Hanging on to stress is like pulling a pot out of the oven with your hands — it hurts to hold on to, and the longer you hold on the more damage it does.
Prolonged stress does more than just sap your energy. It can trigger disease, inhibit your memory and ultimately shorten your lifespan. That’s right: not only will your life be shorter, it will also be far less enjoyable.
The good news is having one bad day doesn’t mean you have to live with it for the rest of your life. Here are 3 ways to naturally eliminate stress.
Soak In the Hot Tub
If you’ve had a bad day and need a break, let the warm water of your hot tub carry your worries away. You can make your soak even more effective by adding wine, candles, a movie, a book, or just some good music to your evening.
If you’re looking to buy a hot tub specifically for this purpose, here are a few things to look for.
First, the tub has to be a good fit for you — you have to be able to sit in it comfortably. This is really important. If the seat is too wide or too small, you’ll never be comfortable in your tub—no matter how expensive or high-tech it is.
The tub’s jets are a great way to relax and ease the tension in your muscles. For a good strong massaging soak, look for a tub that has several small pump motors instead of one large one. Smaller pumps push less water, but at a much higher speed. The number and type of jets is also important. For the best massage, look for numerous jets in multiple locations. You also want one that has either adjustable jets, or a variety of jet types.
Brain Dumps
Stress is often caused by a situation, but rather than letting it go we mull it over in our heads. Then it gets intermingled with the other issues we’re facing, the situation becomes crowded, and soon our problems have grown to almost unmanageable proportions
When this happens, it’s time to get it all out.
It doesn’t matter whether you sit down with someone you trust, or grab pen and paper and write it down. The important thing is to get it all out of your head. It doesn’t have to be right, it doesn’t need to make sense, and you certainly don’t need the answers. Just expressing your thoughts in some way will be enough. And you’ll find that having to think them through enough to express them is enough to straighten everything out in your head. You may even be able to identify a solution.
Aromatherapy
Scents can affect our actions and attitudes. Even if you don’t believe in their healing powers, you’ve probably had a smell trigger a distant memory (or at the very least steal your appetite). So if you want to relax, you’ll need to find a scent that helps you do just that.
While aromas such as chamomile and lavender are well-known for triggering relaxation, not everyone is the same. To find the scents that work the best for you, head to your local naturals store and test the various scents and essential oils. You may even find that what works best for you is actually a combination of scents.
Now, add the scent to something convenient you can carry with you, keep at your office desk, and enjoy at home. Whenever you get stressed, just close your eyes, deeply inhale the scent, exhale slowly, and repeat until you feel calm and relaxed. Need something a little stronger? Add some calming music, or maybe even imagine the time and/or place you’ve felt the most calm and relaxed.
You can relax in other ways, of course — hobbies, running, exercises, breathing techniques, etc — but those methods aren’t always convenient. And when you’re stressed, you can’t always wait until it’s convenient. But with these quick and easy methods in your arsenal, you’ll soon be as calm as an ocean.
And so will those around you.