Five Stress Management Techniques for Resilient and Healthier Balanced Life

Stress is known to be a familiar element of today’s life due to the fast rhythms of existence.

Stress management is considered an important aspect for health outcomes among the population, particularly ones mental and physical wellbeing.

These include the following, five common yet useful stress management therapy that you can apply in managing life’s challenges:

Yoga breathing is termed as one of the most effective methods of handling stress and one that can be easily administered.

Hence, you realize that despite the surrounding chaos, you can still bring your focus on the breathing pattern that will help to ease your mind and your entire body. Here’s how to practice deep breathing: 

• Find a Comfortable Position: Now get a position where you will not be easily interrupted, it can either be sitting down or lying down. 

• Inhale Deeply: In a relaxed position and being as slow as possible, you should inhale through the nose and try to expand the stomach area. Exhale out and take a deep breath counting to four as you breathe in.  

• Hold Your Breath: Hold Your Breath: Pause the counting of the number ‘four’. This helps in optimizing a utilization of the inhaled oxygen in the body.  

• Exhale Slowly: Now exhale through your mouth but do so slowly, and then count to four. Exhale and drop any holding you may have done in your muscles. 

2. Mindfulness 

It is the act of maintaining awareness on what is happening in the present time without any prejudice concerning the action. It can also help in easing stress as it enable you to consider your thoughts and feelings yet you will not be overwhelmed by them. Here are some mindfulness techniques:   

• Meditation: They should set at least, a few minutes aside, at least once in a single day for meditating; this can be simply watching the breath or a word. If the thoughts and/or the feelings that the grounding technique was supposed to help to pull out of our mind have slipped away – gently turn one’s attention back to the grounding point. Time out may also be useful in achieving the purpose of clearing the mind and making it concentrate on the present, thus reducing stress. 

• Mindful Walking: Practice mindfulness, and take a leisurely pace, observing and waiting for the feeling of your feet on the ground, feel the motion of your legs, and be aware of your surroundings. This practice can make even a routine stroll into a relaxing and centreing activity.  

3. Physical Activity

It would also be pertinent to suggest that people exercise as it reduces stress. Exercise also wears off the mind through producing endorphins, the body’s natural stress-reducing chemicals, thus improving the mood. Here are some types of physical activities that can help manage stress: 

• Cardio Exercises: Exercise such as jogging, swimming or cycling can cause the heart to pound and take away stress. Cardio exercises work on the mechanical, nervous, and chemical level to release endorphines in the brain – nature’s own pain killer and urban euphoria.  

• Strength Training: Weight training as well as any exercise that confines a person to his own body weight can make one physically and mentally tougher. Thus strength training not only leads to increase in muscle mass but also improves the tolerance of the body to stress.  

• Yoga and Tai Chi: These are exercises, which are on their own way encouraging one to be sensitive, thus for stress control, the treatment is a two faced remedy. These are associated with normal breathing, slow and flowing movements and focus on the current process which makes them to be categorized as stress relieving activities. 

4. Positive Thinking and Gratitude 

The exhibited positive outlook can go a long way towards helping decrease your stress. Cognitive scan consists of learning which factors are beneficial for one’s life and concentrating on these factors maintaining optimism.

Here are some ways to practice positive thinking and gratitude:   

• Gratitude Journaling: Make it a habit to document down three things that you are thankful for in a day. This practice assists in changing focus from thinking about the negative events in your life and therefore improving your baseline mood and reducing stress.  

• Affirmations: Moving forward, speak positive things about yourself and or your life. Affirmations are useful for changing the cognitive thought pattern to download positive thoughts instead of negative thinking.  

• Reframing: Replace negative thoughts with positive ones and negate them of validity. For instance, change a negative self-talk statement such as, ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘This is difficult; nevertheless, I can’.  

5. Self-Care

Stress management requires one to give time to one’s self. Self-care activities are those done for rejuvenation and to lead a balanced life. Here are some self-care practices to consider: 

• Adequate Sleep: A point to note is ensuring that you get enough sleep hence ensuring your body will be able to recover from the stresses of the day. Adults should be in a position to spend 7 to 9 hours in a day sleeping. In essence, adherence to some right practices regarding the sleep that is proper timing for sleep, if one has to go to sleep and preparing properly for the sleeping process plays a great role in enhancing the quality of sleep. 

• Relaxation Techniques: Do activities that you would like to do for fun, like reading a book, taking a bath, listening to music among others. It is well known that stress is a possibility in every person’s life and often it is good to take a break between your busy schedules. 

Conclusion 

The integration of these five stress management techniques can assist you in creating a more resilient life and thus experiencing a healthier and balanced life.

Here remember that management of stress is not about avoiding stress at all but about how to handle stress. They include deep breathing, mindfulness, physical activity, positive thinking, and care thus moderating the effects of stress in your life.