Top Tips For Relaxing
Stress can cause a person a myriad of problems, and the idea of stress causing you problems can, in turn, sometimes cause you to feel even more stressed — which can be something of a Catch-22 situation.
However, here at Cassiobury Court we want to give you some easy coping strategies and best relaxation tip for stress management to help you through your daily life.
Knowing how to destress and avoid the toll that internalised stress can take on your body and the mental health issues that it can spawn and propagate.
A lot of us do not realise the benefits that we can be reaping by taking a little time to think about the stress triggers and emotional triggers that we may be dealing with on a daily basis — and also thinking about some tips to relax that we can employ to be healthier and less prone to the effects of stress.
What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Relaxation
There are a whole host of various physical and psychological health benefits associated with relaxation techniques and tips. These health advantages may vary from person to person, but they can commonly include such things as a lower heart rate and/or blood pressure, improved digestion, better blood sugar regulation, reduction in muscle tensions and chronic pain, a more positive mood and levels of concentration, better quality of sleep, lower levels of frustration and/or anger, and more.
Before we go through some tips on how to relax and destress, it is important to also note that you will likely be able to experience the most positive benefits from these physical and mental relaxation tips if they are done in tandem with other positive coping strategies in your daily life such as filling your days with more laughter, managing your time better, eating slightly healthier, and talking to your family and friends when you can. These lifestyle factors hand in hand with the relaxation tips below will help improve your quality of life on a day-to-day basis.
Detach From Technology For A While
Technology can be a fantastic way for you to connect with your friends and family; however, the constant level of connectedness to the rest of the world that we experience as a result of technology can be very overbearing and stressful in itself. This can be especially true due to the fact that most of us now have smart phones with us at all times.
One of the best things you can do to destress can be to switch off your phone for an hour, or more, per day. This technological detox will also be most effective if you remove yourself from TV, your laptop, any technology whatsoever.
Using the time that you have free from technology can not only have its own inherent positives to your mental health, but it can also be a great time to try some of the other tips below.
Try Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises can be of paramount importance when it comes to dealing with stress and avoiding panic attacks when you feel like one may be beginning. Breathing exercises are also easy to do and they can take only a few minutes — or you can do them for longer if you so wish.
Something as simple as counting your breaths while taking deep inhalations and exhalations can be a breathing exercise. However, one of the amazingly effective breathing exercises that is advocated by the NHS is this easy exercise:
- Allow your breath to course as deeply into your lungs as is possible without it feeling uncomfortable.
- Inhale and exhale with these large, deep breaths in through your nose and then out through your mouth.
- Keep your breaths gentle, yet deep, and regular. It can also be helpful for some people to mentally count from one to five as you are inhaling or exhaling. (If you cannot reach five without running out of breath this is okay)
- Repeat this exercise for three to five minutes — or for longer if you feel that you would like.
Listen To Music That You Like
This one may seem a little obvious, but something as simple as removing yourself from a situation, finding a space for yourself, and listening to music that you find pleasure in can be a fantastic way to destress.
While you are listening to music, try to really focus on the music and nothing else in the world around you — perhaps try and focus on the specifics of a chord progression or riff that you find particularly engaging or enjoyable.
Engage With “Active Relaxation”
While sitting and engaging with breathing exercises or listening to music can be a great way to relax, relaxation can also come in the form of physical exercise.
Going for a walk can not only help you to clear your head while also getting exercise. Alternatively, you can also look up classes to attend. This could include the likes of Yoga classes or pilates.
Avoid Unhealthy Behaviours/Habits
Unhealthy tendencies such as smoking, drinking, taking drugs, gambling, excessive caffeine consumption, and much more can all be ways of coping with the stress triggers and emotional triggers that present themselves throughout a person’s day-to-day life.
However, finding healthier alternatives to these tendencies will help you in the long-term both physically and mentally — as the negative coping mechanisms mentioned above are not sustainable coping mechanisms by any means and can be dangerous to your body, your mind, and the people around you.
Guided Meditation
Guided meditation can utilise your imagination as a way to detach from the chaos of life around you. Guided meditation is also now much more readily accessible for everyone, mainly through the wonderful wealth of great apps out there able to help everyone access resources to help with guided meditation.
Sure, switching off from technology can be good for a time, but there are still some positives to technology that can help alleviated out stress.
These apps recommended by healthline can not only can help with the likes of guided meditation but also with mindfulness and helping you to relax.
