5 Easy & Effective Ways to Reduce Stress

Stress management is a key component to essential health. Staying calm can boost your energy, prevent infections, keep you focused and release tension. Stress is like financial debt– a little is not bad as it motivates you to get things done, but an accumulation of it can become overwhelming and hinder your ability to effectively make decisions.

Follow these stress reducing tips for a more relaxed and happy you.

Breathing Is Relieving: Taking as little as 10 minutes from your day to focus on your breathing will help shift your attention from a stressful situation to your body, allowing you to cope more effectively with the situation.

Self Perception…Think Positive: Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical health. Louise L. Hay, lecturer and renowned author of “You Can Heal Your Life” believes that the thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences. If you’re constantly worrying, thinking negative thoughts or criticizing yourself, it will likely lead to unhealthy levels of stress. She further explains how self approval and self acceptance in the NOW are the keys to positive changes. If we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed.

Fermented Foods: Fermentation of foods magnify the nutritional value or content of that food, and are found in cultures all over the world. Enriching your diet with cultured vegetables, kefir from milk or young green coconut water, miso soup, and other probiotic foods and beverages will nourish your digestive system with healthy bacteria, and in turn, keep you feeling good.

Put It In Writing: Bottled up emotions are like volcanoes that are ready to erupt-it’s important to release the stress before exploding. If you don’t feel like talking to someone, write down your thoughts and feelings. Either way, you’ll feel a lot better by “letting it all out.”

Laughter: You may not think the laugh lines on your face are funny, but laughter plays an important role in diffusing tension. Under a stressful situation, chemicals in your body are released, causing an increase of blood pressure and heart rate. Laughter can have the opposite effect.