It’s no secret that stress can lead to a variety of health problems, from weight gain and heart disease to headaches and high blood pressure. But let’s not forget about the little things: It can also make you feel terrible, lower your motivation, and zap your daily energy levels. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to reduce stress without sacrificing any of the good stuff in life like sleep or happiness!
We’ve put together a list of tactics to help get you back on track with feeling good. Check them out:
1. Take Time to Relax
The easiest way to lower stress is to take some time off and relax. Unplugging from the digital world can help you slow down and tune in on the more important things in life, like those dimples that say "I love you" on your partner's face or a garden full of the crunchy, colorful leaves only autumn leaves can yield. Don't be surprised if this strategy starts to feel like normal after a few days of taking it easy!
2. Find Your Passion
Stress can be especially rampant when you don't feel like your life has any purpose. When this happens, it's time to find your passion! Whether that means taking up a new hobby or developing a better relationship with the people around you (like your spouse and children!), getting more meaning out of life will help bring more positive emotions and less stress.
3. Laugh More
When you're stressed, it can be easy to forget how fun life can be. Try adding more laughter into your daily routine and you'll find that life doesn't seem as stressful as it once did. A happy marriage, for example, can help bring happiness in general.
4. Get Physical
Exercise is a great way to lower stress levels and improve mood by enhancing the production of feel-good endorphins and dopamine, which are the brain chemicals responsible for making you feel good (for more on this reason, see here). Exercise also helps you build and maintain healthy, happy muscles which can help you feel better about yourself.
5. Get Social
Just because you're not doing the same things with your friends every day doesn't mean you can't still hang out and enjoy the company of others. Try taking on a new project or hobby just for fun and it will help to boost your energy, reduce stress, and make life all around a little more interesting.
6. Plan Something
If you don't feel like your daily routine is enough to get you motivated, try making a plan for the future. It doesn’t have to be anything big—just something outside of work or home (like a fun trip or physical activity) that you can look forward to and that will help give your life some extra motivation.
7. Get a Massage
Massages aren't just for pampering—they can actually help you physically feel better, too! Along with lowering stress levels and releasing endorphins, massage can also help you relax muscle tension (like the kind you get from sitting all day at work or while driving). And in case that's not enough, it can also improve your mood and relieve pain.
8. Eat Well
You can't possibly expect to feel good if your body is full of junk. Next time you just want to grab a quick bite on the go, keep in mind that they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day—and it can make all the difference when it comes to lowering stress levels. Studies have found that eating breakfast (and a healthy one, at that) can help control cravings and make you feel more satisfied (which will then help with stress levels).
9. Talk it Out
When you're stressed, it's easy to hold on to your negative emotions and freak out about the things that bother you. But before you start getting stressed in response, try a technique called "active listening," which gives you a chance to let the other person know what's going on inside of you.
10. Just Say No
When you're feeling stressed, it can be tempting to respond by not saying no to some of the negative stuff that comes your way, like going to parties you don't want to go to or hanging out with people who get on your nerves. But when you do this, you end up making yourself even more stressed! Instead, give yourself time and distance from these types of situations and enjoy what you have with those around you (like your spouse or kids)!
11. Try a New Hobby
If you're finding that you're always stressed out, it can be really easy to start doing nothing (like sitting at home all day!) or just going through the motions in life. But if you want to get back on track, consider taking up a new hobby! Things like photography, stamp collecting and writing can have benefits in so many areas of your life.