You’ve probably heard a million things about stress and how it’s bad for you. A lifetime of running around and pushing yourself to the edge will have repercussions you probably don’t realize.
Accumulated stress is toxic. It can make it hard for you to control your emotions, control your weight, have a normal love life, or even keep your teeth healthy. If you don’t deal with it right away you’ll start looking older, losing hair, and probably impair your heart.
Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to deal with stress. Here are ten of the best (medically proven) stress relieving techniques:
1. Push your body
Exercising doesn’t get the sort of credit it deserves. Most people think working out is just about losing weight or building strength. In fact, moving your body has a tremendous effect on stress. Rapid movement tends to boost neurons and makes your brain spill out happy hormones. These natural chemicals in the brain instantly make you feel calmer and more relaxed. They fight against cortisol, which builds up as you experience stress.
Any form of movement is good enough as a stress buster, but intense exercises and cardiovascular training are supposed to be particularly effective.
2. Get your dancing shoes on
Any form of exercise works against stress, but it’s more effective if you’re having fun at the same time. There’s probably no better way to combine fun and exercise than by dancing. You don’t have to be an expert for this to work. Any form of basic dance is good enough to have an effect on your endorphins(the happy hormones).
In fact, it’s better if you don’t know how to dance. You can join a dance workshop or group classes to learn some new steps and meet new people as well. If tap dancing or salsa doesn’t solve your stress, perhaps networking and meeting people will.
3. Get Things Off Your Chest
Suppressing emotions and bottling up anxiety is probably the root cause of stress. Everyone needs an emotional outlet to get rid of all the pent up aggression that builds up after dealing with difficult bosses and stressful relationships. Research shows that sharing your feelings may actually be the best form of stress therapy. All you need to do is find a confidant and talk to them about your worries, anxieties, and issues. They don’t need to help you find solutions, they just need to be good listeners. If you regularly talk things out and get support from someone close to you, you can bid stress farewell forever.
4. Get A Massage
Getting a massage occasionally is bound to help you fight stress. If you look for the right therapist you’ll see that massages can do more than relieve pain, aches, and muscular tension. It can help you relax and unwind, which is the key to beating stress.
5. Listen To Music
Music therapy is really gaining ground as an effective medical treatment. Surgeons have been using music therapy to prep patients before an intensive surgery. Now there’s evidence to suggest music can actually help you cut back on stress hormones. Calming music and instrumental meditation CDs may be the best option, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. You can bust stress by joining a few friends at the local karaoke bar and singing along to your favorite track. Just listening to your favorite music is enough to reset your mood.
6. Entertain Yourself (laugh)
Another fun way to cut stress is to watch or do something that makes you laugh. Find the latest comedy show on Netflix or go to a local stand-up comedy club. Don’t underestimate the power of a good laugh.
7. Create something
Being creative, even if you aren’t particularly good at it, can help distract you from the stressor. Help your kids build a lego castle or make a DIY wooden signboard. Anything that takes time, physical effort, and a lot of creativity will help you relieve stress.
8. Have Sex
It’s hard to argue that having sex won’t have an effect on your mood. But great sex can have a deeper impact than that. It can actually help you relieve stress, anxiety, and even cut back on your risk of hypertension.
9. Learn To Breathe
The easiest and quickest way to cut stress is to practice specific breathing techniques. Deep breathing techniques can help you focus and relieve stress.
10. Meditate
Probably the most mainstream solution for stress is mindful meditation. It’s hard to master this on your own, so it’s best that you reach out to a trainer or yoga guru for help. Once you’re used to positive visualizations or longer durations of mindful meditation, you can deal with just about any stressful situation easily.
There are a lot of other ways to deal with stress, but these are the ten most effective and widely accepted techniques. Remember, genuine stress relief isn’t about distracting yourself but about making your mind and body healthier and stronger from within.
Alan Morris is a blogger and Internet marketing expert. He finds inner peace in practicing a healthy lifestyle and devoting his time to personal development. Talk to Alan on social media.
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