People who are permanently exposed to high levels of stress get sick more quickly – this is no longer a secret. Increasing demands at work and an unbalanced private life contribute their part to our daily stress. Nevertheless, you are not helpless in the face of the situation. With various relaxation methods, you can quickly relieve stress and regain some well-being in your everyday life. We’ll show you several stress-relieving exercises that will help you do just that.
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How to reduce stress?
Every person is individual – and that also applies to how we deal with stress. You may need to find out which stress relief method is right for you. Therefore, we have prepared 7 different tips for you. Try the methods that appeal to you the most. Of course, you can also try your way through and decide for yourself afterwards which exercise is best for you.
Tip 1: Get out into nature, enjoy the peace and quiet
One of the most effective ways to combat stress is to take a short trip into nature. Here, very different aspects contribute to make you feel more comfortable: The silence, the fresh air, the soothing environment of a forest, the visual change. All these points help you to leave the stress of everyday life behind you and really switch off. The important thing here is that you fully enjoy the moment of rest. Leave your smartphone at home and focus entirely on the moment. Even a short trip can help change your perspective and relieve stress.
Tip 2: Mindfulness in everyday life – for your inner balance
Mindfulness is a term you’ve probably heard a lot – but what does it mean exactly? The focus of mindfulness is to be more mindful of yourself and your environment. By concentrating on the moment with all your senses, stress moves more and more into the background. In this way, you will also learn to better perceive your own behaviors in order to then actively counteract them. If you are mindful, you can question yourself in stressful situations: Do you really have to put yourself through this stress now, or will the worries possibly resolve themselves even if you deal with the situation more calmly?
Mindfulness helps you to deal more calmly with stressful moments, but also to acknowledge your own feelings. Practicing mindfulness, then, not only helps combat stress in the short term, but is a long-term skill that leads to greater well-being.
Tip 3: Just smile – reduce stress through hormones
Sounds strange, but it can make a big difference – if you just start smiling out of nowhere, you’ll soon notice how much of an impact it has on your well-being. Your body starts releasing happy hormones as soon as you smile. And that’s even if you consciously decide to smile!
Why is that? This is due to the structure of your facial muscles. The muscles responsible for your smile, when used, press on a nerve that in turn is directly connected to your brain. Your limbic system reacts immediately and sends joyful hormones, while cortisol – a stress hormone – is slowly reduced. So with a simple smile, you can help your body quickly relieve stress and put yourself in a mode of relaxation.
Tip 4: Professional sound massage against stress
Have you ever tried to relieve your stress with a sound massage? If not, now is exactly the right time to do it. A professional sound massage can be performed with singing bowls and gongs and brings body and mind back into harmony. The soothing sounds of the sound instruments and the gentle vibrations flow through you on all levels and can also release tension and stress. The sound therapist will guide you through the entire sound massage, allowing you to let go and relax. Even some time after a sound massage, you may notice how the vibrations are still affecting your body and mind, contributing to a greater sense of well-being.
Tip 5: Self-application with sound – independently reduce stress
Music helps many people to relax, but everyone has different preferences. Many people find the sounds of singing bowls and gongs particularly soothing and releasing. And even if you don’t have any experience with singing bowls and gongs, you can always easily use sounds at home in self-application to relieve stress.
All you need is the sound instrument, an appropriate mallet and a moment to yourself. As soon as you strike the singing bowl or the gong, you can already experience the calming effect of the sounds and the gentle vibrations. Follow your feelings and try out which sounds especially contribute to more relaxation. It is important that you play the instrument – especially in the beginning – very carefully and slowly. Since you are independent of others when using sound on yourself, it is a very practical stress-relieving exercise that you can use whenever you need to.
How you can integrate the self-application with sound into your everyday life, we also tell you in our blog post “Rituals with sound“. In addition, you will get many helpful tips in our articles“Singing Bowl Application” and“Playing the Gong“.
Tip 6: Exercise is good for you – relieve stress quickly with sports
In stressful situations, your body releases large amounts of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol. Stress hormones, in other words, boost performance in the short term, but can have a negative impact on health in the long term. Originally, this ability was given to us by nature so that we can quickly escape from dangerous situations. This is where sport comes in, because it naturally helps to reduce stress hormones and release happiness hormones. The tension that hormonally accumulates in our body during permanent stress can be trained off again during sports. Exposing your body to high levels of stress during exercise releases endorphin and serotonin, which then eliminate cortisol – and you finally get to rest afterwards.
Did you know that exercise not only helps lower your cortisol levels acutely, but also provides increased release of happy hormones in the long run? Those who exercise regularly therefore become more resistant to acute phases of stress. So exercise is one of the best tips to reduce stress.
Tip 7: Reduce stress with a healthy diet
Our body reacts to each dish we eat with different effects. While high-fat and unhealthy foods increase stress levels in our bodies, other foods can help reduce stress within. If you want to quickly reduce stress, it also depends on the diet.
Foods that are often considered valuable against stress are those that contain a lot of vitamin B, a high level of minerals, long-chain carbohydrates and a lot of protein. Be careful especially with foods with a high fat content, because here it depends on the quality of the fats! While nuts can definitely help you relax more, a load of fries tends to drive stress hormone production even higher. So make sure you eat a healthy, balanced diet during stressful times in your life. Another positive side effect is that taking the time to prepare a healthy meal in peace for yourself and your well-being also helps to reduce stress.
