21 Easy Ways To Relax
10th July 2015 - BY Stuart Ainis
- Herbal Tea
A cup of herbal tea, green tea is a great source of L-Theanine a chemical that may help relieve stress. Take the time to make a cuppa, take a sip and start relaxing.
- Chocolate
Just a square of the sensational stuff can settle your nerves. Dark chocolate has been found to improve mood by increasing serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain. Research suggests dark chocolate daily for two weeks is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
- Fresh Piece of Fruit
Take a five-minute break to peel, slice, and bite into a fresh piece of fruit which helps lower stress levels. Don’t worry about the anxiety of peeling and slicing a piece of fruit —stress relief is worth the time.
- Meditate
Five minutes of peace and quite is all it takes to reward the benefits of meditation. Evidence of just 10 mins of silent meditation per day can relieve stress and depression. Find a comfy place in a quiet area, concentrate on your breath, and feel those troubles disappear.
- A Power Nap
There are many times of the day when a short power nap is a nice way to relax and reboot. All you need is a comfortable quiet place and you’re on the way to relaxing, try this technique for a few minutes and imagine the pillow is absorbing all your stress.
- Close eyes and Slow Breathes
This has got to be the easiest way to relax, slow, deep breathes can help lower blood pressure and heart rate. Try breathing on a count of 10 in through the nose for 4 and out through your mouth for 6 a few times to calm the mind and relieve anxiety.
- Visualization
The phone rings, it’s the person you dream of being with, and he/she wants to know if you’ll marry him/her. “Yes!” and then—sorry, time’s up. These little daydreams, also known as “visualization,” involve dreaming up something that makes you feel happy. It’s an instant emotional boost on those bad days when we’re feeling down.
- Alone Time
Everyone who needs my time knows it is best to try and get five minutes of alone time to mentally collect your thoughts and clear your head of any negative thoughts so you and people around you stay in a positive productive place.
- Stress Ball
The days when nothing seem to go your way, when the world is out to get you and all you feel like doing is strangling a co-worker or your best friend. Just squeeze a stress ball instead to use that frustration built up in your head, it’s easy, portable and a non-violent way to relieve tension.
- Staring out the Window
Why not take a five-minute break to stare out the window. Looking at natural scenes like trees and public parks can be a lot more relaxing than staring at the computer screen.
- Yoga
There are many styles of Yoga with thousands of poses you could do at your own desk to relax. Each pose is to help each and every organ of the body, helping your mind body and soul to become more centred.
- Stretches
For a quick break from working non-stop at your computer, start taking a 5min stretch at your desk or even stand to relieve muscle tension and help yourself relax. Try a shoulder roll or a back twist stretch right from the desk chair?
- Listening to music
Sometimes yelling out the lyrics to a favourite tune makes everything seem all right. In the work place, just listening to music can be a quick fix for a bad mood. There are lots of sounds to help you relax, study or chill out such as Classical or low tone music can be especially relaxing right before bedtime.
- Burning Incense
It takes just a minute to light some incense to fill the room of the soothing lavender, tea tree, or sandalwood scent. The soothing scents may help send stress and anxiety packing by stimulating smell receptors in the nose that connect to the part of the brain that regulates emotions.
- Laughing
Are you stressed? Are you feeling rejected? Laughter is other of the easier ways to beat stress; it’s free, contagious and available to anyone. A fit of hysterics can increase blood flow and boost immunity. Keep a book of jokes handy in the desk drawer for a quick pick-me-up but beware if you have a weak bladder.
- Try Acupressure
Being under pressure to get things done can be stressful, but acupressure can help release all that tension. Acupressure’s a kind of touch therapy that works by balancing the circulation of energies through channels. Use your thumb to massage points of soreness.
- Caressing a Pet
A close and personal friend is okay, but they aren’t the same as an animal who gives unconditional hugs like a cat or dog. After a rough day, snuggle up with a pet for an instant burst of affection, since pets can boost self-esteem and even reduce the sting of social rejection.
- Sauna
Well how about sitting in an environment where the temperature is a hot humid 45 degrees and you can just sense the toxins sweat out of the body while you sit down and just sweat out all worries, stress and emotional problems that just seem to melt and drop away.
- Spa
There is nothing better than hoping into a nice hot bubbly spa at the end of the day to relax those stressful muscles and worries that affect us emotionally with jets of streaming water massaging the body.
- Massage
Most people loves massage for relaxation and there is nothing better than to release stress, tension or even toxins out of the body with a nice soothing relaxing massage to bring you back to the way you used to feel. So many styles to choose from that there is one to choose to help you deal with everyday issues.
- Dance
Go on try dancing to rid of those bad negative feelings that upsets us so much, let the sounds of music take you to a happy place where the movement of your body frees our mind. Research suggests people feel less anxious after a few work outs of dance.
