There are many reasons to feel stressed, including current events, finances, work or health — just to name a few. While you can’t always control why you get stressed, there are ways to stop stress in its tracks and lessen the effects.
How stress affects the body
When you feel stressed, your nervous system enters a fight-or-flight state. It senses danger and releases hormones that cause your heart to beat faster, muscles to tense and brain to be on high alert. Your body’s natural reaction is what helps you handle challenging and stressful situations.
The problem is that stress and worry can become chronic — your body stays in this fight-or-flight state for long periods. Over time, the strain on your body can worsen existing health problems or put you at higher risk for new issues, including:
- Depression or anxiety
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Sleep disorders
How to reduce stress quickly
The less time you spend in a stressful state, the better it is for your health. It’s not realistic to avoid stress completely, but there are ways to calm your body’s nervous system and relieve stress symptoms.
Here are 6 tips to try:
1. Make a plan
It’s easy for stressful thoughts to take over, leaving you feeling paralyzed and unable to go about your day. To retake control of your thoughts, identify what’s stressing you and set a time limit for worrying about it. Once the scheduled time is up, tell yourself it’s time to move on.
If you have trouble shaking off the stress, consider writing it down. Studies show that journaling for just a few minutes a day can reduce stress and help you manage anxiety.
2. Focus on your senses
If you are feeling stressed, paying attention to what’s happening around you can be a welcome distraction.
Try to use as many senses as you can to connect with your environment. Name the things you can see, hear and smell. Take a bite or sip of something and focus on how it tastes. Use a weighted blanket to engage your sense of touch.
3. Let go of tension
Have you ever looked down in a moment of stress and realized you balled your hands into fists without even realizing it? Stress can cause tension everywhere, from your teeth to your toes.
These steps can help release that tension:
- Purposely tense your body by making fists, tightening your stomach and squeezing your leg and arm muscles. You can also work on tensing just one body part at a time.
- Hold the tension for 10 seconds.
- Release the tension and feel yourself fall into a more relaxed state.
4. Catch some cold
Taking a cold shower is probably the last thing you want to do when you feel stressed, but it might be just what you need. Studies suggest that putting your body in cold water may increase endorphins (feel-good hormones) and decrease cortisol (stress hormone).
If you don’t have access to a cold shower, splash cold water on your face or wrists to achieve a similar effect.
5. Get moving
Aerobic exercise — much like a cold shower— increases feel-good hormones while reducing stress-related hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It doesn’t have to be an hour-long sweat session, either — just getting your heart rate up with a brisk walk can do the trick.
If a slower activity sounds better, try light stretching or yoga. It can release tension in your shoulders, legs and back while increasing your serotonin — another feel-good hormone that helps regulate mood and stress.
6. Turn to technology
Phones and social media can often cause stress — but you can use them to help relieve it, too. There are many apps that can help you relax, such as:
- Calm: Choose from a range of tools, such as breathing exercises, music and mindfulness practices, to relieve stress quickly. (Costs may apply. Check the Calm website to confirm pricing.)
- Headspace: Get meditation guidance, sleep help and focused exercises to lower stress. Research shows using Headspace daily for just 10 minutes noticeably reduced stress. (Costs may apply. Check the Headspace website to confirm pricing.)
- Healthy Minds Program: This well-being app helps users develop awareness, insight, connection and purpose to increase mindfulness and reduce stress. (Healthy Minds is free.)
- Spiral Up™: This app relies on emotional brain training (EBT) to help you process emotions and release stress quickly. (Spiral Up is free.)
Contact us
If you are having trouble managing your stress or anxiety, we can help. Find a doctor at MLK Community Healthcare or call 424-529-6755 today to make an appointment.