Stress is a dangerous problem that can have a negative impact on your health. The vast majority of people experience stress that is beyond what the human body can handle. Stress, and your body’s reaction to it, is primal. It was intended to keep you safe in times of extreme peril, such as when confronted by a physical aggressor while hunting for food or fighting off wild animals trying to get into your home.
Luckily those days are long gone.
Although they face fewer dangerous situations on a daily basis, stress is still a big concern for many people. Stress causes a large majority of doctor’s visits. Instead of having to worry about things like bears or where our next meal is coming from, today our stress comes from non-physical sources such as being emotional distressed, worrying about our finances, or work-related tension. When you experience stress, your body has a physical reaction that can be harmful to your health. This reaction can cause problems such as high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, strain on body organs, and digestive issues.
What are some ways that you can reduce stress in your life in order to stay healthy and be happier? Some natural stress remedies you could try instead of prescription medication are: Here are 10 natural ways to relieve stress.
10 Natural Stress Relievers You Can Try Today
1. Get Some Exercise
Exercise can help alleviate pain by releasing endorphins, which act as natural painkillers, and can also improve your sleep. Aside from the benefits of physical fitness, regular exercise also keeps your organs healthy.
You don’t need to go to the gym every day to get exercise. Rather, there fun options for exercise you might want to try:
- Running has been picking up in popularity over the last few years, and is a very easy to join community activity. You don’t have to be an iron man either. Just grab a pair of shoes , and go for a jog. The important thing is to maintain your heart rate for at least 30 minutes.
- Yoga is not something most people would associate with exercise, unless of course they are avid yoga practitioners. Sometimes slowing down, focusing on your breathing and really stretching your body is an incredibly effective way to get exercise.
- Walking is a low impact option for getting exercise, and is generally acceptable for most people. Even if you cannot run, a brisk walk can be enough to increase your heart rate and release your endorphins.
- There are also no-impact pedal exercisers, which can be used for either your arms or your feet. These are a great option for people who have challenges with their knees or hips, and need another option to get their heart rate up and reduce their stress.
2. Improve Your Diet
Did you know that most people are not getting the nutrients they need to be healthy? We are not getting the right nutrients from the calories we consume, which our bodies need in order to function properly. According to surveys from the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 33% of adults eat the recommended amount of fruit. And only 27% are getting in enough vegetables.
When your body is not Healthy, it affects how your mind works and your ability to handle stress.
This understanding why it is important to have a good multivitamin diet. The best type of multivitamin to look for is one made from whole plants, as opposed to synthetic vitamins and minerals. Make sure your vitamins come from organic plants to avoid polluting your body with toxins it can’t handle.
We recommend Rainbow Light for multivitamins. These meal kits are designed for both men and women and include food items.
B-complex vitamins offer many benefits in addition to a multivitamin, such as reducing stress. This is because B-complex vitamins help with a couple of issues that oftentimes increase stress, such as anxiety and poor sleep.
B-complex vitamins are known to help boost energy levels. When you have low energy and can’t focus, it can increase your stress levels, especially if it’s work-related. Second, B-complex helps improve mood. B vitamins are important for the development of serotonin, a hormone that makes people feel happy. The happier you are, the less stress you feel. The question of which came first is inevitable.
This is a list of vitamins that can help with stress relief.
3. Change Your Lifestyle
Your lifestyle has a big influence on how much stress you experience. People with high stress levels are often very busy and don’t have much time for sleep or leisure activities. If you don’t have healthy coping mechanisms for stress, it can be very harmful to you. Here are some tips for how to tweak your lifestyle that will also help reduce your stress:
- Eat Breakfast. Too many people skip the most important meal of the day. Breakfast helps to kick start your metabolism and get the all of your systems working properly. Skipping it starts your day without the energy you need and puts your mind body at a disadvantage to dealing the stress of the day.
- Get the right amount of sleep . The average adult should get between 7.5-9 hours of sleep each day. Fortunately, that does not mean that you need to get that amount of sleep all in one setting, but can split it with a nap if needed. The major thing to consider here are the sleep cycles, and ensuring you are not only getting the right amount of sleep but also the right amount of REM sleep specifically.
- Get outside into nature. Nature has a tendency to help uplift your mental state. Part of the reason for this is the extra oxygen in the air when you are out in nature. The extra oxygen helps your system to function better, and helps stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a sense of calm throughout your body.
4. Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Anxiety is typically an emotion focused on the future – worry over what will happen or what might happen in the future.
Mindfulness meditation helps you to focus on the present moment and not worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.
If you take some time out of your day to relax, you will feel less anxious and be healthier.
Does it really work?
The researchers looked at 17 studies to see if mindfulness-based stress reduction could help manage stress.
Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation
They found that the combination of mindfulness meditation and yoga demonstrated positive psychological and physiological changes in healthy individuals, including:
Pain reduction
More positive body image
Increased activity levels
Reduction of medical symptoms
Improved mood
Increased self-esteem
Reduction in anxiety and depression
5. Do Yoga
The purpose of yoga is to calm the mind, relax the body, and increase strength and flexibility.
This workout is very beneficial and can help ease anxiety.
Studies have shown that yoga:
Makes us more resilient to stress & anxiety
Slows aging
Lowers blood pressure and heart rate
Improves nervous system functioning
Aids in weight loss
Improves concentration
Relieves stress and anxiety
Anxiety makes you unconsciously tighten your muscles and take shallower breaths. The practice of yoga can help to relieve muscular tension and promote deep, conscious breathing.
It also teaches us how to accept discomfort . If you try something new, it’s normal to feel a little bit anxious.
It is necessary to step out of your comfort zone to grow and be fulfilled.
Despite the discomfort, yoga shows you that you are still in control. You can still control your thoughts, your breath, and your movement.
Yoga, breath work, and meditation are incredibly effective in reducing anxiety.
6. Repeat a Positive Affirmation
Positive affirmations are like a vision board on steroids.
The most effective affirmations according to a study done by researchers at Arizona State University are those related to “not being crazy” and noting that the anxiety would pass in time.
With that in mind, here are some examples of positive affirmations you can repeat when feeling anxious:
Positive Affirmations for Anxiety
“I am not going crazy, I’m just feeling anxiety”
“This too shall pass”
“I’m not alone; other people feel this too”
“I am strong and brave”
I can control my breathing and slow it down.
I’ve been through this before and I can do it again.
You can create your own positive affirmations to suit your needs. Your goals should be something that is important to you and applicable to your specific situation.
When you feel anxious, try repeating a positive affirmation to yourself. You can say the affirmation out loud or repeat it to yourself silently while you practice deep breathing exercises.
Allow yourself to believe that the affirmations will work and you will see results.
If you keep saying something, eventually you will believe it.
7. Challenge Your Negative Thoughts
You may think you’re not good enough, capable, or lovable. Anxiety can cause you to believe that you are not good enough, capable, or lovable.
It is crucial to nip negative thoughts in the bud before they have a chance to turn into restrictive beliefs that will impede you from achieving your objectives.
The purpose of cross-examination during a trial is to try to demonstrate that the witness’s testimony is incompatible with other evidence or that the witness is prejudiced.
This strategy is useful for when we are struggling with anxiety- induced negative thoughts because we tend to:
Overgeneralize
Focus on the negative and ignore the positive
Jump to conclusions
Blow things out of proportion
Blame ourselves for things out of our control
Your Thoughts Are Not Facts
If you’re having negative thoughts, try to imagine what an opposing attorney would say to refute them.
Show how your thoughts are inconsistent with the facts and how your anxiety is causing you to be biased.
8. Take A Shower/Bath
Hydrotherapy is a type of therapy that uses water to help treat medical conditions. The practice of using essential oils dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It is still an important part of many holistic therapy systems.
One study found that water baths were more effective than drugs in treating generalized anxiety disorder.
Here are some benefits of taking a shower or a bath:
Decreases stress hormones like cortisol
Helps balance serotonin, a “feel-good” neurotransmitter
Calms fight or flight response
Stimulates immune system
Improves circulation, digestion and blood flow
Assists in detoxification
Heat relaxes muscles and organs
One of my favorite home remedies for anxiety is taking a shower or bath! It provides relief instantly and can be helpful for just about any ailment!
9. Keep a Journal
We all used to have diaries when we were younger.
We felt comfortable sharing our innermost thoughts, hopes, triumphs and struggles with each other. I have one from my childhood that is complete with a lock and key!
As we got older, we stopped confiding in our diaries.
Journaling provides many benefits, especially for people suffering from anxiety, so it is definitely worth restarting the habit.
10. Engage Your Senses
Anxiety can be effectively managed by paying attention to one’s senses. It can help you feel more present and connected to the moment.
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a way to calm yourself down when you are feeling overwhelmed. To do it, name:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
To really boost the effectiveness of this exercise, try incorporating these things into your environment:
See: Coloring
Picking colors and trying to stay in the lines helps to take your mind off of negative thoughts and allows you to focus on more positive images.
Hear: Music
Music has a profound effect on emotions.
There have been many studies that have found that listening to music decreases stress levels.
Smell: Aromatherapy
Studies have shown that essential oils and aromatherapy can have therapeutic benefits.
Taste: Tea
Drinking tea is a calming ritual. It makes you slow down. replace “Drinking tea” with “any other activity”
Touch: Crystals
For thousands of years, people have used these gifts from nature to treat physical and spiritual ailments.
