De-Stress With Six Easy Steps
Heart disease, cancer and obesity are serious health threats today. However, stress can make you sick as well. Stress elevates your level of cortisol, the hormone your body produces when you are under stress.
Sustained levels put you at risk by raising blood pressure, dampening your immune system and impairing your ability to lose weight.
Following are some simple steps to help you take control of your stress right now.
- Take ten. Find quiet, comfortable place to sit. Take several slow, deep breaths to help clear your mind. Continue breathing and repeating the word "one" to yourself as you exhale. Practice this for five to ten minutes once or twice a day. You should find your stress levels dropping.
- Tune it out. Known to ease anxiety and lower blood pressure and heart rate, music is an old but tried and true stress buster. While slow music or soothing instruments typically yields the best results, choose a style you enjoy. Make it something that grabs you and takes your focus off your worries.
- Take a walk. Any exercise, even a leisurely 20-minute walk or bike ride, can reduce stress. While you are exercising, do not let yourself think of anything that upsets you and causes stress. Rather, focus on what you are doing; the health benefits you are achieving. If you are taking a walk, look around at the scenery, if on a treadmill or stationery bike, put on some headphones with your favorite music. Whatever you do for your mind, do not let it worry!
- Write it out. Put the details of a stressful event down on paper. This may help unburden your mind as well as your body. Take 20 minutes a day, for three days and use that time to write about a stressful event in your life. Do not worry about spelling or style; just focus on getting it off your mind. When you are done with this, tear up your troubles and throw them out.
- Try an over-the-counter remedy. Siberian ginseng is an herbal remedy available in health food stores and most pharmacies. It is great for bolstering the body against every day stress. Take 100mg in capsule form, three times a day for six months, followed by one dose a day for two months. Make sure the capsules standardize to 1-percentage eleutherosides to ensure you get enough of the active ingredient of the herb. Please note however, if you are one who is sensitive to drugs and herbs, try tea, or forget this suggestion or check with your doctor first.
- Customize your workspace. Studies have shown people in high-stress jobs often are not aware of their stress level. You could be one of them. One quick and easy way to ease workday tension is to make your desk or office feel more like home. Display snapshots of your last family vacation. Hang pictures or postcards of artwork or scenes you enjoy. Buy some fresh flowers and put them on your desk. These personal touches can help relax you even on your busiest day.
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