No matter how good you are at stress management, at certain points everyone deals with too much stress and/or anxiety. Sometimes our stress and anxiety can feel overwhelming. Today I am going to give you 5 techniques to give yourself some space from whatever it is that is causing stress. When people get space from their stressors they often can come back to whatever challenge they are facing with a more positive mindset and energy.
1. Physical Activity
This can be anything from a walk on the beach to a pickup game of basketball to an intense workout. Any physical activity will help with stress. However, personally I like to go really hard when I am stressed. After all, its pretty difficult to focus on stress when you are sweating, sucking wind and in minor physical discomfort from working out hard. My favorite workouts for stress relief are surfing, a hike up a steep mountain and circuit weight training.
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Breathing Exercises
There are lots of great breathing exercises that can help you relax so that you can reset your mind and take a little break from whatever challenge you are facing. One really simple technique is simply to take at least 3 DEEP BREATHS. This will be especially effective if you breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
There are also some slightly more involved breathing exercises that can also be great such this one here…
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Breath through your diaphragm.
Learning to breath through your diaphragm is a great way to manage stress long term and also helps with blood pressure and focus.
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Laugh A Lot.
I can’t imagine being stressed out and laughing at the same time. As it turns out laughing offers major stress relief as well as several other health benefits. So, if you can make yourself laugh, you can reduce feelings of stress. Laughter is so great for stress relief, people in India go to laughing clubs as you can see in this video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVprEjfjiIE
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Stretch.
Just standing up, reaching for the sky and then touching your toes can provide a break from your thought pattern and a relief from stress. Next time you are stressed out, try it. If you have a little more time you could even do some yoga like in this ten minute yoga video.
Stress Management
Working with stress in your life longer term is also really important. The following are just a few of the stress management techniques you can try.
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Keep a Calendar of Upcoming Events and Due Dates.
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Positive Thinking
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Practice Meditation as seen in this video here…
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Talk to a trusted friend about your stress and if your stress seems out of control, get help from a counselor or trusted adult.
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If possible eliminate the source of the stress.
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Listen to Awesome Music.