Top 5 Fridays! 5 Ways to Manage Stress

5 Ways to Manage Stress - themanualtherapist.com

Stress is a part of being human. There is good stress and there is bad stress, both of which can be shown to elevate your heart rate, increase tension, and affect your daily functioning.

It will always be more important for you to learn how to manage your stress rather than ever trying to eradicate it.

With stress becoming more prevalent given the current circumstances, here are 5 proven techniques that help many individuals manage their stress daily.

Two Minutes of Deep Breathing - Two minutes of deep breathing helps activate your parasympathetic nervous system and will elicit your limbic system to aid in relaxation, reduced fear/worry, and improved processing of stress.

Listening/Singing Music - When you listen/sing your favorite music, certain areas in your brain
known as the pons and amygdala are activated which in turn reduces anxiety, blood pressure, and improves mental alertness.

Daily Walks/Exercising More - Participating in physical activity whether it be going outside for a walk or performing your favorite exercises helps release endogenous endorphins known to improve your mood and reduce stress.

Improve Sleep Health - One of the biggest factors that relays off from stress as well as creates more stress is lack of sleep. Quality of sleep should always be more valuable than quantity and prioritizing your sleep first may reduce the unneeded stress added in your life.

Perform Altruistic Behaviors - A lot of research shows how one person’s mood is changed after doing something good for others. We typically wish someone would do something good for us, but I would challenge you to perform an altruistic behavior for someone else and see how that changes your mood.

Each technique is very dependent on the person in stress, but typically the more you do, or the bigger the task, the more likely you'll alter your stress.

So try these out and see which ones or which combinations work the best for you!

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