How to Decrease Your Stress Levels

Stress is a major cause of heart disease; the problem is life gets more stressful as we age and gain more responsibility.

In fact, 70% of North Americans say they feel consistent stress and anxiety on a daily basis.

Luckily there are steps you can take to make your everyday life less stressful. Here are our top ten ways to relieve stress and anxiety from your life other than exercising and eating healthy.

 

  1. Decease your caffeine intake

If you haven’t noticed caffeine makes you jittery and awake, it is technically a drug.

Large quantities of caffeine can increase stress and anxiety. The amount that is considered a high quality can significantly differ.

The average North American drinks 3.2 cups (28.8 Oz) of coffee a day.

By eliminating or moderating your caffeine intake you are limiting the amount of anxiety your body and mind put upon itself. 

  1. Write About What’s Stressing You Out

Recording your thoughts and emotions is an excellent way to identify the core of your issues. Once you understand the context of what is stressing you out it is easier for the brain to put these stressful events into a macro perspective. 

  1. Think About The Bigger Picture

When confronted with a stressful dilemma, ask yourself, “will this affect you in one year?” If not, understand it is not the most important element to your well being and deal with the problem. There is no reason to get anxious because someone bumped into you in the streets and didn’t apologize, it only adds to your stress levels when you feel stress occur from micro-meaningless instances. 

4: Take your personal energy to another level

Focus on your physical, emotional and mental energy to increase the well being of your life even if you feel broken down. Meditation and deep breathing is a practice not many put into action which can benefit you significantly. You can read more about how to recharge yourself through meditation and deep breathing through Australian Business Coach’s article Realising the Power of Personal Energy.

  1. Understand what you are in control of

Some aspects of your life you can not control. Make sure that you do everything you can to put yourself in a favourable position, but do not create any preconceived notions. If your preconceived notions do not transpire you’ll feel lost when your plans do not go accordingly. 

  1. Make Sure To Laugh!

Similar to how smiling uses fewer muscles in your face than frowning, laughing is known to relieve stress and relax your muscles.

  1. Say No

“Yes,“ people tend to be more stressed than people who have learned to say “no” to tasks.  Sometimes you do not have the luxury of saying “NO”, but when you do have that option best to take advantage of it if your schedule does not allow you. If you consistently agree to do activities you may not want to do; you will end up with many deadlines that don’t leave a positive effect you’re well being.

Saying “NO” is a way to stay in control of your stressors.

  1. Make Time for Breaks

Build time for leisure into your busy schedule. People usually do activities they are passionate about during their downtime, hence making them feel better mentally. When a person is level headed and feeling good, they perform better at their professional gig.

  1. Express Gratitude

“Studies show that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in daily life and contribute to the greater emotional well-being and bring social benefits as well.” Understanding what you are thankful for and helping others out relieve stress in its strongest of forms, because instead of focusing on negative aspects of life, you are focused on the positives. We are all wired to look at negative points of view, but you can rewire your brain to sustain a more positive outlook.

     10. Crank up the tunes

Music can have a direct effect on both your emotions and the body. Faster music makes you feel more alert, and soothing music calms you down (unr.edu). Either listening to natural sounds, soothing music or singing to the top of your lungs to your favourite song will help you reduce stress. The reduction in stress comes from the fact that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.” 

These ten techniques are relatively easy to implement in your day to day life to reduce your stress levels and improve your overall well being.