Natural Stress Relief

These days, it seems like life is going by quicker than ever before, with more challenges, demands, and yes, stress.

Too much of this pressure can have detrimental effects on your mind, body, relationships and general well-being. Nobody wins out when you just grin and bear it, so considering trying some of the following tips to improve your health and your life. [read more…]

Identify the Cause Then Deal With It.
Take the time to sit down and think about what is making you feel stressed. If it's a relationship issue with another person, can you sit down and talk to them openly about what's bothering you? Often we create our own stress by keeping our emotions and thoughts bottled up. If something at work's bothering you, is there anything you can do to ease some of the pressure - delegate some work to someone else or get some help from a manager? It might help to write down the causes of your stress, and brainstorm solutions, no matter how farfetched they may seem.

Eat Right and Exercise
You've heard it before, but it's true that eating unhealthy food and not exercising can make you feel more stressed. Try shifting to a more natural diet, with very little sugar and processed food. And get moving! Physical exercise like biking, walking, boating or horseback riding is a great way to release whatever's bothering you. Yoga, Tai chi and stretching are low-energy alternatives that can relieve stress just as well as the "burn it off" technique.

Volunteer
Though the demands on our time are extreme, nothing feels quite as good as helping someone else. Find a charity or organization that you're interested in and research how to get involved. Many organizations don't ask you to contribute that many hours a month, and the rewards you can receive, in feelings of good-will alone, can be enormous. Volunteering is also a great way to spend quality time with your kids or significant other.

Make Time For You
The final thing to keep in mind is to not shortchange yourself as you're trying to keep up with the demands of everyone else. Try to make a place in your house or yard where you feel absolutely at peace. Really think about making this special space beautiful with flowers, pillows, pictures... whatever makes you feel serene. Then try to be in this space every single day. Even if you only have ten minutes at your disposal, try a little meditation in your special space. Breathe deeply, clear your mind and practice just being.

Taking the time to take care of yourself in these ways will actually make you better and more efficient in other areas of your life, because if you don't nurture yourself, keeping up with everything else becomes near impossible. So, take the time and start to de-stress today.