Does that exclamation and title stress you out a little bit? A lot?! Let’s look at 10 ways to reduce stress today.
April is Stress Awareness Month although I would say every single day we need to be aware of our stress.
Being in a consistent state of stress can result in insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, problems with digestion, and more. Our brains and our muscles can feel stress every second, minute, hour, and day.
10 Ways to Reduce Stress Today:
Laugh out loud
Don’t you usually feel better after hanging out with your friends, laughing at jokes, or after a funny movie? Laughing naturally makes us feel better and reduces our stress. It relaxes our minds and our bodies.
Move your body
Getting enough movement every day is important to our overall health, but even just 5 minutes of moving your body can help to reduce the stress in your mind and muscles. Exercise lowers your body’s stress hormones (cortisol), improves your sleep, boosts your confidence, and builds muscle and joint strength.
While we would love to have you reaching your daily exercise goal of 30 minutes each day, you can definitely break it up into 5 to 10 minutes here and there throughout the day to destress some. Try some of our workout videos on YouTube.
Meditate & Prayer
Meditation and prayer both help you focus and quiet your mind, leading your mind and body towards calmness and peace. Just stopping to take deep breaths in and out will have you feeling instant results. Check out some of our mediation videos on YouTube or try guided meditation using apps like Headspace or Abide.
Write it down
Writing can help you gain clarity and release some of the feelings and thoughts you might otherwise hold inside your mind and body. Sometimes just the act of writing down what’s going on in your life and how you feel will help you to know what you want to do next.
Know your priorities
Knowing what is most important to you will help you to know whether something matters to you in the long run or not. Don’t commit to more activities than you have time for and always check to make sure you are being true to your priorities with your time, energy, and money.
Be thankful
Gratitude helps us to see the blessings we have around us, whether that’s people, nature, opportunities, or possessions. Gratitude helps us focus on the positive and sets our mood in a more generous direction.
Keep breathing
One of the fastest ways to calm your body and mind is to stop where you are at and take in a few deep breaths and breathe out some long exhales. Deep breaths calm your brain, your heart rate, and your central nervous system. Try some of our breathing exercises on YouTube.
Sing a happy song
So you don’t have to sing the song, but you can! Listening to upbeat music, especially songs with a bpm of 125-135 naturally make us feel happy. Throw in a dance party for even more endorphin-boosting benefits.
Or slow it down and play a slow, calming song that helps soothe your spirit. Listening to slower songs around 50-70 bpm can lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.
Coloring anyone?
Honestly, it doesn’t have to be coloring, but finding a hobby is a great way to reduce the ruminating of thoughts in your mind and lots of people swear by coloring. Pick a hobby that you enjoy like gardening, bowling, skating, puzzles, reading, photography, visiting animals at the local shelter, etc. It can be just about anything that you enjoy that doesn’t cause you more stress or anxiety.
Be intentional with self care
Plan ahead and be intentional with taking care of yourself. Whether that’s getting a massage or a pedicure on a regular basis, plan it in advance and don’t cancel it. Maybe every Sunday you have an at-home spa day or each day when you come home you light a candle that you love. It could even be treating yourself to a small treat or fresh flowers.
Consider these 10 ways to reduce stress as tools in your toolbox and carry them with you every day. The next time you feel stressed pull one (or more) out and let it do its work for you.
Be sure to share this article with everyone you know because we all need to reduce stress in our lives.
