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Stressing about stress before there’s even stress to stress about? We feel you. But you don’t need to suffer in silence any longer.
Stress can interfere with so much of our everyday lives. It can make us procrastinate, impact our relationships, affect our appetite, influence our mental well being - the list is endless. So instead of letting stress continue to stress you out, we’ve come up with five foolproof ways to relieve some of the stress getting you down! Thank us later…
Journalling is an excellent exercise for relieving stress, because it helps you articulate, understand and organise your own thoughts. And let’s be real, if you can’t understand yourself, how on earth is anyone else meant to?!
By getting all your thoughts out and onto paper, you can truly understand the root cause of your stress, and work to identify and mitigate any triggers that may be cropping up repeatedly. This way, if there’s a particular area in your life that isn’t working or serving you, you can implement change.
Also, sometimes just identifying how you feel is enough to realise you don’t need to worry quite so much. It’s a great way of putting things into perspective, and recognising, actually, you do have time to breathe. The world isn’t going to end because you took 5 minutes out to calm your mind and body.
We’re forever hearing how meditation is the bee’s knees lately, but its effectiveness in helping to relieve stress is undeniable…
A study by Headspace found that meditation reduced stress levels by up to 14% after just 10 days of consistent meditating. That’s massive!
Meditation is fantastic for helping you enter a calm, relaxed state, allowing you to get rid of any thoughts that aren’t serving you. Before you panic that you can’t clear your mind when you meditate, don’t stress! (See what we did there...) This actually isn’t the aim of meditation. Instead, focus your efforts on noticing your thoughts without judgment, and allowing them to pass and exit your mind. This helps you reduce the jumbled thoughts constantly screaming for your attention, and deeply relieves stress - especially when practised consistently.
And if meditation well and truly isn’t your jam, try practising deep belly breathing. Slowing down your breathing helps you to relax and activates your parasympathetic nervous system, allowing you to “rest and digest”. When your body feels calmer, so too does your mind.
Ever heard the saying, ‘A problem shared is a problem halved?’ Well, there’s some method behind this madness.
While it can be scary, confronting, and require serious vulnerability, talking to a loved one or even a professional like a psychologist can be so beneficial in reducing stress. Simply communicating what’s going on for you, and having someone validate your experience and even potentially offer a different perspective can completely shift your mental state.
Ever shared something that was seriously stressing you out, only to have someone blink back at you, confused as to why you’re so tense about it? It makes you take a step back and realise something that seems like the end of the world may, in reality, not be as serious, all-encompassing or urgent as you previously thought.
But even if you’re not receiving perspective or suggestions from your confidante, just talking it out can really help lift the weight off your chest. Having someone listen, and knowing you’re supported and loved, is super powerful in reducing your stress, and allowing you to be calmer and more centred.
It should hardly come as any surprise that social media doesn’t exactly do wonders for your stress levels… In fact, for many of us, socials are a whole realm of stress all on their own. Ever feel the FOMO if you haven’t checked your feed in a while? Posted a pic and then felt anxious about whether anyone would like or comment? It’s an entire land of stress-inducing activity.
When you’re feeling stressed, it’s often super tempting to procrastinate from all the things that are overwhelming you by endlessly scrolling on your phone through socials. Not only is this a huge waste of time, and compounding your stress since you’re wasting productivity on meaningless swiping, it’s actually elevating your stress levels too. Comparison culture, the intricacies of online relationships and communication, and so many other aspects of online media can be unhealthy when we turn to them in times of stress or anxiety.
Instead, studies have shown spending time in nature - whether it’s a hike, walking barefoot around your backyard, going for an ocean swim, or simply sitting in a nearby park, is really grounding and relaxing. Switch your socials for some sunlight and time outdoors, and feel your stress start to ebb away immediately.
How could we go past our favourite stress reliever of them all!? Exercise is the MVP when it comes to stress - not only does it reduce your body’s production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, at the same time it also produces endorphins - chemicals which elevate your mood and reduce pain.
If that’s not a good reason to hit the gym, we don’t know what is! Exercise can help you feel productive, and experience feelings of accomplishment, while also helping you to escape the nagging thoughts and worries in your mind while you’re mid-session. It’s an incredible opportunity to be mindful and truly focus on the present moment, further reducing your stress levels.
Brb, just running to the gym...
All in all, stress is never fun - but there are strategies you can actively use to reduce your stress levels on a daily or as-needed basis. Don’t cop it, stop it! Take action, give these strategies a go, and watch your worries melt away!
Need more mental and physical health strategies, tips and info? Hit up our blog to read up on a bunch of relevant, interesting topics and delicious recipes!