Stress is an inevitable part of life, and it is extremely important to manage your stress because it can lead to potentially serious physical and mental health problems. Relaxation techniques are a great way to cope with stress.
However, when faced with high demands and day-to-day responsibilities for tasks and relaxation techniques, you often retreat. This is because many people do not understand all the benefits that come from using these methods regularly.
Relaxation techniques play a key role in reducing symptoms of stress by slowing heart rate and breathing, lowering blood pressure, increasing blood flow to core muscles, reducing the activity of stress hormones, easing muscle tension, elevating mood, improving concentration, relieving fatigue, and reducing anger and frustration. .
Basically, relaxation techniques help in refocusing your attention on something calming and increasing awareness of your body. This helps push thoughts of stress out of your head. In addition, I would like to emphasize that these methods help you improve your health.
When using relaxation techniques to reduce stress, you should also practice other positive coping techniques, including positive thinking, time management, exercise, getting enough sleep, eating the right foods, and getting help from family and friends.
10 Simple Relaxation Techniques to Reduce Stress
Guided Visualization
Visualization and imagery, also called imagery management, is an effective method for reducing stress. These techniques involve the systematic practice of creating a detailed mental image in your mind of an attractive, calm setting or environment.
This serves as a distraction element to redirect your attention away from what is causing the stress of an alternative focus.
Visualization even affects many cognitive processes in the brain, including motor control, attention, perception, planning and memory. It also increases motivation and improves self-confidence, which is very important for reducing stress.
In 2012, a study on complementary therapies in clinical practice found that visualization helped reduce perceived stress and dyadic distress, as well as a reduction in psychological and physical complaints.
Guided imagery has also been shown to patients to help manage headaches, reduce the frequency of migraines, ease fear and anxiety before surgery, and even reduce the side effects of cancer treatments, according to a 2008 report in the Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
Guided visualization can be done in a variety of ways. Here's one of the easiest ways to do it:
- Sit comfortably in a quiet place where no one will disturb you and close your eyes.
- Take a few slow, deep breaths to calm your brain and body.
- Imagine yourself in a beautiful place that you would like to visit.
- Focus on the various sensory attributes present in the imagined place to make it more vivid in your mind.
- Continue doing this until you feel relaxed.
- Slowly bring your awareness back to the present.
- Open your eyes and return to your real world.
2. Progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation is another effective method for relieving stress. It involves two main steps: the first is intentionally tensing the muscles, and the second is intentionally releasing that tension.
A 2014 study published in the Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research reported that progressive muscle relaxation was effective in reducing anxiety among college students.
Back in 2015, a study published in the IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health found that using progressive muscle relaxation as a treatment helped reduce pain and stress while improving overall well-being among patients suffering from chronic low back pain.
Most progressive muscle relaxation practices begin with the feet and work their way up to the face.
- Sit in a comfortable position.
- Take a few minutes to relax by practicing deep breathing.
- Once you feel relaxed, turn your attention to your right leg.
- Watch for a few seconds to focus on the sensations in your leg.
- Slowly tighten the muscles in your right leg, squeezing as hard as you can.
- Hold for a count of 10, then relax your right leg.
- Stay in this relaxed position for 30 seconds, breathing deeply and slowly.
- Then turn your attention to your left leg. Follow the same sequence of muscle tension and release.
- Continue the sequence, slowly moving up the body to work the muscles of the legs, buttocks, abdomen, arms, back, neck and face.
3. Yoga
Yoga is a great way to reduce stress and manage anxiety as it radiates peace and tranquility in the mind and body. It includes a range of moving and still poses to help calm your mind and relax your body.
Corpse Pose or Savasana in particular is a simple yet highly effective yoga pose for reducing stress in all your muscles and providing complete relaxation. It also improves sleep, relieves headaches, as well as mild pain.
Yoga is also good for improving overall health and fitness. In fact, it helps reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and high blood pressure.
- Lie on your back comfortably with your legs slightly apart.
- Place your arms at your sides, palms facing up.
- Breathe slowly and deeply from your belly (diaphragm to be precise).
- Close your eyes and relax the muscles of your body.
- Maintain this position for 5-15 minutes.
You can also try other yoga poses such as Child's Pose (Balasana), Downward-Facing Dog (ARDHO Mukha Svanasana), Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) and Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) to induce relaxation.
4. Tai Chi
Tai chi, a series of slow, fluid body movements, is also very effective for relieving stress.
A series of movements will force you to focus, relax and consciously think about the circulation of vital energy throughout the body. This helps calm the mind and reduce stress.
When practicing tai chi, the emphasis is primarily on breathing and paying attention to the present moment. Tai chi is a low-impact exercise, which makes it also suitable for older people who are unable to do difficult exercises.
In 2013, a series of studies were conducted in psychiatric clinics in North America and doctors came to the general conclusion that tai chi is indeed effective in reducing depressive symptoms, stress, anxiety and other negative moods.
Tai chi is best learned in a class or from a private instructor who is an expert in it.
5. Relaxing music
Listening to music has an extremely relaxing effect on the mind and body. Slow and soothing music plays a particularly important role in reducing stress hormone levels in the body.
Additionally, music can absorb your attention, thus acting as a distraction to help you explore your emotions. Additionally, certain music is suitable for meditation, which initiates the relaxation response.
A 2003 study by the New York Academy of Sciences reported that music is a powerful tool in awakening a more positive and happy disposition in many people. Listening to music after stress may have a strong effect on reducing the post-stress response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Another study published in 2013 by PLoS ONE indicates that music has a positive effect on psychobiological stress systems. In fact, listening to music when stressed can lead to a decrease in the psychological response to stress.
A recent 2016 study from Imperial College London reports that attending cultural events may influence endocrine activity and downregulate stress. This finding was in line with 22 previous studies showing that listening to music in a controlled setting or in a laboratory or hospital can reduce cortisol levels.
When your stress levels are high, grab your headphones and enter the world of music.
6. Deep breathing
Whenever you are stressed, simply take a few deep breaths. This will provide immediate relief from stress. In fact, deep breathing is a simple but powerful relaxation technique.
Deep breathing reduces the effects of stress by slowing your heart rate and lowering your blood pressure. It even oxygenates your blood, helps your body function properly, and clears your mind. The more oxygen your body receives during the Deep Breathing workout, the less tension, shortness of breath and anxiety you will feel.
Another 2010 study published in the Spanish journal Revista de enfermería suggests that guided breathing therapy helps reduce cortisol levels in the body. Deep breathing, even for a few minutes, reduced cortisol levels.
Additionally, deep breathing works like meditation and gives you a break from whatever is bothering you as your attention is redirected to the breathing process.
- Sit up straight and close your eyes.
- Place your hands on your stomach.
- Inhale slowly through your nose and feel the breath begin to fill your belly.
- Count to 5, and then reverse the process, exhale slowly through your mouth.
- Repeat these steps for 5-10 minutes.
- If it's hard to breathe from your belly while sitting, try lying on the floor.
7. Meditation
During times of stress and anxiety, you can also practice meditation, an age-old relaxation technique, to control stress and reduce levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, helps improve several negative aspects of psychological stress.
Concentration or attention meditation means sitting comfortably and trying to focus on your breathing in such a way that your mind's attention comes to the present without moving to worries about the past or the future.
A 2013 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that mindfulness meditation had beneficial effects on symptoms of anxiety in generalized anxiety disorder, as well as increased stress reactivity and coping as measured in the Stress Challenge Lab.
Another study published in the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand the same year reported that mindfulness meditation reduced cortisol levels in the blood, suggesting that it may lead to a reduction in stress and may reduce the risk of diseases that arise from stress, such as mental disorders, ulcers stomach illness and migraine.
8. Laughter
Laughter is a great medicine and a very effective relaxation technique that can help reduce stress in just a few minutes.
A good sense of humor can lighten your load and mentally bring about physical changes in your body. Essentially, it increases your oxygen consumption in the air and increases the endorphins that are released into your brain. Endorphins improve your mood and reduce stress levels, which are caused by the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. It also cools the stress response and even helps in reducing the physical symptoms of stress.
Later, in 2008, a study from the American Physiological Society reported that simply anticipating laughter improves health, hormone protection, and also influences the reduction of potentially harmful stress hormones.
The next time you are under stress, you simply need to start watching a funny movie or video. You can even read comics, or hang out with people who make you smile.
9. Self-massage
There is nothing wrong with overcoming stress with a relaxing massage. In fact, massage is a great technique for keeping stress at bay.
Massage, which involves pressing, rubbing and manipulating your skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments, is a valuable part of complementary and alternative medicine for reducing stress, pain and muscle tension. In addition, massage stimulates sleep, which is difficult to achieve when trying to deal with stress.
A 2005 study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience reports that massage has a positive effect on reducing cortisol levels, increasing serotonin and dopamine levels in the body. Serotonin and dopamine are neurotransmitters that promote feelings of happiness.
Try spending a few minutes massaging yourself between tasks. A gentle foot massage after a hard day can help you relax. You can also visit a professional massage therapist.
10. Walking during breaks
When you feel stressed, take breaks to simply walk for 10 minutes. Walking increases endorphins, which can reduce stress hormones and alleviate mild depression.
Walking is a type of rhythmic exercise that involves both arms and legs. This is a very effective stress-relieving program when done mindfully. This means being fully involved in the moment, focusing your mind on how your body is feeling. Instead of focusing on your thoughts, you need to divert your attention to the sensations in your limbs and feel how your breath complements your movements.
While walking, make sure you breathe deeply. If possible, try taking a walk in nature, or at least in a nearby park. Nature has a calming effect on the mind and body. It also provides the added benefit of getting vitamin D from the sun.
At the end of your walk, you can even call one of your friends or family members. An encouraging voice from a loved one can help you see the bright future ahead.
A line at the checkout in a store, a traffic jam on the way home, a crush in the subway, disobedience of children, lack of hot water... Sometimes even a minor problem can unsettle a modern person. And although small doses of stress help make our lives not boring, regular nervous tension, anxiety and restlessness can lead to loss of strength and illness. To avoid chronic stress, you should deal with negative emotions without delay. We bring to your attention 10 unusual ideas for relieving stress during the day.
Count 27 items
To relieve stress, you can follow the Chinese proverb: “If you want to get rid of sadness, move 27 objects in the house.” According to Eastern practice, to reduce stress it is enough to rearrange 27 things in the rooms.
These can be small objects - books, a vase of flowers, jars on the dressing table, stationery. By freeing up space for the unhindered flow of energy during such work, a person is distracted from problems and rests his soul.
Favorite music is a source of pleasure. You can combine listening to familiar audio recordings with dancing. A variety of movements will allow you to splash out your energy. It doesn't matter whether you dance the cha-cha-cha or hip-hop correctly. To feel comfortable, you can take a dance break alone. To do this, just turn on the music, close the door and feel the rhythm.
While dancing, try to swing your arms and legs as much as possible. When stressed, the muscles of the lumbosacral region, shoulder girdle and neck tighten. By relaxing them, you relieve yourself of tension and discomfort.
Many factors and situations can plunge us into a state of stress. But you need to somehow quickly overcome it in order to continue to work effectively or enjoy doing your favorite things. So how can you quickly relieve stress during the day? As a trainer, I will say that 200 burpees are a great way to get rid of stress! But! This method is definitely not suitable for everyone!
A less radical option is a relaxing massage. You just need to sign up for it first, which requires time. Here's what you can do directly in the situation that caused stress:
1. Physically end the situation.
No, do not hit the offender in the eye, but simply leave the room in which the unpleasant conversation took place, you can go for a walk. If you can't get out and the person is right in front of you, take a few steps away from him or simply turn your attention to a funny detail, for example, funny hair sticking out. This way you will get rid of stress and improve your mood.
2. Mentally discuss with yourself the unpleasant moment that happened
“What exactly is going on and why am I reacting this way?” Accept the answers that come to you. Yes, that person did something wrong, you have every right to be angry with him. Allow yourself such emotions.
3. Remember similar uncomfortable situations in which you would probably like to behave differently.
What did you do then? Mentally simulate such situations and your reaction options in them and take this as an action plan for the future. Although, maybe you already have it? It's time to use it!
4. In any unclear or unpleasant situation, dance!
Or just find a way to move actively, because it has long been proven that active physical activity causes the body to produce endorphins - the hormones of happiness. I don’t know how much happier you will become from mopping floors, digging beds, squats, push-ups and burpees, but dancing will definitely have an effect! Because dancing is a combination of body movements with music and its rhythms. Rhythm is what has a beneficial effect on all systems of the body and on thoughts in the head.
Dance as often as possible. 10, 30, or better yet 50 minutes (that’s how long the ZUMBA dance fitness class lasts). Let these minutes be a little vacation for your body and soul. How it works? You hear hot Latin rhythms and songs that are played in class, and images of the sun, sea, and parties appear in your head. There is simply no room left for negativity. If you are not very inclined to dance, then just listen and feel this fiery music! And problems - well, a grateful, rested brain will easily find a resource for solving them or processing them into useful experience.
Massage itself is a wonderful cure for stress. But if you need to act quickly, but don’t have time to visit a specialist, you can do self-massage. To relax, just massage your ears. To do this, you need to take a comfortable position - sitting in a chair, standing or lying down. Next, you need to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and exhales, and then start massaging your earlobes.
Movements should be soft, without jerking. Be sure to walk your fingers along the contour of the entire ear, and then gently pull the lobes. After a mini-massage session, you need to relax in silence. You will definitely feel a surge of strength!
Do the plank exercise
Stress is the easiest thing to prevent. And a good tool for preventing stress is playing sports. You can choose any direction - from yoga to boxing. Regular visits to the gym have a positive effect on a person’s emotional state - along with strengthening muscles, self-confidence also grows. But even if you can’t go to training during the day, it’s enough to start doing the plank.
This miracle exercise has a multifaceted effect on the human body: it strengthens the back, improves posture, develops balance, and tightens the stomach and buttocks. But the plank in different variations also frees a person from anxiety and worry. Exercise helps cope with stress and achieve concentration.
In my experience, the most effective ways to relieve stress at work and outside of it are:
1. Relaxation - a technique for gradually relaxing all parts of the body. It can be performed while sitting, but ideally, lying down at home or in the studio, after the end of the working day. You can experiment and supplement your relaxation with aromatherapy (using oils for stress relief and relaxation: lavender, rose, sandalwood, eucalyptus, orange). Smells vary from person to person, I recommend trying the scent on sticks.
2. Stimulation - physical exercises from yoga. Exercises (a series of poses with forward bending) aimed at harmonizing 1 center help perfectly. Since he is responsible for the feeling of calm and security. Exercises to open the 2nd center (butterfly, goddess pose) help activate creative energy and see the situation from a different perspective. You can also do other physical exercises, such as squats, if you feel fear or anxiety. You can even do them in the office, during a break between calls to clients.
3. Meditation is a more advanced way of relieving stress, as it requires some preparation from the person. Meditation helps you concentrate, teaches you to discard unnecessary thoughts and attitudes, and as a result focus on the positive. Nowadays, workplace meditation has become popular in the most advanced companies that care about their employees. This technique helps the team reduce stress during the workday and improve results.
4. Affirmations that can be used to complement meditation. It’s easy to slide down the emotional scale, and therefore it is important to stop your destructive negative internal dialogue in time: “I’m a loser, nothing works out for me.” We need to replace it with new positive affirmations: “I can do it, there are so many different people in the world, I can do it.”
5. Visualization is a way of transferring yourself to another place or desired state. I recommend doing it after relaxation or breathing exercises. You can imagine yourself in a beautiful place, in a good mood, and draw positive pictures in your imagination.
Regular chewing gum helps take care of oral hygiene. It can be used not only to protect against caries, but also to defeat stress. Just 3 minutes of chewing helps stabilize the psyche and reduce stress levels. This is confirmed by the results of a study published in the Journal Of Prosthodontics Research.
The more actively a person chews gum, the faster a feeling of relaxation and peace arises. Moreover, the point is not in the chewing gum itself, but in the decrease in the level of catecholamines when the jaw muscles work. These substances are produced by the body under stress. A decrease in catecholamine levels leads to a decrease in anxiety.
Do some cleaning
Cleaning your home or workplace will help you organize your thoughts and calm your raging emotions. There is no need to wash the floors in all rooms or throw away deposits from the mezzanines or dismantle the balcony. It is enough to disassemble the drawer in the table or put the books in the closet in alphabetical order. You can only clean the mirrors throughout the apartment.
Putting order in the surrounding space is a direct path to order in the soul. After all, smiling at your reflection in a sparkling clean mirror is much more pleasant! And mini-cleaning will be an excellent alternative to physical activity.
Expert commentary
I consider changing the interior an excellent method of combating depression and stress. This method allows you to switch your attention to another problem and get rid of problems. Banal but effective actions will help you cope with stress:
1. Place a vase with your favorite fresh flowers in the room. You can place a vase of fruits and vegetables in a prominent place. Bright fruits and flowers not only delight the eye with colors, but also awaken the appetite and lift your spirits.
2. Update photos in photo frames. You can print out the best moments of your life or hang a poster of your favorite actor on the wall.
3. Add decorative elements to the interior of the apartment: candles, figurines, beautiful jars, vases, boxes. A few decorative pillows, a new bedspread, decorative napkins, and bright vinyl stickers will also help to refresh the appearance of the room.
4. Do some general cleaning. If you are very short on time, you can sort out your closet/wardrobe and throw away things you haven’t worn for a long time.
5. Rearrange the table lamp/floor lamp or change the usual arrangement of curtains using drapery clips. By the way, you can make a retainer yourself - from beads, necklaces, chokers, etc.
You can get a dose of endorphins, the so-called happiness hormones, with the help of water procedures. It has been known since ancient times that water has healing powers. It literally helps wash away stress along with dust and sweat. In addition to taking a shower, you can choose water aerobics in the pool, swimming in a pond, or taking a hot bath. The main thing is that at the end of the procedure you feel relaxed.
For water therapy, it is enough to allocate only 10-15 minutes. In the shower, it is important to ensure that the liquid first hits your head and then flows freely over your shoulders. This way she will take all the negative information with her. Your favorite scent of shower gel and shampoo will also help you calm down. The aromas of vanilla and cinnamon and freshly cut grass are the best to cope with stress.
Paint a picture
Bring out the artist in you! Take brushes or pencils, markers, colored pens and draw whatever your heart desires. With the help of drawing, you can switch your attention from thinking about pressing problems to searching for original ideas. During the creative process, you activate areas in the brain responsible for abstract thinking and creativity. And this, in turn, leads to a decrease in stress levels.
If you think that your creative abilities are not enough to create a full-fledged masterpiece, you can splash out your energy with the help of anti-stress coloring books. These are ready-made pictures for art therapy that promote relaxation. Anti-stress coloring books are popular all over the world among children and adults. You can print out a few pictures for yourself right at work to give free rein to your imagination during your lunch break.
Expert commentary
I bring to your attention creative ways to relieve stress during the day. These are art therapy methods:
1. Drawing breathing. Tracking your own breathing rhythms, recording them as lines on paper. Straight, curved, continuous and dotted, dots, dashes, commas, whatever. First, record your breathing from your current state on paper, then begin to breathe more deeply and freely, reflecting the changes in the drawing. Then compare both drawings and record the changes.
2. Drawing doodles on paper. Free movement of the pen on a sheet of paper for 1-2 minutes. If the stress is off the charts, intense stroke movements are possible, with strong pressure on the sheet of paper, as the condition dictates. After the drawing is completed, it is suggested that you examine it from all sides and think about whether the outlines of the image are similar to any familiar image? Draw the image to a familiar one, add details, as a result of which you will begin to like the drawing. Perhaps add some color, paint it.
3. Drawing in a circle. On a sheet of paper, draw a circle with a diameter of approximately 20-25 cm (depending on how much the sheet of paper allows). The circle is proposed to be filled with any patterns, colors and shapes, as your imagination dictates. It is advisable not to go beyond the circle - the form itself presupposes a closed space in which the emotions of the painter seem to be contained and held. Thus, a person has the opportunity to express raging emotions, but at the same time make them safe for himself and others.
While many people choose to boost their energy levels with coffee or black tea, cocoa is the best way to relieve stress. This drink contains a lot of magnesium. This substance prevents stress, improves mental performance, and increases a person’s emotional stability.
If you can’t make a flavorful drink, you can leisurely eat a small amount of chocolate. Preferably bitter. A product with a high content of cocoa beans also protects against stress, improves mood, and reduces distraction. Flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds are also rich in magnesium.
It is a fact!
Besides cocoa, orange juice is a delicious stress reliever. The nutritious and very healthy drink contains vitamin C, so it helps reduce anxiety. The substances contained in the juice reduce the level of stress hormones, including cortisol. Regularly drinking just 2 glasses of freshly squeezed orange fruit drink a day can help you overcome anxiety.
The connection between a good mood and touching and stroking has long been known. For example, Albert Einstein coped with difficulties in scientific work with the help of his wife’s hugs. Tactile therapy relieves muscle strain, promotes psychological relief and relaxation.
Feeling the support of loved ones, it is much easier to cope even with seemingly insoluble situations. Moreover, not only moral support is important, but also tactile support. Hug your husband, child or mother - this way you will get a little warmth and feel a surge of new strength. Skin contact helps reduce the production of the stress hormone - cortisol levels.
To forget about stress, you don't need to take sedatives. Using unusual methods of dealing with emotional stress, you can look at the problem from a different angle, free yourself from irritation and anxiety, and feel happy.
A modern person is constantly exposed to worries and mental stress, and there are a great many reasons for this, be it passing an exam or the first day at work. When stressed, the body reacts in a unique way to the external influence of negative factors. The heartbeat and pulse quicken, hormones are released into the blood, and the parasympathetic nervous system becomes active. The human body activates its protective function, since stress disrupts its homeostasis and the constancy of the functioning of internal organs and systems.
In order to maintain your physical and mental health, you need to adapt to the current conditions. In the process of adapting to negative factors, people have found various ways to cope with stress. Any negative impact can be translated into a positive direction, which has a beneficial effect on the psyche and builds the body’s resistance to stress. Let's look at the main features of stress and how to deal with it.
Physiology of stress
The concept of “stress” was first introduced into science in the mid-twentieth century by the American psychophysiologist Walter Cannon. The American endocrinologist Hans Selye made a huge contribution to the study of stress, proving that regardless of the type of stressor, the body develops nonspecific methods of adaptation. The scientist identified 3 stages of stress development:
- anxiety reaction;
- resistance;
- complete exhaustion.
Any stress begins with the emergence of an anxiety state, thus the body defends itself. At this stage, there is a slight trembling throughout the body, the so-called frost on the skin; each of us has experienced a similar state when excited. The main thing is that anxiety does not cross the boundaries; with strong anxiety, the body’s protective functions lose their energy potential, and further fight against stress factors becomes problematic.
The second stage lasts the longest and is characterized by the body’s gradual adaptation to the prevailing negative conditions. There is an active synthesis of new substances to maintain the internal constancy of the human body as a single system.
In the third, exhaustion, there is a complete loss of strength and dysfunction of the internal organs. Exhaustion of the body leaves an irreparable mark on the physiological and mental state of a person.
The destructive nature of external influence is called distress, and the positively directed stimulus is called eustress. Stress does not always have a negative effect on a person. The body either adapts to the current conditions, becomes stronger and more resilient, or collapses, leading to the decline of the functioning of functional systems.
In science, there is such a thing as stress resistance, the body’s ability to adapt to stressful situations. The further course of adaptation to external influence depends on the level of stress resistance. The lower the level of resistance, the less likely a positive outcome of stress on the body.
People with the following psychological traits are most susceptible to stress:
- with external locus control;
- with an increased feeling of anxiety;
- with low self-esteem.
Locus of control is understood as a person’s life focus on achieving results, attributing their successes to internal or external factors. People with an external orientation tend to attribute their successes or failures to exogenous factors, for example, a student was not prepared for a lesson because he was disturbed by the working TV. The internal locus of control is characterized by an orientation towards one’s own strengths, actions and skills. Such people tend to shift all responsibility onto themselves. Individuals with an internal locus of control are most resistant to stress.
A person with a high level of anxiety in stressful situations gets lost and cannot control his emotions. In the first stages of stress, significant fatigue and waste of energy occur. A self-confident person is able to take control of thoughts and actions, and direct all his strength to overcome a difficult situation.
Low self-esteem gives rise to self-doubt and self-confidence. It is not surprising that a person with low self-esteem does not believe in his own strength, and, consequently, stress resistance decreases.
And also the famous psychologist N. Kobaza identified three main personal qualities that help to effectively resist stressors:
- obligation;
- endurance;
- self-control.
Commitment refers to the ability to complete tasks and achieve goals regardless of difficulties. A committed person will find ways to adapt or avoid stress. Endurance helps you easily cope with life's problems, perceiving them as an incentive for personal growth. A person with a high level of control can more easily coordinate his actions in extreme situations.
A person’s resistance to stress largely depends on lifestyle, for example, stress resistance decreases with infectious diseases, overeating, and alcohol consumption.
Stress Relief Techniques
Any average person is interested in what to do when stressed and how to resist negative external influences.
Among the main methods of stress relief are:
- relaxation;
- meditation;
- breathing techniques;
- muscle relaxation;
- visualization.
The relaxation method has a fairly long-lasting relaxing effect. To do this, you need to mentally relax, leave all matters and problems “outside the door.” Having assumed a lying position, we spread our legs to the sides so that the toes of the feet are turned towards each other. We move our arms to the sides and take a deep breath, then exhale for 5-7 seconds. Gradually imagine how the body relaxes from the legs to the knees, from the pelvis to the chest, from the shoulders to the head. Moreover, you need to relax so that there is a feeling of weightlessness. Taking deep breaths and long exhalations,
The best remedy for stress is meditation. This method is good because it has a calming and relaxing effect on the nervous system. To meditate, you need to sit in a comfortable position, relax your muscles, take a deep breath and exhale, and imagine a beautiful landscape or your favorite vacation spot. It doesn’t matter what image or place a person represents, the main thing is that the picture evokes positive emotions.
Breathing techniques are considered one of the best stress relievers. Controlling your breathing helps you pull yourself together and reduce anxiety in an extreme situation. You need to perform breathing exercises either standing or lying down for proper functioning of the lungs and diaphragm. Probably everyone has noticed that in a stressful situation the breathing rhythm changes, thus, by regulating the respiratory process, you can successfully resist stress. With prolonged exhalation, the body relaxes and the nervous system calms. The correct rhythm of air regulation, a slow pace of inhalation and exhalation ensures effective relaxation.
Muscle tension causes discomfort in the body and aggravates the negative effects of external stimuli. Muscle tension, the place of greatest tension, blocks the body's energy potential. A person constantly exposed to stress has a hunched posture, and his shoulders and hands are tense when walking. There are several muscle relaxation techniques:
- relaxation according to Jacobson;
- muscle relaxation according to Jackson.
Muscle relaxation according to Jacobson is carried out in a sitting position. It is necessary to completely relax all the muscles of the body, feeling weightlessness and lightness in the joints and limbs. Closing his eyes, a person alternately relaxes and tenses muscle groups, starting from the head to the feet.
American psychologist E. Jacobson proposed his relaxation technique. To do this, you need to alternately tense and relax your muscles, focusing on relaxation. First, the dominant parts of the body are tensed, for example, in a left-handed person, the left side is dominant. In total, the scientist identified 16 main muscle groups, the effective relaxation of which helps to get rid of accumulated negative emotions and stress.
One of the effective ways to overcome stress is the visualization method. Many psychologists advise, in case of prolonged emotional stress, to take a sheet of paper, write down the essence of a personal problem on it (or depict it in the form of a drawing) and burn it, visualizing that the internal tension goes away along with the smoke. This seemingly simple technique allows you to use visualization to displace accumulated negativity. When visualizing, you can imagine pleasant images, remember fun events, the main thing is that your thoughts have a positive connotation.
The popular American method of “screaming into space” helps many people get rid of accumulated stress. Foreign psychologists believe that by throwing out negativity by shouting, you can quickly get rid of emotional stress and calm down. A scream can be accompanied by physical manipulation, such as breaking dishes or hitting a punching bag, so the accumulated negativity is fully splashed out.
How to treat stress
Then, when stress is protracted and a person is simply unable to master special relaxation techniques, it is necessary to seek help from specialists. For the treatment of stressful conditions, a psychotherapeutic approach is most often used. So, let's find out how to treat stress with the help of psychotherapy.
In psychotherapeutic practice, the following methods of treating stressful conditions are used:
- Gestalt therapy;
- hypnosis;
- behavioral therapy.
In the Gestalt approach, the psychotherapist helps the client take a holistic look at the picture of stress and independently find ways to solve the problem. Only by understanding the true causes of stress and the psychology of human behavior in extreme situations can one learn to resist the harmful influence of external factors.
In hypnosis therapy, the leading place is occupied by the principle of suggestion. Using suggestion, the therapist helps the client get rid of negative thoughts and emotional stress.
To the question: “What to do when you are stressed?” behavioral psychotherapy provides a detailed answer. In order to get rid of stress, it is necessary to overcome internal conflict and understand the physiology of anxiety. Psychotherapy helps the client look at himself from the outside and understand the cause of conflicts.
Stress - manifestations, consequences, treatment, prevention
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Psychologists are specialists who help us solve problems, overcome fears and understand ourselves so that we feel calm. However, they are also people and, like all of us, are subject to stress, which needs to be dealt with somehow.
website will tell you about the methods of quickly relieving stress that the professionals themselves use.
1. Write down everything that comes to mind
Psychotherapist, writer and teacher Jeffrey Sumber(Jeffrey Sumber) uses several aesthetic ways to deal with stress:
“When I'm nervous, I like to eat well. But it must be healthy food or a new dish for me. I spend a long time shopping, choosing the right ingredients, then carefully cutting them, preparing dressings and slowly, with pleasure, eating the dish. I also often post the results on Facebook to make my friends jealous!”
3. Tighten all your muscles
American psychotherapist Kevin Chapman(Kevin Chapman) uses the method of progressive muscle relaxation, which was developed back in 1920, to combat stress.
The principle is simple: After any strong tension, strong relaxation occurs. That is, you need to tense your muscles for 10 seconds, and then concentrate for 20 seconds on the subsequent feeling of relaxation.
A total of 200 exercises have been developed for all muscle groups, but using 16 is quite sufficient. Find exercises and.
4. React correctly or not at all.
Psychologist Susan Krauss Whitbourne(Susan Krauss Whitbourne) does not fight stress, but tries to avoid it in advance. To do this, she has a mantra that she repeats when she gets into a stressful situation. She says, “I can’t change the situation, but I can change my reaction to it.”
A positive reaction to a negative event helps not only to avoid stress, but also to gain some experience if you look at it as a test and learn from mistakes.
5. Stop the flow of thoughts
Psychologist Martin Seligman(Martin Seligman) advises using one simple and very popular method to get unnecessary thoughts out of your head.
Clap your hands and shout " Stop! I'll think about it later!" You can also wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap yourself with it (or just pinch yourself). Use such stimuli to stop the cycle of thoughts and postpone the problem until later, for a certain time. Then try to switch your attention to some unusual object or activity.
6. Set aside 1 hour for your favorite activities and pleasures.
Psychotherapist Amy Przeworski(Amy Przeworski) advises setting aside a period of time during which you will do only what you want. Read, draw, eat delicious food - in general, do what gives you pleasure. No work, no responsibilities, negative thoughts and everything that you don’t like and ruins your mood.
7. Stimulate the nerves
An unusual but effective method based on physiology is offered by a therapist Tony Bernhard(Toni Bernhard). Lightly run your index finger over your lips several times. This movement affects the nerves on the surface of the lips, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps to quickly calm down.
8. Try different classic methods
Of course, there are also classic methods for relieving stress and relieving tension that work just as well.
For example, clinical psychologist and author of the book “Living with Depression” Deborah Serani(Deborah Serani) during times of stress tries to give the body what it wants. “I use everything that touches the senses. For example, I can just sit in the car and listen to jazz on the radio, draw, lie in a hot bath, or enjoy delicious gourmet tea.”
) uses yoga, exercise, or just healthy sleep to cleanse the head.
Main principle
The main principle of getting rid of stress is to completely abstract yourself for some time from the problem and from any source of anxiety. And the better you do this, the faster you will recover and be ready for new achievements.
Which way of dealing with stress did you like best? Maybe you have your own unique method?
In this article I will explain how to relieve stress and tension without the help of medications or. In the first part of the article, without any substantive theoretical calculations, I will immediately give 8 tips on how to relieve stress. You can try these recommendations on yourself today and check how effective they are.
Also, in part two, I think it's important to touch a little bit on how to minimize your daily stress levels and how to become less stressed. For some reason, many tips for getting rid of stress do not pay enough attention to this. But I am focused on long-term results and it is obvious to me that The lower the level of stress you receive, the easier it is to cope with it.
Have you heard the slogan “it’s easier to prevent a fire than to put it out”? Everyone needs to know what measures need to be taken to extinguish a fire, but it is even more important to understand what needs to be done to prevent a fire (for example, do not sleep with a cigarette in your mouth and with an iron and a boiler working in your arms). It’s the same with stress: you need to be able to prevent it.
Fatigue, nervous tension, responsible affairs, relationships with people, the bustle of the city, family squabbles - all these are stress factors. The consequences of which make themselves felt during and at the end of the day, affecting us with fatigue, nervous exhaustion, bad mood and nervousness. But you can cope with all this, you just need to know, as I assure you, without sedatives and alcohol.
The latter provide only short-term relief and weaken your body's ability to cope with stress on its own. I discussed this nuance in more detail in the article. At this stage, it is important to understand that I categorically do not recommend relieving stress with any medications and this article will not talk about any medications, we will learn to relieve stress using natural relaxation methods. So let's get started.
Although it sounds banal, not everyone manages to always remember this and we begin to chew the annoying cud of thoughts in our brains about the unpleasant events of the current day and cannot stop. This is very exhausting and depressing and does nothing to relieve stress. At such moments, we are simply worried about something or trying to find some solution for ourselves to the current situation.
The key is to think about tomorrow, but now, turn your attention to something else. I have long noticed how the perception of life's problems differs depending on our physical and psychological state. In the morning, being cheerful and fresh, everything seems within our reach, we can figure everything out, but in the evening, when fatigue and stress fall on us, problems begin to take on terrifying proportions, as if you are looking at them through a magnifying glass.
It seems as if you are a different person. But it’s just fatigue and exhaustion that distorts your view of many things, you must be aware of this when assessing your current state: “now I’m exhausted and tired, both mentally and physically, so I don’t quite adequately perceive many things, therefore, I won’t now think about them." It’s easy to say, but sometimes it’s difficult to give ourselves such a sober account, since negative thoughts seem to creep into our heads themselves and don’t want to leave.
But there is a little trick on how you can deceive your mind, which wants to immediately begin thinking about a problem that now seems extremely important to it. Promise yourself that you will think about it tomorrow morning, as soon as you wake up and open your eyes, and before you wash your face, sit down and think about it intensively. This way you lull the vigilance of the mind, which will “agree” to make a concession and postpone the solution to this situation until later. I did this many times and was surprised to discover that in the morning an amazing metamorphosis took place with yesterday’s “big problem” - it lost its significance, I even stopped wanting to think about it, it seemed so insignificant in the new perspective.
Get rid of negative thoughts. Clear your head. It may not seem so easy, but the ability to control your mind comes during meditation.
A lot has been said about this in my blog, I won’t repeat it. If you want to relieve stress immediately, then now is a great time to try or start practicing different ones and see how well they relieve you of stress. But there is a second good feature here, the more you meditate, the better you become at abstracting from problems and clearing your head of thoughts, and the less stress you get every day as a result of the fact that your mind becomes calmer.
It becomes easier for you to bear the influence of stress factors, and those things that once brought you into great excitement and tension will become mere trifles for you as you practice: suddenly traffic jams, city noise, squabbles at work will no longer be problems and have an impact on you. negative impact on you. You will begin to be surprised at how the people around you take these trifles seriously and dramatically and also worry about them, as if the whole world had collapsed before their eyes! Although some time ago we ourselves were upset because of little things...
But one single meditation session also has benefits- you experience strong relaxation and forget about problems, the main thing is to concentrate and not let thoughts about what happened to you today into your head. This is very difficult to do: thoughts will still come, but try not to think about anything at least for a while and switch your attention to the mantra or image.
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During exercise, endorphins are released- hormones of happiness. By playing sports you get a surge of good mood and strengthen your body. This is a much more effective remedy than drinking beer, since the latter only weakens your ability to cope with stress, which I have already talked about and will talk about in the next article. And sport strengthens you morally: a healthy body means a healthy mind. That is, playing sports, as well as practicing meditation, builds your long-term ability to resist stress during the day.
Have you ever thought about what attracts some people to hardening with cold water? What makes them, in severe frosts, commit such, at first glance, mockery of themselves as swimming in an ice hole? And what brings a satisfied smile to the bather’s rosy face? The answer is endorphins, the well-known “hormones of happiness” (this is a journalistic term; in fact, these are not hormones, but neurotransmitters), which are released when the body suddenly cools down. It would seem that why should they stand out here?
But now I’m going to add a little to your erudition. Extreme sports are believed to be associated with adrenaline. This is true. But it is not adrenaline that provokes people to perform dizzying jumps and stunts; it is not for the sake of it that everything happens, as many mistakenly believe. Adrenaline only makes your heart beat faster, increases your endurance and reaction speed. But those same thrills, the “high” after a parachute jump, come from endorphins.
These are not only “hormones of happiness”, they help relieve pain; the body begins to release them in an extreme situation, which it perceives as threatening, and in order to partially eliminate the possibility of death from painful shock as a result of a possible injury, the release of this hormone begins, which has such a pleasant side effect.
Perhaps a similar mechanism is triggered by cooling the body, since this is also stress for the body (not to be confused with the stress discussed in the article).
A contrast shower is a much gentler and more accessible means of hardening the body than winter swimming, anyone can do it. This procedure is not only can relieve stress and improve mood, but it also greatly strengthens the body (I have stopped getting colds AT ALL since I’ve been taking a contrast shower, and my grandfather took it all his life and never got a cold, despite his old age).
Not only a contrast shower, but also any water procedures can help in relieving tension, such as a hot bath, swimming in a pond, visiting a pool, etc.
Any one you like. The pleasure you get from is also directly related to chemical processes in the brain. They are triggered by a harmonious sequence of sounds (or not entirely harmonious - depending on your taste) and cause a feeling of happiness and euphoria. Even sad and gloomy music can lift your spirits, provided that you like it, no matter how paradoxical it may sound (at least for me).
But specifically for relaxation, I personally use smooth monotonous and slow sound, the so-called ambient musical style. To many, such music may seem very tedious and boring, but that’s the whole point. Many other musical styles are characterized by intense pressure of emotions in compositions, fast rhythm and tempo, and sharp changes in mood shades. Although all this can entertain you and give you pleasure, in my opinion, it does not always contribute to relaxation due to the fact that such music bombards your brain with an abundance of notes and musical intonations.
If you are tired and want to relax, then it is better to listen to something more contemplative and “enveloping”; you may not like this music at first, but at least you will relax. You can listen to an example of compositions from the ambient genre in the audio recordings of my group in contact. To do this, you just need to join it (you should have seen the link to it on the right side of the site) and click on play, having first taken a lying position in a comfortable position. At the same time, try to relax and “stand” for at least 20 minutes, try to forget about all the problems and don’t think about anything, “dissolve” in the music.
To relieve stress, you can walk a little and breathe. It is better to choose a calm and quiet place, such as a park. Avoid noise and large crowds. While walking, again, try to relax, free yourself from thoughts, look around more, direct your gaze outward, and not inside yourself and your problems. Contemplative Exercises good for calming. Sit on a bench and look at the tree, peer into every bend, try not to let anything else occupy your attention for a certain time. This is a subtype of meditation practice that you can do anytime, even during your lunch break at work.
When you walk, your pace is slow, don’t run anywhere and don’t rush. You can combine it with sports, take a walk, breathe, get to the horizontal bars and parallel bars - hang, pull yourself up and the stress is gone!
If such walks cause a feeling of boredom, then
Tip 7 - Start relaxing on the road after work
I know from myself that even if the day did not turn out to be particularly difficult in terms of nervous stress, then all the same, the road home can be very tiring or ruin your mood. Many people don't know how to relieve stress after work and continue to accumulate it on the way home. Therefore, already on the road, start turning off thoughts about work and current problems, abstract yourself from what is happening, do not succumb to the general anger and nervousness, the atmosphere of which, as a rule, reigns in public transport and on the roads. Be calm, try to suppress within yourself those impulses that lead to you starting to get angry at someone and swear out loud or to yourself. Because all this negativity can add the final touches to your evening picture of stress and tension and completely exhaust you. Let others be angry and nervous to their own detriment, but not you!
Here is the golden rule you must learn. In order not to have to get rid of stress with all sorts of lethal means like pills or alcohol, it is better to generally minimize its manifestations throughout your day, starting in the morning. How can this be done and can it be done at all? In order to find out, first let's talk about what stress is and how it accumulates in you.
The nature of stress
First, briefly about what stress is. There is one fundamental point here. It is a mistake to perceive stress as an external phenomenon. It is wrong to think that it is caused by a stressful situation. It arises within us as a reaction to external circumstances that we perceive as stressful. Do you feel the difference? This means that stress depends on us, on our reaction, this is what explains why all people react differently to the same things: someone can fall into depression from one unfriendly look from a passerby, while another remains iron calm, when everything around is falling apart.
Based on this, one very important conclusion arises, which is that how much stress we received depends more on ourselves than on what happened to us. This is a fundamental position. It turns out that, although external circumstances cannot always be adjusted to the considerations of our comfort and balance (finding a less stressful job is not always possible or leaving the city to a quieter place is not possible for everyone), but you can always change your perception of what is happening, so that it does not create nervous tension in us. And this is all real.
How to minimize daily stress
I have already partially answered this question in my advice: meditate, this can reduce your sensitivity to external stress factors to a minimum level. Also, exercise and spend more time outdoors, this will strengthen your nervous system. If you’re too lazy to do the latter, then at least start with meditation; this is a must if you want to become calmer and less stressed! Don't, it will only harm your nervous system, so mental fatigue will only accumulate faster in the future!
You can also read my article about that. Because the less nervous you are, the less tension accumulates. It is better for you to use the lessons that are given in this article, especially pay attention to the breathing exercises, their use is precisely related to the answer to the question how to relieve stress quickly without spending a lot of time.
And finally, something very important. Be calm and calm. Remember that many of the things that happen to you on a daily basis: things at work, the reaction of others to you, random conflicts - this is all sheer nonsense!
Work is bullshit
Work is just a way to get money, don't take it seriously.(This does not mean that you should not approach it responsibly, it means that you need to determine a place for it in your life, and not allow it to go beyond the boundaries of the area where you localized it) Your failures at work cannot always be identified with personal failures: there is often a huge gap between a person and his profession, so if you can’t cope with something at work, this does not mean that you are a worthless person (of course, many companies try to form the opposite opinion in their employees: it is not beneficial for them that the employee stopped identifying with your work and became so philosophical about your failures, they want to see that you perceive corporate goals as personal goals).
Human relationships are nothing
All relationships with strangers, intrigues are also nonsense and trifles that should not be paid attention to. What others think about you, your colleagues, is their own business and their perception of you, moreover, it can be distorted by the personality characteristics of the perceiver. Worry less about what strangers around you think about you.
You should not exhaust yourself and prove something to someone for the sake of principle, since you won’t prove anything anyway, everyone will remain with their own, the only thing they will receive is a large portion of negativity. Some bad economy! Do not take part in squabbles and showdowns, where everyone does nothing but stick out their ego, their beliefs, their character. These are not the debates in which the truth is born, this is controversy for the sake of argument itself!
Try to behave so that the negativity of other people does not cling to you: smile at rudeness. This is not a call to turn your left cheek when you are hit on the right. Still, it’s not a bad idea to put people in their place in certain situations and not allow them to treat you as they please.
This advice concerns the fact that you do not need to take part in senseless swearing and showdowns in response to rudeness in transport, at work or on the street from colleagues, drivers, random passers-by, etc. In those situations from which you can leave with a smile , maintaining a good mood and not getting dirty with someone else’s dirt and without losing your position, do this (come out with a smile - a winner!), and don’t waste your energy trying to prove something to someone.
In short, if a colleague is systematically rude to you, you need to tactfully put him in his place and not sort things out anymore, but you don’t need to quarrel with all sorts of cleaners, security guards and other barrier bosses whom you see for the first and last time. Judge the situation.
Smile more!
And generally speaking, smile more often!. A smile is a magical thing! It can disarm anyone and discourage them from sending waves of negativity in your direction. Believe me, if you need to achieve something from someone, with the exception of some special cases, “attacking” a person will not have the same effect as a symbol of goodwill - a smile. In response to a “collision,” a person activates a defensive reaction and he begins to answer you in kind, even if he knows that you are right, he simply cannot do otherwise, since he is offended and forced to defend himself. Negativity only causes negativity!
But at the same time, you yourself should treat people filled with tension and negativity with condescension, who do not know how to
restrain your emotions and keep the situation under control: there is no need to respond with immediate rebuff to their abuse and attacks. I have already spoken about this, if the situation can be resolved without quarrels, then try to contribute to this. Smile at swearing and ignore it where possible. Let your thoughts not be occupied by some petty disputes.
That's probably all. In the next article I will write about why you should not drink alcohol or sedatives to relieve stress and tension.
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