Easy ways to combat stress

So… life is hell right?  From your killer crappy job to the impossible race to the top, it is almost impossible to avoid crippling levels of stress.  Well… not really, it is extremely easy to continue the race while experiencing very little to no stress.  All you need to do is get rid of it all.  If you are saying to yourself (while reading this) “yea right” then you are already putting yourself into a position of negative thinking that can and will hamper your ability to conquer your stress. You may think that there is nothing that you can do to combat your stress levels but it is easier than you think.  

Causes of stress

Stress is common with everything and anything.  Some people can get stressed out by just waking up in the morning where others may have to go through a terrible time in order to feel a tiny bit of stress.  Everyone is different and everyone reacts to different events in varying ways.  Only you can determine what is causing you to feel stressed.  It could be related to:

• Work life
• Things in your personal life
• The loss of a loved one
• Lack of finances
• Chronic debt

Some people can get stressed out by just waking up in the morning. Click To Tweet  

Physical exercise

This is a great way to combat any form of stress in your life.  Any form of physical exercise can help a great deal and you don’t need to spend all day in the gym to eliminate your stress.  Some activities that count as physical exercise are:

• A brisk walk
• Taking the dog for a walk
• Cycling
• Weight training
• Play a physically demanding yet fun game like tennis
• Playing physical activity games on a Nintendo Wii

 

Social interaction

By our very nature, we are social creatures who cannot survive for very long without company.  Regardless of how overworked or stressed, you are it is vital to make some time on the weekends for engaging with friends.  This could be as simple as meeting them for an hour to discuss nothing of importance over a coffee.  

Stress journal

Keep a stress journal where you write down the things that are causing you to feel stressed, how you acted and what you did to help relieve this moment of stress.  Over time you will begin to see patterns.  

Avoiding stress

It will help greatly in dealing with your current stress if you do not allow more to creep in.  Learn how to say “no”.  This could relate to taking on extra duties at work or taking on the personal problems of a friend or family member. There are things you may be able to do that will eliminate some of the more predictable stressors.  Let’s take your journey to work in the morning, as an example.  Instead of being stuck in never-ending traffic all morning, you could try new methods of getting to work such as; taking the bus / subway, walking or cycling.  If one of these new methods proves to be less stressful than driving this should become your new method of traveling to work.  

Relax

Dedicate at least one day per week to do nice relaxing things for yourself such as watching TV, going to the movies, visiting a local attraction, read a good book or doing some work in the garden.  Whatever activity you choose should be relaxing and as anti-stress as possible.  

Mind over matter

Did you know that you can remove all traces of stress from your system in a single instant?  All you need to do is decide that you won’t be stressed out anymore, release it all and focus only on positive thoughts.  This part is at the end of the post because unfortunately, most people don’t believe that this is possible… but it is.  Give it a try.  All you need to do is believe hard enough that all of your stress is gone and it will be.