4 Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
We, at different times in our lives, can experience stress and anxiety for many reasons. While a little bit of stress can be normal, ongoing stress can negatively affect your mental and physical health.
Here are 4 tips on how to reduce stress and anxiety:
1. Connection
All of us need to take a healthy respite to help reduce stress. One of the most imperative of these is having a connection with others. We all need friends and family that can support us through the ups and downs of life. We all need people we can entrust our burdens with but also others in life we can have fun with. The gift of laughter is a key element to decompress from stress. There is plenty of research that indicates how a connection with others can significantly reduce stress and even help elevate our moods.
2. Exercise
I am sure all of us have heard the benefits of exercise and how it can help reduce anxiety and stress. Exercise not only helps happy hormones such as endorphins in our minds it also can help alleviate our anxiety if we are feeling anxious about.Exercise helps also reduce tension in our muscles that contributes to our physiological well-being. We don’t have to have a full-on workout if we are limited on time. Get outside and go for a brisk 10-minute walk or if you’re not into the outdoors try a low-impact workout such as yoga, or pilates to get those happy hormones on the move. Exercise is vital for us to not only feel good, it helps our overall physical and mental health.
3. Sleep
Sleep not only keeps our minds and body working on all cylinders but also helps reduce stress and anxiety. Research has shown that if most people got about 60 to 90 minutes of extra sleep per night, we’d be happier and healthier for it. When we are stressed, our bodies need additional TLC to be able to recharge and replenish. When we are anxious and stressed sleep is essentially going to contribute to having a calmer, tranquil mind and can help your body naturally repair itself. Practicing good sleep habits can improve your quality of sleep and reduce stress and anxiety in your life as you tackle your days ahead.
4. Reduce or Eliminate Caffeine/Alcohol Intake
Caffeine, however wonderful it may be to give us a pep in our step, is known to be one of the contributors to the symptoms of feeling anxious. It not only can elevate our heart rates it can also induce adrenaline including aggravating symptoms such as feelings of nervousness and restlessness. (Especially for those who are highly reactive and experience heart palpitations when anxious).
Another go-to that is common in reducing stress and anxiety is the consumption of alcohol. Some people at times can see alcohol as a stress reducer when they have had a long and stressful day at work or are going through a stressful season in their life, however, drinking our problems and stress away does not work. Alcohol can impair our feelings and doesn’t allow us to feel and freely process what we’re working through. If we don’t feel we don’t heal. Alcohol is also known to affect our brain chemistry and can be a sedative and a depressant that affects our nervous system. Alcohol changes levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain, which can worsen anxiety and make you feel more anxious after the alcohol has worn off. The reduction or elimination of drinking caffeine and alcohol can help reduce stress and anxiety in our lives and help us to have healthy ways to cope.
We all can have stress and anxiety at times, but we can apply better ways of lowering them. We are well worth the time and effort in reducing our anxiety and stress. Talking to someone like a counselor or friend, going for a walk or meditation, making rest and sleep a healthy priority, and reducing caffeine and alcohol can positively affect how we feel and think. Making small changes can make all the difference so we can be healthier and happier individuals because howwe think and feel does matter because we matter!
Roubicek & Thacker Counseling is Fresno’s premier provider of individual, couples, family, and group therapy. We offer in-person and online remote therapy sessions. Contact us today to change the way you feel.