Pressures at your workplace, family problems, a bad-tempered boss or even the mind-numbing commute¬ – all these situations can sometimes lead to stress. This blog lists various remedies that can help you cope with stress related issues.
Understanding stress
Stress has a way of wearing you down all the time. It makes you feel as though there’s nothing you can do about it because you can’t possibly stop paying your bills or run away from your social responsibilities.
In general, stress is the body’s reaction to a real or perceived situation. When you face a threatening situation, your body responds with a chemical reaction designed to prevent injury. This reaction is termed stress response, due to which you may experience symptoms like muscle tightening, a rise in your heart rate and blood pressure, and digestive problems.
So, what you can do to reduce stress in your life? First and foremost, manage your condition by identifying the sources of stress in your life. But, identifying sources of stress isn’t easy as the origins of stress aren’t always obvious. In order to determine where stress comes from, you have to keep a close watch on your habits and behavior patterns. After identifying the stress sources, you need to find ways to reduce stress.
What causes stress?
People react differently to stressful situations. What one person finds stressful, others may find not. Anything can cause stress, like thinking too much about something, work pressure, or little things that accumulate over time. Some of the most common causes of stress are:
• Sleep deprivation
• Financial matters
• Family problems
• Illness
• Job issues (studies have shown, forty percent of U.S. workers experience office stress)
• Moving home
• Lack of time
• Relationships (including divorce)
Also Read: Born to Fly: Break the Chains of Stress
Some of the other causes of stress include:
• Abortion
• Unplanned pregnancy
• Conflicts
• Fear of crime
• Losing your job
• Noisy neighbors
• Overcrowding
• Pollution
• Too much noise
• Uncertainty (awaiting academic exam results, laboratory test results, job interview results, etc.)
Some people experience stress when they are frustrated and depressed. However, stress levels differ from person to person depending on how they respond to a particular situation. To deal with the situation, people need to find various ways to reduce stress. Some of the beneficiary ways to reduce stress are discussed below.
Ways to combat stress:
Pushing your body to the limit by overworking and feeling stressed may dampen your productivity and hamper the relationships in your life. Regardless of your current life circumstances, the following are a handful of ways to reduce stress:
• Get up earlier than everyone else- A study conducted on 367 college students by a biologist Christoph Randler revealed that early birds are productive and active on their jobs. This study has also shown that people who got up early attained greater career success, and reaped higher wages than people who started their day later. So, get up early because you will feel better and productive, and also become free to pursue other activities like performing exercise or having lunch with a friend.
• Aromatherapy works wonders- Studies suggest aromatherapy as a good way to relieve stress. To combat stress, you can use certain aromas like lavender, as it has been proven effective.
• Meditate- Meditation makes way for inner peace and produces positive effects on stress (especially work-related stress).
Also Read: Rejuvenate Your Body through Yoga
Scientific methods to cope with stress:
Whether it’s a matter associated with work or a fight with a friend or family member, everyone feels stressed. To deal with the situation, use these scientific ways to reduce stress:
• Get proper sleep- To combat stressful situations, researchers have stated in their studies that people should go to bed early and wake up early. Adequate sleep relaxes the mind and helps in relieving stress.
• Try a progressive relaxation exercise- You need to tense and then release each muscle in the body, right from the fingers to toes. Doing this helps the mind and body relax.
• Perform light yoga- Doing Pranayama (deep breathing technique) along with some light yoga poses has proved to be useful in combating stress.
• Join a religious community- To lead a stress-free life, participating in some religious activities has shown itself to be effective. Studies have found, people who practice a religion or are involved in activities associated with it were less stressed as compared to their non-religious counterparts.
• Kiss- Kissing releases chemicals that ease hormones associated with stress, like cortisol. So, kiss your loved one daily to relieve stress.
The above-mentioned methods are some of the proven scientific ways to reduce stress that may change your life and fill it with happiness.
Conclusion:
You can feel stress at any point in your life. That is why, stress management techniques are helpful as these help you to remove or change the source of stress. The above discussed tips may alter the way you view a stressful event and teach you how to cope with it.
