Stress is the body’s response to challenges or demands triggered by work, family, or an event. Everyone experiences stress to one degree since life is stressful, but taking care of your long-term mental is essential for stress management. When you feel overwhelmed, more so when you are about to face a major event or feel like you cannot handle a situation, the body will respond to that stimuli in a wrong way that might result in stress when not contained well.
Even though stress is often thought of as something negative, a small degree of stress could positively change one’s life. Different scholars and professors have dedicated more time to studying the concept of stress. Most of them agree that living a stress-free life is unhealthy and dangerous since human beings need a little bit of challenge to keep them alive. However, too much stress is not healthy for one’s life, and therefore, below are some of the methods that can help one reduce stress.
1. Mindfulness and Mantra Meditation
Mindfulness is a form of meditation that originated in ancient times and helped one’s mind be aware of the present occurrences. This is vital for stress management because it helps one focus on their body, thoughts, and what’s going on around them. On the other side, a mantra helps one focus on a single target, but the common goal is to help your mind refocus in all meditations. Even though this sounds like a complex skill, you will be able to do it well with continuous practice, goal tracking, and habit tracking.
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
The main goal of this method of reducing stress is it helps one to tighten and relax muscles slowly. It is among the best practices that help relieve stress; you need to find a comfortable place, sit or lay down, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Ensure that the stomach is expanding and contracting as you inhale and exhale as you take deep breaths. Tensing specific muscles while combining deep breathing will help your body relax and thus reduce stress.
3. Yoga and Tai Chi
This is among the common low-intensity exercise that has been there since ancient times. They include physical body movements to ease stress and help in lowering blood pressure; thus, it is a recommended type of exercise. In yoga, one performs the different stretching techniques, while Tai Chi involves slow, graceful movements like dancing, but in all, one must focus more on their breathing. Therefore, proper habit tracking of this physical exercise will help mental strengthening and stress management.
4. Regular Exercise
Many people have confessed that regular body exercise help reduces stress; it does not need to be intensive; you can begin with something simple like walking, jogging, running, and hiking as you progress to more intense ones. These physical movements are very useful in the body because they make the endorphins, a chemical component in the brain that makes one feel good and thus helps reduce stress. If one creates more endorphins, it becomes easier to forget the worries pressuring them.
In conclusion, even though relaxation practices have played a major role in stress management and mental strength, there have been negative results like increased stress. Thus if the stress becomes more intense, talk to your doctor about what practice might be best for you or if they could recommend other methods of managing stress.
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