Stress is anything that triggers a physical or emotional response. It is a constant challenge that everyone deals with. Stress is caused by four primary sources; the environment you live in (noise pollution, land pollution, air pollution, weather or traffic), physiological (illness, sleep deprivation, not the right nutrition or hormones), your own thoughts (negative self-talk, the idea of being perfect or what you think of yourself) and social stressors (finances, social events or work demands).
Not all stress is bad. It is healthy to stress about important things in life such as acing a test you studied really hard for or an interview for a job you really want. When someone starts to stress an excessive amount is when stress becomes unhealthy and detrimental to your well-being.
Everyone has different responses to stress and different ways to cope with stress. Stress takes a serious toll on your body physically, emotionally and mentally. Physically, stress triggers your "fight or flight" response and it stays in that state until you either "fight" the problem causing your stress or "fly" from the problem causing your stress. Emotionally, stress can cause your anxiety, depression, resilience and can cause you fear based on your personality type (Type A or B). From a mental perspective, stress can cause you to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and prolonged anxiety. When we become stressed it affects our cardiovascular system, our psychological health, our immune system, our digestive system and can cause migraines.
Though stress is something we will always have and even though it causes us a lot of problems stress is one of the things in our lives that we actually have control over and we can manage it!
I know no one enjoys being stressed out so why would you not want to find ways to lower your stress levels and better your physical, emotional, and mental health? Ways you can help to manage your stress is to eat healthy, get enough sleep and exercise but, what is that is not enough?
Well here are sixty other ways you can relieve stress:
1. Manage your time
2. Progressive relaxation
3. Buy yourself flowers
4. Meditation
5. Talk to a stranger
6. Yoga
7. Tai Chi
8. Biofeedback
9. Talk to someone
10. Prepare for mornings the night before
11. Say "no" more often
12. Set short term and long term goals for yourself
13. Take a bubble bath
14. Play with some dogs
15. Cuddle with some cats
16. Take a nap
17. Have a 30 second dance party
18. Visualization
19. Deep breathing
20. text an old friend
21. Call your mom or dad (my personal favorite)
22. Don't procrastinate
23. Plan ahead
24. Read a book
25. Plant some flowers
26. Go watch a ball game
27. Scream into a pillow
28. Go on a picnic
29. Listen to new music
30. Write a letter to yourself or to someone you care about
31. Clean out drawers
32. Clean your room
33. Stretch
34. Get a massage
35. Remember to smile
36. Compliment someone
37. Remember to smile (it takes more muscles to from than to smile)
38. Stargaze
39. Schedule out your day
40. Avoid negative people
41. Chew gum
42. Always look for the positive
43. Always look for the good in people
44. Babysit
45. Get up early or go to bed early
46. Write down important information
47. Play in the rain
48. Swing on a swing
49. Tell a joke
50. Invest in a stress ball
51. Always look for new opportunities
52. Watch a movie
53. Watch the sunrise or the sunset
54. Go for a hike
55. Go to a quiet place and reflect
56. Stop a bad habit
57. Watch funny cat videos on YouTube
58. Talk less and listen more
59. Believe in yourself
60. Live in the moment
