Home » Mind & Body » Natural Ways To Calm Your Stress

Natural Ways To Calm Your Stress

Your job often places you in front of computer monitors, sometimes in stuffy cubicles under florescent lights for many hours each day.

At the end of the day you leave work, cram in other jobs, cook and eat dinner, finally collapsing in front of the television and nodding off. Or worse still, you get out your laptop or notebook and do more work.

If you can relate to any of this then consider this a wake-up call! To live a truly happy and healthy life you need to take time to relax and get away from the high-pressure stress of daily living. Stress is known to be the root of many illnesses, some of which can be serious or even life-threatening, and the best way to avoid stress related illness is to combat its effects at the very earliest signs by using simple and effective management strategies.

There are lots of natural ways to calm your stress without having to self-medicate with large amounts of alcohol or resorting to over-the-counter medications. This definitely not the solution to managing stress. On the other hand, meditation, mindfulness, pilates, yoga, exercise, walking, and of course, aromatherapy can definitely help soothe your frazzled nerves and calm your stress. You don’t need to practice them all, just pick whichever solution you find the easiest and make a part of your life.

Get out more

If you didn’t have a tranquil nature scene on your screen saver, you most likely wouldn’t see much of the great outdoors at all! A drawer full of anti-acids and paracetamol for your stress and tension isn’t a fraction as good as spending time outdoors, either walking or just taking in the view.

Walking is a great way to ease both mental and physical stress, and apart from being your body’s most natural form of exercise it is also safe, simple, and best of all it costs you absolutely nothing. Research has shown that walking can reduce the risk of numerous serious conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, hip fractures and even glaucoma.

If walking doesn’t appeal to you, take your lunch and go eat outside in the fresh air or you could drive to a park and have lunch there. Instead of taking a coffee break go outside and walk around the parking lot. You’ll get more healthful energy from fifteen minutes outdoors than a triple shot in a latte!

Essential oils for stress

It’s been scientifically proven that essential oils have powerful effect on both your physical body and your mind, and clinical research has repeatedly proven that when the correct essential oils are used correctly they can be used to soothe calm stress and many of its physical manifestations.

Relaxing in an aromatherapy bath containing essential oils is one of the most pleasurable natural solutions to calming your stress, and it requires no effort on your part either! Choose relaxing essential oils such as Roman chamomile, clary sage, frankincense, lavender, sandalwood or ylang ylang to add to a bath for a deeply relaxing and de-stressing home treatment.

A back massage is another highly effective way to soothe stress at the end of a challenging day, and if you can’t get an appointment with a qualified aromatherapist why not offer to swap massages with your partner or a friend? Alternatively, apply your de-stress blend yourself to arms, legs or torso and let the essential oils work their magic.

Always carry a couple of the essential oils mentioned above with you so that when you’re at work and feel stress levels rising you can add a couple of drops to a tissue and inhale deeply. These specific essential oils all have the ability to slow down breathing, ease agitation and bring back a sense of calm when you feel overwhelmed. If you’re at home add the essential oils to your diffuser or burner and the beautiful aromas will create a soothing atmosphere the whole family will enjoy.

Try meditation

One of the best ways to relax and de-stress is to learn how to meditate because it brings a wide range of recognized health benefits. Researchers have recently discovered that practitioners of this ancient art not only reduced their levels of stress, but they also developed improved immunity efficacy, lower inflammation levels, and decreased pain. Brain-imaging studies also reveal that meditation sharpens attention and improves memory.

To practice meditation you simply repeat a word or ‘mantra’ in your mind for about 15-20 minutes, which helps to calm your mind by blocking out anxieties and worries. Basically, you give your brain something else to focus on, instead of whatever is stressing you. And you don’t have to sit crosslegged in the lotus position to meditate, you can sit comfortably in a chair or even laying on a bed – the main thing is to just relax and clear your mind.
Meditation can dramatically reduce the stress in your life as you learn to calm and focus your mind with a little discipline, and be sure to enhance your yoga experience with essential oils to get the maximum benefits. Learn more about all the benefits in our article, making time for meditation.

Stretch and bend

The ancient Hindu discipline of yoga is now practiced around the world as a great way to relax and keep fit, but it actually offers much more. In a recent study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress after which they practiced relaxation techniques such as listening to the sounds of nature or classical music. Only those who practiced yoga were able to significantly reduce the time it took for their blood pressures to return back to normal.

There is far more to yoga than just a few stretching exercises. When practiced properly, it helps bring about a state of spiritual awareness and tranquillity, which for devotees can become a way of life. The huge range of benefits yoga can bring into every aspect of your life can not be overstated, and I can personally recommend it as a method of stress reduction.