All things being equal, a week-long trip to a spa with daily massages would be most people’s stress reliever of choice. Unfortunately, time and money typically make this option out of reach of most people. The good news is that there are easy ways you can relieve stress in just a few minutes, wherever you are. Let’s take a look:
Breathe
Deep breathing has been shown to reduce the levels of stress hormones in your body, oxygenate your blood, and allow you to clear your mind and focus. Typically, shallow breathing accompanies stressful feelings, so deep breathing counteracts this process. Stand up straight and breathe deep to give your brain the oxygen it needs to operate efficiently. Experts recommend breathing in deeply through your nose to a count of five, expanding your belly, and exhaling through your mouth to the same count of five. Repeat several times and feel the stress begin to melt away and your brain begin to become clear once again.
Stretch
Stretching your body, whether you perform official yoga movements or just roll your shoulders and neck, and swing your arms wide a few times, helps combat stress much in the same way deep breathing does. It opens up your muscles and lungs, fighting the contraction that can take place when under stress. Stretching also helps address many of the aches and pains associated with stress on your body caused by working at a computer, or standing on your feet all day. Include the muscles around your eyes in your stretching routine. Just close your eyes, and move your eyeballs back and forth, then up and down. This relaxes and refreshes those tight muscles around your eyes that can, eventually, cause a headache. Give your whole body one of those “cat” stretches that feels so good in the morning several times a day and feel the stress melt away. Have you ever seen a stressed out cat?!
Daydream
“Go to your happy place” may make you laugh because it sounds like either New Age hooha or Adam Sandleresque, but it works! In the midst of heart-pounding stress, close your eyes, and picture a calm, serene environment. In other words, daydream! Create as much detail as possible – hear the ocean waves, smell the seaweed on the beach, feel the sand beneath your feet. When your mind drifts, and it will, bring your attention gently back again and again to your scene of choice. A few minutes is all it takes to slow your body and your mind down, relieving stress in the process.
Walk
When you’ve got a case of the jittery, nervous, I-can’t-stop-moving-my-body nerves, don’t fight it! Take a five-minute walk outdoors if possible. Working off some of that anxiety can often give your creativity a kick, as well as help calm nerves and burn off calories. While you’re walking, don’t dwell on the source of your stress. Take note of your surroundings, think of a funny movie, or think about someone you love. The idea is to take your mind as far as possible from your anxiety. When you get back, you’ll have new energy and perspective.
Laugh
Laughter truly is the best medicine. If you’re stressed, call a funny friend, look at funny pet pictures online, watch a clip of Saturday Night Live, or simply recall a time you laughed until your stomach hurt. Funny moments can be found in many places. Dig out your favorite movie and fast forward to the best laugh lines if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing. Some studies even suggest that you can “fake it till you make it” meaning just start laughing and the funny feelings will follow. You’ll release loads of anxiety-fighting endorphins and enjoy yourself, too.
Play
Small children have the fantastic ability to focus entirely on the matter at hand, whether it’s a game of “Let’s Pretend” or a particularly enthralling picture book. Pick a book to read, build a sandcastle, roll out Play Dough creatures, enjoy the mystery of Silly Putty, cut out snowflake shapes or paper dolls, do somersaults, roll down a hill, slide down a slide, or push your favorite little one on the swings; or swing yourself! Focus on what kids are saying and doing, and try to put yourself in their shoes, noticing what they’re noticing. It’s the best introduction to living in the moment that you can imagine.
Sing
Belt out a show tune, whistle Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, or hum along to the Top 40 radio station. Singing out loud is not only therapeutic, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. It doesn’t matter if you have a lovely voice or if your voice is the nails-on-a-chalkboard variety, sing loud and sing proud. You may want to choose a favorite song from your childhood that evokes memories of days around a campfire, a school trip, or church event. Make up a new song, or sing along with a favorite; either way you are lifting your spirits while you lift your voice in song. Note: A hairbrush makes a great microphone. Try it out in front of a mirror for maximum joy!
Talk
Yes, we all love email, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. But, what about a good, old fashioned two-way conversation in which we exchange ideas, banter back and forth, even interrupt each other with an “oh, oh, oh, wait a minute… I just thought about the time…” sort of interchange? It’s natural, even desirable, for voices to stumble over each other in conversation as thoughts, ideas, even disagreements, take shape. If you’ve ever watched early black and white movies, you’ll notice the dialog is stilted, one line said at a time. This was changed later to more accurately reflect real conversation, which naturally overlaps. Electronic conversations do not overlap, and therefore, do not engage the other person in nuances and expression, no matter how many emoticons you use! Engage in a real, verbal conversation and blow off some stress.
Study
Unlike light reading to pass the time, studying a subject will engage the mind as well as challenge it. Getting lost in a fun short story is a great way to relax, but if you want to seriously relieve stress, you’ll want to focus on something that stretches your imagination and knowledge. Studies show that learning a foreign language forces your whole thought process to expand and relax as you visualize the objects attached to a new word. A foreign word to describe something we are familiar with confuses the brain and wakes it up. It’s similar to exercising your muscles to wake them up and de-stress them, only here we’re exercising the brain. Challenge your brain for just five minutes to learn something new.
Cook
It may be the aromas, it may be the taste, or it may be the tactic sensations of handling food, but many people release stress by preparing food. Whether you’re a good cook or not, the physical process of washing, chopping, kneading, stirring, and flipping food seems to take stress out of the body and mind and rinse it right down the drain along with the dirty dish water. Besides being tactually pleasant, you may also feel a sense of relief as you get a task completed – cooking dinner.
The next time stress is taking over your day, give yourself permission to take five minutes and engage in one of these distractions. I guarantee, you will return to your task at hand a refreshed and smiling person. And, smiling is the beginning of any stress reduction strategy.