5 Ways You Can Decrease Stress

1. Close your eyes and take a deep breath

I know this may sound cliche but it really works. Sometimes closing your eyes may help you forget where you are or what you must do. Pregnant women are advices to do this when they have contractions. Clear your mind and take deep timed breaths. Take in a breath (5 seconds), hold it (10 seconds), and slowly release (5 seconds). Repeat multiple times. It lowers your heart rate and helps soothe your mind.

Advantages:

- decreases stress, increases calmness

- improve immunity

- lowers blood pressure

- stimulates the lymphatic system

- relieves pain

2. Drink a warm drink

Whether it be coffee, tea or milk, warms drinks have a positive effect on our minds as it soothes us when we feel warm fluid flow down our throats. Even holding a warm mug gives us comfort. Science has proven that warm things has a calming effect on people.

Examples:

- milk

- Kava Tea (calming, relieves stress, has similar effect of anti-anxiety medications)

- hot chocolate

- Valerian Root Tea (relieves stress, regulate nerve cells to calm anxiety)

3. Cut down on energy drinks

Energy drinks are supposed to fire us up to keep us going for the day. But if it is drunk unnecessarily, it has some negative effects on the mind and body such as nervousness, insomnia, heart palpitations and even mental health issues. If energy drinks have become a habit, try drinking them in the afternoon so that it won’t affect sleep at night.

4. Getting a good night’s sleep

Having ample amount of sleep can affect someone tremendously. Just this morning I had not enough sleep and was livid about every single little thing. I complained and stressed at everything. Then, I took a nap right after working out and things went well. I felt way calmer and happier. The negative feelings such as annoyance or tiredness that emerge when you don’t have enough sleep if a big inconvenience especially if you are working on a fixed schedule. It may hinder your work and create a bad atmosphere for both you and your co-workers.

How to:

- set a timer so you’ll know when is your sleeping time

- stop what you’re doing straight away and go prepare to sleep

- do not make excuses like ‘I’ll be fine if I sleep 10 minutes later’ that doesn’t work. In the end, you’ll sleep at 2am.

- be disciplined. Treat yourself well. Know what’s good and what’s bad for your body.

5. Eat healthily

I have never eaten salad as a main meal for 21 years but recently I went on a salad diet for a week and it was tremendous. My skin glowed and my output was light and soft. Meat can provide protein but many meals from fast food restaurants only provide meat, fries and a drink. We feel full after eating that but our body does not get enough nutrients that it needs so stretch marks will appear and constipation may occur.

The salad contains lettuce, cherry tomatoes, eggs, cucumber, spinach and carmalised onions.

Our diet is important for our mental health. A healthy diet is protective of our health both mental and physical while an unbalanced diet puts us at risk of developing mental health problems like anxiety or depression. I know changing your diet is hard, especially when we don’t have enough time, but taking that extra effort can really change your lifestyle for the better. I know it can be hard. I’ve been there but it’s seriously so rewarding once you’ve start and be consistent with it. If starting off with a total vege diet is hard, then change your daily meals and add in vegetables.

How to:

- replace carbs with green vegetables

- set up the salad on your own. Takeaways have large amounts of sugar and salt therefore defeating the purpose of Having a salad in the first place

- have a strong mindset. Do this for yourself. Nobody is going to take care of you more than yourself.

- learn to buy healthy groceries and not frozen or prepacked food.

6. Workout

Working out can sound like a hassle. I won’t lie. It’s going to be the hardest first week of your life if you’re not a fan of moving your body too much but it improves your mental state. Some say working out is a way of putting out stress. You relieve your stress by shredding and loosening your muscles. The feeling of accomplishment after working out provides happiness and motivates you to do better and be better. Workout with a positive goal and mindset. You don’t have to workout to lose weight but workout to be healthier. Workout for yourself, not for society’s standards. If you lose weight, good for you, but if you don’t, it’s fine too. You do you. As long as you’re happy, no one should have a say in it.

How to:

- Take the first step. The first step is most important. It kickstarts your new journey.

- Be consistent. Do not skip any days for working out. Your muscles may hurt but it will be worth it I promise.

- Have a goal. Having a goal will motivate you. Any goal is fine.

- Give yourself a reward after you’ve completed a week of working out. You can always look forward to the weekend.

- Set a cheat day. We’re all humans so we all have guilty pleasures. There nothing wrong with giving in once in a while. Just do it in moderation and everything will be fine.