10 Ways to Lower Stress

Here's my follow up on one of the last posts that I made "Stress, Weight Gain, and Illness". Today I'm going to give you real ways to reduce stress without reaching for the ice cream tub or a glass of wine. I know, breaking a habit is hard. Extremely hard! I can promise you though, that if you keep working on it, one day you'll look back and go, "Wow! I've come so far and really improved."

10 Ways to Lower Stress

#1: Keep a Gratitude Journal

Writing down what your grateful for can improve optimism and bring on a mindful mindset. Instead of being angry because of all the bad things that happened throughout the day, we focus our attention to all the things that made the day special. Anything from your exhilarating morning shower to the sun on your face or the nice person who said good morning with a bright smile. There are so many things to be grateful for and sometimes the more simple, the better.

#2: Get Some Exercise

Pumping the iron is a great way to reduce stress levels and may also, help you focus. Any kind of exercise not only allows for a release of pent up stress and frustration but, it facilitates the release of endorphins and feel-good hormones in the brain.

#3: Reduce Caffeine Consumption Reducing the amount of caffeine you consume can reduce stress (the unhelpful kind). Caffeine triggers the release of cortisol, our body's stress hormone. There's a helpful kind of cortisol and your brain releases it to wake you up in the morning or to signal you of excessive strain. Caffeine, in higher doses can only make matters worse by skyrocketing stress. Another problem with caffeine is its process of blocking the adenosine neurotransmitter from acting on the brain. This can cause you to overwork yourself without realizing it because your brain isn't getting these "tired" signals. This leaves you beat by the end of the day.

And, I don't know about you but, if by the end of the day I just want to flop into bed, I may not be in good spirits.

#4: Do Something Nice for Yourself

Doing nice things for yourself are some of the best ways to reduce stress because, even if you've had a long and stressful day, giving or doing something nice for yourself triggers the reward response in the brain. Usually we do this by buying ourselves a burger or a milkshake. Instead, do something like: get a nice haircut, be in some nature, buy luxury ingredients for a healthy meal at home (my partner and I did that last week and it really worked), or give! Sometimes doing something nice for someone else can be the best gift for ourselves. I also like to do something that I don't normally allow myself to do. That might be TV time or might be getting that burger or/and milkshake!

#5: Schedule Fun

Planning daily fun for ourselves is a sure fire way to reduce stress levels. We sometimes get so occupied being busy that we forget not to be busy sometimes. Scheduling a time for fun gives us something to look forward to and get excited about. Instead of looking ahead despairingly, you'll be looking forward to a time full of fun. Having something like this creates a more optimistic outlook and an excited, uplifted demeanor.

#6: Do Something Creative

Doing creative things stimulates the right-brain. The right brain is responsible for play, fun, imagination, and creativity. Doing creative things may not only help reduce stress but, may also help us in our day to day lives by making us better thinkers and problem solvers.

#7: Take an Essential Oil Bath There have been multiple studies done on essential oils and the final verdict made them so popular today. Essential oils have a direct relationship with our emotional and physical states. Have you ever smelled something that reminded you of someone or your childhood? Well, essential oils work in a similar way. They can trigger stress relief, pain relief, blood-pressure reduction, and can also help enhance brain power and focus. So, taking a bath with essential oils can be very helpful. If you can't take a bath, then just sniff the oils or get a diffuser. What I personally use is a spray bottle or, a "mister". I fill the bottle with purified water and then add about 10-15 drops of each of the scents I want to use. Then, I use it like perfume or a facial refresher. The amount of oil you add depends on the size of your bottle.

#8: Breathe

Breathing is a useful way to self-soothe. When stress or anxiety kicks in, our breathing shifts into a faster pace or into more shallow breathing. If we take a moment to breathe deeply and slowly, we can lower blood pressure and stress and we can also become a bit more mindful in the process. You can do this by breathing deeply from the nose and releasing from the mouth, counting your breaths, or saying "in" as you inhale and "out" as you exhale. In Laughter Yoga, we learn to focus our attention more on our exhale than our inhale. This is because we are trying to rid the lungs of stored up old and stale air, to allow fresh and more oxygenated air in.

#9: Positive Affirmations

Positive thinking can lead to a positive outlook. The way you think can affect the way you live and feel. When starting my recovery and even to this day, I use positive affirmations as a tool to heal and remain diligent in moving towards my goals. While I was anorexic, I used to say terrible things to myself to stop myself from eating. Negative self talk was all I had then. Once I changed my self talk to something encouraging and loving, so many things got easier and better. Eating wasn't torture anymore and I started to feel better about myself too. If we can change the way we talk about ourselves or, to ourselves, we can change the world around us as well. So, instead of saying, "I cant." or "I'm not good enough" or "I'll just fail" say things like, "I am good enough. I am perfectly able. No one else can do this but me." or (my personal favorite)

"Its only as impossible as you make it."

-Barbara Molina

#10: Laughter Yoga!

Laughter Yoga combines so many of the things that I have on this list. Exercise, Fun, Creativity, Breathing, and it also includes a meditation. Laughter Yoga can greatly reduce stress and anxiety, promote an optimistic outlook, promote mindfulness, and so much more. One day, I was feeling extra low and sluggish. I had to go out and run errands but all I wanted to do was stay in and wallow. So, I did Laughter Yoga on my own, all by myself. When I finished, I was so pumped and joyful. I was ready to socialize and interact. I felt so good and I was so glad I had done it because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have done the work I did. So, I felt gratitude towards myself and felt jolly for the day ahead.

Reducing our levels of stress and anxiety can help us loose weight and reduce our chances of getting illnesses and diseases caused by chronic stress and anxiety. Do it for yourself and, be the best you!

Until next time, I'll be laughing!

Barbara