How do you relieve stress?

What is stress – it is principally a swift reaction of our body and is more of a physical response resulting out of critical and demanding circumstances. When the body encounters a kind of stress, it feels it is being intruded which, in turn, triggers an adrenaline rush and the body gets ready for a physical reaction, either positively or negatively. This reaction is known as the Fight-or-Flight response.

You become furious and agitated in Fight Response and your reaction invariably leans towards a showdown. In Flight Response, you become dispirited and gloomy and tend to reach towards a withdrawn state of mind. Both these actions are injurious to health and need to be addressed with proper stress management activities.

The problem arises when you are stressed unwantedly and inappropriately. With the sudden adrenaline rush, the brain starts functioning minimally, and your ability to think straight gets a solid beating. This kind of situation is harmful to health which may even initiate BP levels to increase.

How to relieve stress? You need to have techniques to counter the stress in order to ensure the relaxation of your body and mind. There are many proven ways to tackle stress and after trying out a few, you should settle down to the techniques that are well suited to your character.

Here are some suggestions:

• Meditation – Meditation without any outside distractions is necessary to bring down the stress. You should concentrate only on things happening at present, i.e. detached totally from any pre-occupied thoughts. Thinking about the past, future or any other events that have disturbed you will only develop stress. Calmness and aloofness are the required techniques. Your focus should be only on the present moment.

Although you will find this difficult initially, practice will help you to develop meditation skills. Meditation helps to mitigate tension and bring the nervous system back to normalcy. To focus totally on your meditation, a purposeful word can repeatedly be murmured throughout the session. Even if other worries distract your mind while meditating, try to bring your attention back to what you are focusing and, with more practice, meditation will become a true tool for relieving the stress to a great extent.

• Music - Music is a good option for stress relief. When in stress, listening to music to our taste has a very positive reaction as it alleviates tension and generates the brain and body to act in a relaxed state.

• Exercise – Regular exercises are part of maintaining healthy living conditions. However, a short walk, when in stress, is a good therapy as it can bring down the stress immediately and helps to bring the over-emotional condition to normalcy.

• Deep Breathing – Sit comfortably with your back in an upright position. Inhale deeply, with your feet flat and the hands on your knee. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Try to breathe in and out from the abdomen which helps to inhale more oxygen and the blood circulation becomes normal. Breathing exercise is a powerful technique in bringing down the anxiety level instantly. This exercise can also be practiced lying on the floor.

• Movement meditation – Yoga is one form of movement meditation for stress relief. With a variety of body movements together with different postures, Yoga helps to reduce stress and ensures relaxation. Walking with focus only on legs and feet is another kind of movement meditation. While walking, try to discover how the movement feels and the resultant sensation. It helps to reduce stress.

• Talking to friends and loved ones - It helps to discuss your problems either with your loved ones or close friends instead of worrying about your problems all to yourself. It can do wonders when you listen to a reassuring voice which helps to alleviate your mental pressure.

You need to develop strategies to cope with the stress. No one can avoid stress and at some point of time in your life you are forced to encounter stress whether you like it or not, although the degree of the problem can vary. You should learn to counteract to tackle the stress situation.

By mastering few of the stress relieving techniques, you can bring normalcy and a state of stability to your life.