Stress is the enemy of everyday life. More than disrupting your days, it is your overall well-being that suffers: fatigue, irritability, even physical fragility. Do you end your days with tense at the end of the line? Along with a balanced diet and restful sleep, a few simple exercises may be enough to ease your tension. Following are the exercises that helps to be stress-free:
Fight Stress with Breathing
To avoid the nervous breakdown, breathe! Under stress, the breath is the first to suffer, causing heart rate, dry mouth, and shortness of breath. What is the solution? Slow down breathing. From yoga to meditation courses for beginners, everyone uses this anti-stress tip: a few seconds are enough. Concentrate on your breath. Close your eyes and put a hand on your stomach. It should rise with each inhale, proving that you breathe through your stomach rather than your chest. Breathe in for a long time, to the count of five. Block your breathing for up to two. Then breathe out again for five beats and relax.
Laughter, the Ideal Anti-Stress Exercise
Laughter therapy, why not? Research has proven that laughter soothes and comforts just like exercise, with an immediate drop in blood pressure. Better still, the feeling of anxiety instantly decreases! Rub shoulders with positive people daily, smile as much as possible, and go for comedies. A simple smile can transform a situation of anguish into a blessed moment. Or, try laughter yoga. Need some relief? Make use of the internet’s resources and watch humorous videos, compilations of falls to mad animals. Target your humor and what triggers your giggles, and then abuse it.
Conquer Stress With Self-Massages
Stress strains your whole body when a simple head massage is enough to relax it. The easiest? Place the tip of the index and middle fingers on your temples. Draw small circles by massaging lightly, from front to back, and without taking off your fingers: only the skin should move. Draw two circles in one direction, then two in the other, before starting over. Focus on warming your fingers, as well as relaxing your forehead. Not enough? Place your fist on your solar plexus, in the middle of your chest, and massage in the same way, clockwise.
Also read: Reducing Anxiety: Top 3 Effective Strategies