How To De-stresss With Simple Ways Instantly
In this frenetic modern era avoiding stress is next to impossible. Whether you are working or stay-at-home, stress won’t spare anyone. However you will be amazed to know that moderate levels of stress are still not considered bad. Infact, modern researchers are probing the upside of moderated stress, and how it can help the person by using the sudden boost of energy you get when stress hits you.
Stress can be good in small degree as it can stimulate us, but when it becomes excessive it starts showing all the harmful effects in the body. Prolonged and chronic stressful conditions play havoc with our physical and emotional health. Those suffering from chronic stress become vulnerable to High Blood Pressure, heart disease and depression. Failing to cope with stress may lead to depression and dealing with depression is again a tough challenge. This is where many people including celebrities, succumb.
The quest here is not about avoiding stress, it’s actually about dealing with it and taking control over it. The utmost priority in such a scenario should be barring stress from wrecking your physical and emotional wellbeing.
You lose the battle with stress when you stop fighting it even worse you start living with it. Here are some very relaxing stress busters that can be done even on a busy day.
5 Awesome ways to de-tress yourself Instantly
1. Squeeze a Stress Ball
Stress balls are a great way to relive stress, no wonder they are sold in huge numbers and companies are minting out of it. The theory behind stress ball suggests that, when you are continuously squeezing a squishy ball you are actually redirecting the stress and anxiety to the ball and thus soothing and relaxing the tension. For better results try rhythmic squeezing i.e breathing in and squeezing, breathing out and unclenching the stress ball.
2. Visualize
Using visualization is another technique that helps you relax and de-stress. Create an imaginary refuge where you can escape from stress anytime you feel the stress levels rising. Think of you lying on a beach, doing things that you always wanted to do. Your imaginary abode is yours and has everything that can give happiness and joy to you. Try doing this even when you are not stressed so that you become familiar to your imaginary refuge. It will give you a feeling of relaxation and improve your mood.
3. Let it loose on the Floor and Dance
For this you don’t need a partner, no occasions or locations are required, two right legs are more than OK. All you need is the privacy of your room and your favorite music. Dancing has the power to improve moods. When you dance the stress hormone levels are lowered. Researches show that dancing can relieve and reduce stress. Dancing is also a form of physical workout, and like any other physical workout dancing also puts the stress hormones to ‘flight or fight’ mode.
4. Pray
Prayer has magical powers, and it really works. Sit in your room, close the door and pray to God. Prayer is a conversation with God and while praying you have the opportunity to speak out about all those things that are worrying you. You may even experience an emotional breakdown which is quite normal. Once the emotional wave ebbs down you will experience a soothing serenity within you.
5. Go Online
This may sound weird, but it is effective. Atleast for the time being you will be pulled out of the prevailing gloom. Social media can help you connect with your friends ( although there is nothing like meeting friends in person). You can play games online, chat with your friends, watch videos, find a date, trust me, there are numerous things that can be done online to beat the blues. The idea here is changing the environment and putting yourself into a difference situation all together.
Some Important Tips To De-stress
- The de-stressing activity should be simple. If it demands a lot of time and requires you to empty your pocket, you will feel burdened and the stress busting attempt will fail. For eg. Going for a vacation is a good idea for de-stressing yourself, but if it goes beyond budget you will be doubly stressed once you return to your normal life.
- It will be better if you choose activities that can be accommodated in your daily routine. If you work in busy schedules squeezing a stress ball should be your best bet.
- No matter what happens. Do not let stress take control over your mind and body.
Best Stress Relieving Activities : 5 things To Do When You Are Stressed
Stress that we are discussing today is the mental or Pshycological stress, it is an emotional tension that is normally a result of adverse circumstances and events in ones life. Mental stress can influence a person’s life in several ways like loss of focus in doing things and it may lead to serious mental illness like Depression and Anxiety. Stress can also effect the physical wellbeing by causing or influencing medical problems like poor healing from diseases, Hypertension, poor management of Diabetes etc.
A healthy and happy mind is important to have a healthy body and life overall. Any thing that disturbs your mental well-being should be eliminated from your life immediately. Remember one thing you get only one life and you deserve to live it to the fullest. Unfortunately life today has become a challenge for many, over competitiveness, higher ambitions, failing relationships, increased divorce rates are some most common factors that result in a stressful life in adults.
Also read: How To deal with Stress Of Divorce
Effects of Stress
- Anxiety
- Sadness
- Depression
- Irritability
- Anger
- Poor Healing
- Onset of medical conditions like Hypertension and IBS
Also Read : Anxiety Self Help Tips
These Five Activities Helps To Reduce Stress
1. Squishy Ball And Slime
Playing with slime is fun and it also relives stress. Grab some slime or a squishy ball if you are feeling too stressed working, playing with these for 5-10 minutes will bring back your focus. Playing with slime will distract you from that constant stressful frame of mind , it will your mind a break and recharge you to carry on.
2. Go For A Vacation
Taking Vacations help in relieving stress, most of the people come back from a relaxing vacation with more positivity and fully charged-up to take life on. Vacations are not just a luxury it mostly brings a positive change in a person’s life by breaking the monotony of stressful routines. The point here is to take a good period of relief from the daily routine, it is observed that relaxing vacations works therapeutically on those who work in a stressful job environment, a good 3 days break will also show improvement in your job performance.
So don’t just keep thinking and reading about how to relieve stress, its time for you to pack your bags for a good relaxing and refreshing trip. Basking in the morning sun on your Outdoor Hammock, reading your favorite author is certainly going to beat the blue and help you bounce back with a happier mind.
While vacations are really helpful in reducing stress, it is very important for you to plan your vacations well. A poorly planned vacation will deprive you of all positive benefits of your well deserved timeout.
3. Treat Yourself
Stress makes you feel sad and depressed, to beat these negative emotions you need to elevate your mood, indulging in activities that gives you pleasure will certainly prove to be an effective stress buster.
- Go Shop: Shopping makes everyone happy when in stress and feeling low just go and buy things for yourself and see how it changes your mood and relieves your stress, trust me many men and women vouch on this stress busting activity
- Cook Your Favorite Meal : Yes food can come to your rescue when feeling low and stressed, cook some delicious meal and call your friends over. Socializing helps in coming out of that gloomy zone stress creates around you.
- Relax in a Spa : Spend a day in a spa, get a relaxing body massage, sauna and every treatment that makes you refreshed and delighted.
4. Delegate
Many people especially women have got the habit of doing everything on their own, failure in managing everything up to the mark leads to stress. Remember you are not a machine and taking others help is not going to belittle your capabilities in anyways. Delegating your work (wherever possible)will help you attain your goals in time with lesser efforts.
Be it your work or household chores, delegate responsibilities so that you get enough time to think about, plan and execute your responsibilities well.
5. Get Creative / Craft
Get indulged in your hobbies, create something and feel the joy. Knitting, painting, dancing, cooking are some hobbies that can help your de-stress. Creativity evokes a feeling of satisfaction withing you these positive emotion are totally capable of taking over the stress. It distracts you from the feelings of stress and anxiety and sets your focus on the task in hand.
Just remember how we enjoyed sculpting with play dough, painting something as kids the same science works here, we all have experienced the joy of creativity as kids but as we grow up we usually tend to deprive ourselves from such wonderful experiences. The Art Therapy is something that helps you use the benefits of art to discover and express your creative side to reduce stress and get up close and personal with your own feelings.
A Piece of Advice
No matter how stressful and depressive life seems to you, by keeping a positive attitude and giving yourself a relaxing break you can definitely manage the stress. If things are beyond your control just leave them and allow the time take its course, learn to say no in an assertive way not aggressive. Practice relaxation techniques this really helps in lowering stress levels in day to day life
5 Tips to Sleep Better When You Have a Cold
Let’s face it, folks: sometimes when you’re feeling sick, a good night’s rest just isn’t forthcoming.
What’s up with that, anyway? It should be the exact opposite. Being sick should make you want to stay in bed longer, too groggy to move, sleeping as much as you can to replenish and rejuvenate your world weary soul.
But no. No, trying to sleep while you’re sick is a lot like trying to run a triathlon when you haven’t slept a wink in 48 hours. In other words, it feels impossible.
So how does one manage to get to sleep while they have the cold or the flu without being up half the night trying to figure out how to do so, rearranging their pillows over and over again?
We’ve decided to look more closely into the matter and see what vast array of helpful solutions we could find in order to help you save time and catch more precious Zs while you’re at it.
Here are 5 tips to help you sleep better when you have a cold.
Read on and rest up!
Drink something before bed (but not alcohol)
This may sound like a given, but drinking a soothing drink before you go to sleep when you’re feeling under the weather is a go-to fix for flu-related sleep disruption. You’ve heard of drinking chamomile tea, green tea, or some other flavor of tea just to help you find that precious boarding pass for the sleep train.
But have you ever heard of drinking Ovaltine?
You heard that right, folks: be sure to drink your Ovaltine. Strangely enough, this piece of advice isn’t just an ironic gag found in the classic holiday film The Christmas Story, it’s also helpful when you want to get to sleep when you’re sick. The magnesium in Ovaltine combined with its high caloric content will help you make your appointment with the Sandman sooner rather than later. If you don’t have any Ovaltine handy, you can always resort to using hot chocolate instead.
And, like the heading of this particular list entry says, don’t drink alcohol before bed if you’re sick. Not only will it dehydrate you, it’ll complicate symptoms of your cold or flu and make your sinuses all swelled up. Not worth it.
You Might Also Like : Home Remedies For Common Cold
Elevate your head when lying down
When you’re in bed, you’re horizontal, which means all of the congested ickiness that’s happening within your sinuses is going to make you even more stuffed up, causing sore throats and heavy coughing galore.
This is why you should set up plenty of pillows underneath your head and neck so you can avoid this pitfall of sleeping when influenza-ed.
Try a nasal decongestant
Speaking of which, the benefits of using a nasal spray decongestant to clear out your sinuses before you drift off to sleep are many.
Using a nasal decongestant – or a saline nasal spray made of salt water – won’t have a detrimental effect on your ability to sleep. In fact, it will irrigate your clogged up nose and make breathing through it a whole lot easier. Obviously, this means that you’ll get better sleep as a result. Why not go for it?
Take a hot shower
What better way to clear your head and relax your body than with a hot shower? Shower steam has been proven to be a great, natural way to alleviate congestion. All you have to do is walk in, stand up, let the water pour over you, and slowly inhale the vapors as they drift up into your breathing passages.
If you want an extra boost, try using essential oils, like lavender or eucalyptus, to cut through the rest of the blockages that the steam can’t get to. Plus, after you’re done with the shower, your body’s temperature will drop, which helps you relax and get into sleep mode more quickly.
Eat Chicken Soup for dinner
Yes, it’s cliche. But this tried and true piece of advice on how to minimize physical side effects of having a cold or the flu is ubiquitous and run into the ground for a darn good reason: it works.
Homemade or canned, chicken noodle soup has anti-inflammatory properties that help soothe your body and help it switch gears into healing mode. If you’re looking for something a little bit less Americanized, order takeout, like Tom Yum soup from your local Thai restaurant, or Pho from a Vietnamese place nearby. (If you have those things where you live, that is.)
We hope that these helpful tips on how to get to sleep when you’re not feeling so great have been somewhat helpful. If not, try to listen to your body and see what would make it feel more comfortable and ready to rest might be.
But whatever you do, you must keep this word of wisdom in mind at all times: be sure to drink your Ovaltine. Goodnight, folks!
Five Ways to Reduce Anxiety Naturally
Approximately 18 percent of adults report living with an anxiety disorder. If you’re part of this group but don’t want to take prescription anti-anxiety drugs (which come with a number of dangerous side effects), consider giving one of these five natural treatments a try.
1. Drink Tea
Many studies have shown that caffeine can increase anxiety symptoms. Try swapping out your morning coffee for some herbal tea.
- Chamomile tea contains chemicals like apigenin and luteolin, both of which promote relaxation. A study from the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center also found that chamomile was extremely beneficial in reducing anxiety.
- Peppermint tea is another great option. Peppermint is a natural muscle relaxant that is particularly beneficial in relieving tension and digestive issues that can accompany feelings of anxiety. However, it is not recommended for pregnant women.
2. Keep Your Hands Busy
If anxiety has you feeling fidgety, or if it causes you to do things like biting your nails, it can help to keep your hands busy with an activity like drawing or knitting.
You can also invest in an exercise putty set to give your hands something to play with. If you go this route, you also get the added bonus of strengthening your hands while relieving your anxiety!
These activities help slow down the heart rate and give you something to focus on other than your anxiety symptoms.
3. Try Aromatherapy
Breathing in essential oils can also help minimize feelings of anxiety.
Lavender oil is great for promoting relaxation. It has even been shown to lower blood pressure! Diffuse lavender oil throughout your home, put a few drops in your bath water, or give yourself a lavender-scented foot massage.
Vanilla is also relaxing. In fact, one study found that patients who inhaled vanilla-scented air prior to undergoing an MRI were 63 percent less anxious than those who inhaled unscented air.
4. Get Outside
When you’re feeling anxious, it’s common to want to stay cooped up inside. In reality, though, getting out can be the best thing for you.
Spending time outdoors decreases stress hormone levels, especially if you can get out of the city and into a greener, quieter area like a park or forest.
Take 15-20 minutes and just walk. At best, you’ll decrease your anxiety. At worst, you’ll have gotten some exercise!
Also Read : Depression Self Help Tips You may also try our Depression Activity Planner
5. Change Your Diet
Your diet can also wreak havoc on your mental health. Work on incorporating more of the following foods, which have been proven to improve mood and reduce anxiety:
Blueberries and peaches — they contain stress-relieving nutrients
Whole grains and oats — they’re rich in magnesium and tryptophan, which the body converts to serotonin
Avocados, eggs, and meat — they contain B vitamins that may prevent anxiety
Some other foods that can regulate and lower the stress hormone cortisol include:
Vitamin C-rich foods like oranges and strawberries
Magnesium-rich foods like spinach and kale
Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and nuts
At the same time, you should also work on decreasing your consumption of caffeine, sugar, and processed foods. They may be comforting in the moment, but all of these foods can also increase the production of stress hormones and end up leaving you feeling worse.
What Are Common Symptoms and Signs Of Postnatal Depression
A new mother as she was, joy and excitement were the emotions expected of her. Much to everyones surprise none of these were depicted by her behavior, on the contrary she was a completely changed person who was lost in the blues. This may sound quite relevant to you, yes Maternity Blues or Postnatal Depression is what I am talking about and you are thinking of.
NHS says “Postnatal depression is thought to affect around one in 10 women (and up to four in 10 teenage mothers)”
But it is more surprising to know that many women who are getting affected by postpartum depression usually have no idea of whats happening to them, and some who are able to understand that they are going through depression, choose not to talk about it owing to the social stigma “Seeing a Shrink” brings.
What is Maternity Blues or Postpartum Depression And How to Spot It
The three main symptoms that are common to postnatal depression are feelings of unhappiness, poor appetite, loss of libido, insomnia and low self-esteem.
Other symptoms common to this condition are feelings of guilt, anxiety, tiredness and loss of interest in normal activities. You could also be suffering from impaired concentration or memory, over concern or not enough concern for the baby. If you are feeling any of these symptoms for longer than a month you should contact your health visitor or GP for advice.
You may have had depression during pregnancy, or perhaps the following symptoms have come up after you delivered your baby, but whatever the scenario be PND is not a good state of mind and if you are able to spot it you must try to get over it ASAP
If you Have Postnatal Depression You may feel
Sad about things that would have never bothered you otherwise
constant feeling of unhappiness
You start considering yourself an irresponsible or bad mother even though you are doing good as a new mom
Frequently crying without any reason
feeling detached with the baby, you may find yourself just doing the responsibilities towards the baby
over possessiveness for the baby
trying to stay aloof
finding it difficult to bond with baby
withdrawing from social connections
low self esteem
experiencing anxiety
Neglecting oneself, not bothering about physical appearance and tidiness
Blaming self for everything and persistent feeling of guilt
Losing interest in everything that once gave pleasure to you
Feeling lethargic and tired all the time
In more severe cases suicidal tendencies may also occur
These are some Signs and Symptoms of PND that can be spotted by own-self or by close family members/friends. But these signs if ignored, and if the post natal depressions persists for too long it may lead to some serious mental disorders as well.
PND Related Mental Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Postpartum Psychosis
OCD : Especially towards taking care of you baby
PND can impact everyone in a different way. But the crux of the matter is “Don’t Ignore Post Natal Depression” if you are experiencing few or many of these feelings constantly, or getting worse, its time for you to talk to your health advisor or a GP.
PND is not a condition that you can cope on your own,so don’t try to keep it a secret even after you have spotted it. The first step toward self-helping is to recognize that you have PND, and then talking about it to your close ones and the most important is to seek the expert help and treatment that you need to get over it.
So Don’t just suffer alone and sink in the blue, go ahead, talk about it ask family and friends to support you through PND.
If you are in The UK you may directly approach the charities that are working towards helping people cope with PND, some charities are
PND Support – House of Light: They offer support and counselling for Antenatal Post Natal depression and Anxiety
PANDAS Foundation : Providing advice and support for Pre and Postnatal depression