The Best Ways to De-Stress
Nowadays, it can be really hard to find a moment to yourself and just relax. With all the unexpected curveballs life throws at you, all your daily responsibilities and all the noise of social media, stressing out seems inevitable.
Unfortunately, stress is the root cause of so many health and mental problems and it is rampant in our society. Thankfully, mental health has started to become a priority and a common discussion in everyday social interactions. Awareness is up about how important it is to quiet your mind and take a step back.
When you start to feel overwhelmed and wound up, you’ll actually stop being as efficient and productive as you could be. Making the right decisions and thinking with clarity will become more difficult for you. Take time to de-stress and realign yourself with a calm, peaceful center. Here are some things you can do to help de-stress.
Meditate, Yoga and Chill
When you are stressed, your body naturally starts storing tension in your muscles. This leads to stiffness and pain. Any exercise can help your body release this tension and produce endorphins or the feel-good hormones. But yoga is especially good at this because of the focus on flexibility, breathing and stretching. The poses or the asanas are designed to stretch focused muscle groups in your body and can even help with anxious thoughts. If it’s hard for you to introduce yoga into your routine, invest in some cute printed yoga leggings and activewear to get you excited about doing it! You can also follow yoga instructors online who may be doing virtual classes so you can start getting the hang of it if you’re new to yoga.
The practice of slow, steady and deep breathing also starts putting you in a meditative state. Meditation works wonders for the human body and brain; it can help you increase your ability to focus, result in increased self-awareness and confidence and can even help reduce stress and anxiety. Taking some time to still your mind daily and practice meditation will help you become a more productive and overall happier person.
image via @yogawchris
image via @dancefitnessforall
Drink Some Tea and Read a Book
Feeling stressed? Start boiling some water and make yourself a nice, relaxing cup of chamomile, mint or lavender tea. These herbal teas can help you relax your muscles and reduce irritability. They do not contain caffeine so they will not have you feeling jittery. Grab a book and dive into a literary escape of your own to chill out.
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image via @zin.mimian
Go for a Swim, a Walk, Jog or Run
Doing physical activity is a great way to help clear your mind and to rid yourself of that stress. All these activities involve finding a pace or rhythm which will help occupy your mind. You’ll be activating your muscles which will help release any built up tension. A dip in the pool or a run around the block also forces you to breathe deep - another ingredient in the recipe for de-stressing.
image via @mermazinggraceemy
image via @xioo_fit
Listen to Movie Scores, Ambient Sounds or ASMR
Audial therapy is a great way to help you chill out. But sometimes listening to lyric driven music can make you feel more stressed, depending on the person. Try listening to non-intrusive instrumental types of music like movie scores. These tend to have real instruments incorporated and have a lot of musicality to their progressions. You can also listen to ambient sounds, such as the sounds of the ocean, rain, or night forest sounds. Lastly, another popular way to de-stress is to listen to ASMR - “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.” There are plenty of ASMR videos online of people creating a wide array of sounds - everything from whispering voices to tapping fingernails on desks to brushing hair and much more. These are thought to create a feeling of well-being and can even help some people fall asleep, the same way other white-noise stimulants, like the static of a tv, can sometimes do.
image via @pamcakes_o
image via @francesca_skyola
