness is highly useful when dealing with stress. When worries race through our minds and we constantly ruminate on what’s happening in our lives, mindfulness is an excellent way to disconnect. It’s about developing mental skills where we focus on the present moment. When meditating, we focus on what we hear: birdsong, the sound of driving a car. What we smell: the scent of our perfume or lavender essential oil. Feelings: We observe our feelings and well-being in the situation while meditating. This way, we don’t let the mind “overheat.”
Qigong
This technique combines meditation, relaxation, movement, and breathing exercises. The word itself indicates that it’s part of Chinese medicine.
Yoga
Yoga presents a series of postures that contribute to a flexible and calm mind. This way, you strengthen your balance and recharge with new energy. And definitely contributes to better body posture, which I must emphasize I have noticed myself.
2. Practice Mindfulness in every step
Being mindful doesn’t just mean meditating; use mindfulness in all possible tasks. Practice openness and observation without prejudice and doubts. Whatever you do, immerse yourself in the current situation. How often does it happen that you’re washing dishes, and when you finish, you’re not sure how you’re already done?
Because your thoughts are entirely elsewhere. Next time, focus on what you’re doing, how you’re washing dishes, observe and experience the present moment. When you go for a walk, observe the sensations of your legs, observe the movement of your arms while walking, observe your breathing, and sharpen the sounds of nature, but without prejudice, just listen, and observe everything around you. Even if your thoughts drift into worries and trivial thinking, come back.
You can do this in any activity at home, whether it’s brushing your teeth, cooking lunch, showering, tidying up, ironing, and so on.
3. Mindset regarding coping and relieving stress
When people have a headache, most will take a painkiller. So, what will they do? They won’t ask themselves what the cause is but quickly alleviate the pain. Regardless of how prepared we are an event that causes us stress, we can prepare well and change our mindset. Stress isn’t something that can be erased with a pill but will always be present in challenges and new trials. It’s good to be able to redirect stress into focus and make an effort to solve the situation to the best of our ability. Simply take stress as part of the process you’re in.
4. Be Gentle
Words and thoughts we use daily can greatly contribute to how we perceive the situation we’re in and thus can also alleviate stress. Imagine preparing for an important stage performance, and a friend backstage tells you: You’ll mess everything up, you’ll definitely fail. Not only will stress overwhelm you, but your thoughts will also drastically change to negative. You’ll find yourself in contact and panic. Therefore, be encouraging to yourself. Use words and thoughts that will strengthen and thus relieve stress.
5. Food, Food, Food
Your diet affects the quality of your well-being, including mental health. More and more studies show that people exposed to processed, fast food with higher sugar content are more likely to experience intense stress. When stress haunts us, we all know how superficial we can be about what we put into our mouths. We simply don’t pay attention to what we consume and in what quantities. So, prepare a rich meal, try out a new recipe, and practice mindfulness. Satisfy your taste buds and nourish your body with nutrients so that you feel better, sleep easier in the evening, and further relieve the stress you’re currently facing.
6. Hide smart devices
I’m not kidding, remove them far away from yourself, you can even lock them in a drawer. If you delve into studies, you’ll discover how the use of smartphones and addiction to social media increases the level of stress and the risk of other mental disorders.
Focus on yourself, do something that relaxes and calms you. If you feel more trapped in your thoughts, call a friend or another person close to you to visit. Allow your friend to give you some encouraging and kind words.
7. Rock yourself with Music
Most people are unaware of the power hidden in music. Music that stirs our emotions. The frequency and rhythmic structure of music significantly affect our bodies. We all sometimes drive monotonously on roads when we hear our favorite song, which warms our hearts and makes us sing along and rejoice.
To relieve stress, musical compositions with lower frequencies are often recommended. Such as:
- Frequencies of lower tones, ranging from 60 Hz to 250 Hz. These frequencies are associated with relaxed and soothing sounds that relieve stress.
- Calming classical music, especially those using violin, piano, and other strings, is known for its calming effect. Pieces such as Johannes Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Sonatas are often recommended for stress relief.
- Nature sounds, such as the sounds of the sea, forest, rain, and rivers, have a very soothing effect. Therefore, they are often used for therapeutic purposes to relieve stress and create a relaxing environment.
- Meditative music, specifically designed for meditation and relaxation, often includes nature sounds, percussion sounds, flutes, and guitars. They are usually designed with a slow tempo, which helps calm the mind and body.
8. Start journaling
Thinking about positive memories, emotions, and situations we have experienced can help us relieve stress. This way, we can temporarily disconnect from negative emotions and thoughts. You can celebrate every little thing you are grateful for, whether it’s a traffic-free journey home, a smile from a shop assistant, a kind gesture from a passerby, your child’s chatter, a blooming plant, and so on.
To incorporate gratitude into your daily life, a gratitude journal can help you. Since I also use it myself, I have designed one for you too. Its use is not demanding at all; every morning it will take you a couple of minutes to focus on your feelings and gratitude, and in the evening before bed to do a simple analysis of the whole day. This way, you’ll be up to date with your feelings every day. For more on this, I invite you to check here.
