Are you feeling overwhelmed and stressed out? Is it perhaps work-related stress? Or maybe even stress from a loved one or a relationship? (Lets be honest, it can’t be rainbows and butterflies all the time!). Is this stress starting to impact your quality of life?
Then now is time to start taking that heavy load off your shoulders. By implementing these 6 simple changes into your life, you will be able to regain a healthy balance in your life, physically, emotionally and mentally.
6 Simple Ways to De-Stress
Conscious Breathing Through Meditation
It may sound like a cliché when I’m telling you to take a deep breath in, but this simple technique actually helps to de-stress and even calm the mind by just being in the present moment. Buddhist monks have being consciously and mindfully focusing on their breath when meditating for centuries. Deep breathing helps with oxygenating your blood, clearing your mind, and centering your body.
When I go outside, I take a long deep breath in through my nose and smile and then slowly exhale. If its a sunny day then look up at the sky and note the colour of it today. If its a clear night sky then look up and smile at the stars. I try and do this a few times during any given day, and if you can think of one thing to be grateful for while doing it, even better!
Listening to Your Favorite Music
If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, taking a break and listening to relaxing music can do wonders! Calming music has a positive influence on mind and body and can help with lowering your blood pressure and reducing cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
Taking a Salt Bath
Taking a relaxing bath is a highly effective stress combatting technique and getting your mind and body to be at ease. Adding dead sea salt or bath salts can also help with alleviating muscle tension, improving certain skin conditions, cleansing your aura and more. Salts have amazing detoxifying components that encourage relaxation, stress relief, and healing.
Epsom salt is useful for lowering inflammation as well as muscle pain. Dead sea salt assists your body with detoxifying and relaxing. Course sea salt can help with cleansing your auric field if you if you dip your entire body under the water for a few seconds. Bath salts in turn can also help with healing skin conditions like itchy, flaky, or dry skin.
Spending Time Outside
This one is highly underrated but probably one of the most important. You can eliminate high stress levels within minutes by simply spending time in nature. Walk barefoot on the grass or the beach, go for a walk along a river or canal (maybe not barefoot!).
Spending time outdoors has been proven to reduce muscle tension, improve blood pressure, and boost brain activity. You can also lower cortisol levels and boost endorphin levels by sitting in the park or your garden or going for a hike in the forest.
I remember going to visit my parents in Cape Town and we went to Kirstenbosch Gardens with some of their friends. At one point we found ourselves in this lovely open green patch of grass surrounded by beautiful trees, shrubs and bushes and we stopped to rest and just enjoy the day, the company, our environment.
My dad and me took our shoes off and sat on the grass and just allowed our bodies to absorb all the beautiful energy around us: from the ground grounding us to the trees giving us fresh air to breathe to the sun warming our skin and giving us Vitmain D. It was a lovely experience and one that I will treasure always.
Getting Sufficient Sleep
Stress is a common cause for losing sleep and a lack of sleep is one of the leading reasons leading to stress. What a cycle hey?! This downward cycle results in your brain and body becoming unbalanced which will only worsen things over time.
Its important for you to get the recommended eight hours of sleep every night to help you with de-stressing and re-charging your batteries for the next day. Its also important to try and make sure you’re going to bed at relatively the same time every night, this will help with your circadian rhythm and your night time routine.
Reading a Book
Reading is incredibly effective for relaxing your body, lowering muscle tension, and reducing your heart rate, not to mention escaping reality for an hour or two!
Did you know that a study performed at the University of Sussex in 2009 foud that reading can lower stress levels by 68 percent? It works faster and more efficiently than any other relaxation techniques such as drinking a cup of tea, or listening to music.
Practicing Some Alone Time
Spending some time by yourself can give you the opportunity to reflect and reconnect with yourself. We often get so caught up in our hectic schedules and busy lifestyles that we forget to pause and take some time just to clear our minds and catch up with ourselves.
Being alone can assist with building mental strength especially if you are able to allocate some me time for yourself on a regular basis.
Another benefit of alone time is that you can use this time to do whatever you want!
I try and schedule in some alone time at least once every day, and even more on my days off. As an empath its important for me to have this time away from everyone else and just spend some quality time with myself, riding my bike, meditating, being out in nature, reading a book.
You don’t have to let go of those things that you absolutely love to do. With all the pressures of home and work life that you face every day, you deserve some time where you can do something that brings you joy. This could be reading a book, going for a walk, or doing a hobby. Start scheduling some me time in for you now.
Conclusion
I hope that these 6 simple ways to de-stress will be of some use to you and will make a difference in your life. Let me know if you have found other ways to de-stress or if you’ve decided to use some of the above options to bring more peace and calm into your life.
Sending you lots of love, light and positive de-stressing vibes,
Anthea