Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to everyday life experiences. Everyone encounters stress from time to time. Long-term stress can have negative effects on your body if left unchecked. According to The Mayo Clinic, long-term or chronic stress can contribute to many health problems like high blood, pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Check out effective strategies for providing long-term and short-term stress relief.
Long Term Stress Relief
- Eat a Balanced Diet: When feeling stress, many of us have fallen victim to emotional eating. Reach for foods that provide a temporary sense of relief, like cookies or chips. Unfortunately, refined fat and high-sugar foods can cause a spike in blood sugar. When your sugar crashes, you may experience more stress and anxiety.
- Make Time for Leisure Activities: With all the things we have to deal with every day, forgetting to make time for yourself and leisure activities can feel pretty normal. However, scheduling time for yourself, hobbies, or just some extra fun can have long-term benefits. Whether your find joy in gardening, crocheting or even just enjoying a good book, making time for hobbies and leisure can help you feel better, perform better and in turn make your work time more efficient.
- Develop a Habit of Positive Self-Talk: The way you speak over yourself matters. Self-talk is your internal dialogue and is influenced by your subconscious mind. Harsh self-criticism, self-doubt, and catastrophic predictions can be distressing. If your self-talk is too negative it can be distressing. Fortunately, you can learn to shift that inner dialogue. When you catch yourself having negative self-talk, reframe your thoughts into something that is more realistic and compassionate. This can help drive a more optimistic and healthier outlook while also helping to manage your emotions and take positive actions.
- Express Gratitude: Studies in positive psychology have shown that practicing gratitude is strongly associated with greater happiness.[i] Practicing gratitude helps us to recognize all the good things we have in life and also reminds us of the resources available to help us cope. Whether you’re grateful for a sunny day or simply waking up in the morning, thinking about the positive things we have in life can be empowering. Try keeping a gratitude journal or sharing what you’re grateful for at dinner to make practicing gratitude a regular part of the day.
Short Term Stress Relief
Sometimes we deal with situations that cause stress in the present moment and can cause us to be overwhelmed. Whether it’s a stress from work, family, or unpredictable world events like a pandemic, it’s important to have tools that are immediate and accessible to help you cope. Incorporating short-term strategies can even give long-term benefits as you learn to replace unhealthier practices with positive, healthier ones.
- Guided Imagery: Guided imagery is a practice that can be compared to “taking a short vacation in your mind or going to your “happy place”. This relaxation technique is also known as visualization or guided mediation. The purpose is to have your body react to mindful, relaxing thoughts. According to Healthline magazine, guided meditation can have additional health benefits like improved sleep, decreased pain, and reduced depression symptoms.
- Aromatherapy: Aromatherapy can be used to treat a variety of physically and mental problems deriving from stress and anxiety. The essential oils used in aromatherapy practice “trigger messages sent to your brain’s limbic system, which controls your emotions, memory and how we learn.” While aromatherapy isn’t a magical “cure-all” it has been proven to work as an effective stress reliever. Aromatherapy can come in various forms such as candles, essential oil diffusers, and even body products.
- Meditation: Meditation is a practice that is intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. This practice of “consciousness-changing” has been shown also have various benefits on psychological well-being. There are various forms of meditation that you can try to figure out which one appeals to you. Try using an app like headspace to explore the various types of meditation and find which one is most effective for you.
- Focused Breathing Practices: Practicing focused breathing techniques is a great remedy to improve stress or anxiety in the moment. Like meditation there are various forms of focused breathing that can try. Check out 10 Breathing techniques that you put into practice today here.
[i] https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
