Stress-Relief: 3 Ways To Tame Stress

By a Yoga Medicine® Contributor.

Here are three ways you can achieve stress relief.

Yoga

Yoga has numerous benefits that we can take advantage of, including helping to relieve built-up stress. As previously mentioned, stress can negatively affect your body and physical health. Stress can cause headaches, tightness in your shoulders, or tension in your lower back. By doing yoga poses that relieve stress and anxiety the long-lasting tension you have felt will start to disappear. Stretches and poses combined with deep breathing will help you focus and alleviate your stress.

When practicing yoga, your parasympathetic nervous system is being used to help you relax. This system signals your body and mind to wind down and just be. Also while doing yoga and being in this relaxed state, your stress hormone, cortisol, is slowly being lowered. Frequently practicing yoga will easily allow you to come down from a stressful state to a more relaxed one quickly. If you’re a beginner at yoga or unsure where to begin, try one of our online classes. Our classes are designed to help you feel, move and live better.

Seek Professional Help

Stress can go much deeper than most people think. Stress can come from daily triggers that you endure. There’s a chance that the lifestyle you are living is bringing on more stress than you think. Whether your career is more demanding than usual, you have children to provide for or your thoughts and tasks are unorganized, you can get help and eliminate some of the stress within your life.

Stress can be managed, so don’t get discouraged when you aren’t completing things around the house or making it to every one of your kid’s soccer games. If you think stress is getting in the way or is impacting your quality of life in a negative way, it could be beneficial to seek professional help through online therapy sessions. A mental health professional will be able to lay out stress-relieving techniques that you can implement into your life. Additionally, they will be able to help you take a broad look at the things in your life that may be causing you stress. After a few sessions, you might be able to change your life around and have new priorities. Soon you will be able to set boundaries with the stressors within your daily routine.

Journal

Journaling is a simple way you can manage your stress. When feeling overwhelmed or stressed, sometimes it can help to release what you are feeling by writing down your thoughts, emotions, or things that are making you feel stressed. Not only is journaling a good way to manage your stress, but it can also help lower your anxiety and cope with depression.

Writing in your journal can help you identify what is making you stressed. Doing a brain dump and writing everything down can help relieve tension and a weight off your shoulders. You can then take a look at what you wrote and analyze how you can resolve some of the areas or problems that are making you stressed out. Identifying your stressors and working through them is a game-changer and a great technique for stress management. Try to look forward to journaling and this time you’re setting aside for yourself to care for your mind and body. If you’re new to journaling, try out this wellness journal.

Take hold of your stress levels today by completing these stress-relieving exercises. Don’t forget that stress is manageable and it does not have to control your life. Your life will improve greatly once you start getting your daily stressors under control.