Reduce Stress: Ten Stress Relief Tips

Authored or posted by | Updated on | Published on March 15, 2010
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Stress Girl

Flickr Commons: Image provided by Becky Wetherington

Stress is known as the silent killer, because it can cause chronic health problems without us even knowing it. This is one of the reasons why we should reduce stress as much as possible. One of the negative effects of stress is hormone imbalance. When we are stressed, our body produces certain anti-stress chemicals to protect itself from the harmful effects of stress.

Too much stress can cause our body to produce too many anti-stress chemicals. This can disrupt our chemical balance, which weakens all the systems of our bodies. Our immune system also produces chemicals to fight stress. One of them is cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal glands. When we have too much stress, it can exhaust our adrenal glands and cause them to malfunction.

If our adrenal glands cannot produce sufficient levels of cortisol, our immune systems weaken and we become more susceptible to diseases. Too much stress also causes our body to deplete certain important nutrients, such as magnesium and calcium. This may lead to premature aging, osteoporosis, heart disease and cancer. These are more reasons why we should reduce stress as much as possible.

Ten stress relief tips:

  1. Breathing exercise: Slow and deep breathing can help relax the mind, increase oxygen and focus, and stimulate the brain to produce endorphins.
  2. Jogging: Helps reduce distraction and may increase the body’s natural healing abilities. According to a study done at the University of Bonn, people who jogged for two hours have significantly higher endorphin levels than those who did not.
  3. Laying out in the sun: Sunlight synchronizes well with our body and stimulates our energies. This can cause our body to relax, which reduces stress. Avoid lying out in the sun for more than 15 minutes straight because you can get sunburned.
  4. Being in the present: The present is the moment of now. When we focus on this moment, everything becomes clearer and we tend to lose focus on the past and future. The past and future is where stress usually occurs. Stress cannot occur in the moment of now, because it is the still point between the conscious and subconscious mind. This moment of now is where balance takes place.
  5. Learn to say no: Not being able to say no to things that we do not want to do can lead to big problems. These problems, whether personal or not, can bring a lot of stress into our lives.
  6. Smile more often: When we smile, our brain releases endorphins and other healing chemicals that can help reduce stress.
  7. Think positive: Positive thoughts call forth inner peace while negative thoughts disturb inner peace. Therefore, when we have more positive thoughts, our state of mind is more at peace, which will reduce stress.
  8. Learn to forgive: When we forgive, we can release energy blockages that are causing us emotional pains.
  9. Love self and other self: When we learn how to love ourselves and other selves, we create a reality that has little room for negativity. This will help reduce a lot of stress.
  10. Self-empowerment: The more self-empowerment we have, the more we increase that power within us. This can lead to higher self-esteem, confidence, and gratitude.
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Category: Love & Emotions

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