16 ways to relieve stress & anxiety
What is anxiety and how to deal with it effectively in 16 unique ways that you can personalize for your life and career.
Everyone is going through a lot of stress currently. Chronic stress or ongoing untreated anxiety can lead to lack of productivity, hypertension and lifestyle diseases.
To prevent this or manage it better, we have some therapist approved solutions for you.
But before we talk about the solutions, let’s look at what anxiety is.
So, what is anxiety?
Chronic stress leads to anxiety in the body and mind. Anxiety disorders are a type of mental health condition. Anxiety makes it difficult to get through your day. Sometimes you would have feelings of nervousness or panic and fear as well as sweating and a rapid heartbeat.
Here are some lifestyle and other changes that you can make to manage your stress and anxiety better.
1. Ice cubes: Just simple ice cubes are very effective for reducing anxiety. Whenever you feel your anxiety reaching its heights, place an ice cube in your palm or wash your face with ice cold water. Both these steps will help you come back to the present moment immediately thus reducing any type of anxiety you might be feeling.
2. Herbal teas: Many herbal teas promise to help with anxiety and ease sleep. Some people find the process of making and drinking tea soothing, but some teas may have a more direct effect on the brain that results in reduced anxiety. Some experiments suggest that chamomile can alter levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.
3. Breathing exercises: You can now find a myriad of breathing exercises including the box breathing technique that will help you relieve stress and anxiety in under 5 minutes. All you have to do is focus on your breathing and be willing to let go of issues that are stressing you out.
4. Regular exercise: Daily movement and exercise has proven to reduce chronic stress and anxiety in all age groups.
5. Yoga: The ancient practice of Yoga is now famous worldwide in helping people relieve years of stress, anxiety and other diseases. Consistently practicing Yoga will help you have a healthier mind and body.
6. Relaxing massages: Head, foot or even deep tissue massages can relieve the stress stored in the body. This can help you feel less anxious and improve your productivity as well.
7. Chewing Gum: A small piece of gum is a surprisingly quick and easy way to beat stress. No matter the flavour, just a few minutes of chewing can actually reduce anxiety and lower cortisol levels. This might not be the best solution but it is effective. So use it when you cannot find the time for any other solution.
8. Essential oils: Certain essential oils like lavender, neroli, orange or germanium help in soothing your senses. This calms you down and helps in reducing anxiety. This is also known as aromatherapy.
9. Golf ball: You can get an impromptu, relaxing foot massage by rubbing your feet back and forth over a golf ball. This will make your stress vanish almost instantly.
10. Placing boundaries: Saying ‘no’ is really important for people who are dealing with a lot of stress. This can lead to extra tasks being added to your long to-do list and create even more anxiety. Being able to say no and placing boundaries with people who aren’t good for your mental health is really important when learning to manage anxiety.
11. Focusing on what is in your control: One of the biggest illusions that cause anxiety is that we are in control of everything. But we aren’t. When we can be okay with things we cannot control (other people’s reactions) and focus on the things we can control (our actions) anxiety and stress reduce.
12. Accepting uncertainty: When you accept that uncertainty is the reality of life, you become emotionally stronger and less prone to stress or anxiety disorders.
13. Meditation: 10 minutes of meditation a day has proven to reduce chronic stress and anxiety symptoms.
14. Listening to music: Listening to calming or uplifting music will instantly take your mind off of things that are stressing you out. With a calm mind, you will be more productive as well.
15. Dance parties: Even if you just dance by yourself at home every day, you will see a huge reduction in the anxiety and stress you feel regularly.
16. Talking about it: Most of our problems get easier to deal with when we talk about them. Your stress and anxiety can reduce when you choose to let it all out by talking about it with your friends or even one of our trusted therapists.
If you are ready to take action and live an anxiety free life, join us for therapy today https://sirayahealth.com/contact-us