ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Best Ways To Eliminate Stress

Updated on August 27, 2015

Ever heard that saying that stress is a killer? Truer words were never spoken because it does just that. Kill. Stress wreaks havoc on our bodies in various ways, none of which is good. It also manifests itself in different ways, depending the individual.

Cortisol floods our systems when we are stressed. It is a hormone that is triggered directly by stress which produces that "fight or flight" response. This causes the heart rate to go up, our blood vessels restrict and our breathing becomes rapid. Our body lacks the ability to differentiate between the stress of bad traffic and the stress of being chased by a mountain lion, so the reaction is the same. If there is no danger to escape this response is not helping us in any way. Instead it is hurting by making certain issues worse such as hypertension, anxiety disorders, depression and headaches. It can also make asthma considerably worse, as well as IBS and insomnia.


CORTISOL IS THE AGING HORMONE SO YOU WANT TO DECREASE ITS PRESENCE IN YOUR SYSTEM

There are things we can do to help alleviate stress in our lives. Walking helps to clear your mind. It also helps to boost endorphins, which helps to reduce stress hormones. To make your walk even more calming, walk in a park or in nature in general. Doing this will help you to get into a state of meditation due to "involuntary attention", which just means something holds our attention yet lets us reflect all at the same time.

Breathing exercises give you the power to control your body enough that you can induce a state of calm. Just a few deep breaths make a huge difference. This is all due to the boost of oxygen. While doing breathing exercises guided imagery can help you center yourself more quickly. Short visualizations have been shown to produce a relaxed response.

Make sure your visualizations is a peaceful scene. You can envision a future vacation, your favorite, relaxing spot, or you achieving a goal in your future. The purpose of the exercise is to make sure whatever it is that you are visualizing it is something that brings happiness and peace to you.

Stress eating doesn't have to be this horrible thing you do in a closet somewhere. The connection between the brain and the stomach is a big one. Your gut is a mediator of the stress response. When I hear that I always envision your gut being the middle man in a conversation between your mind and the rest of your body.

When you choose a snack you want one that will fill you up. It stresses your brain out when it feels like you have run out of nourishment. Focusing on your snack, away from any distractions, instills a sense of calm. If you focus on some trait about your food (texture, taste, how it feels) you have just successfully turned your snack into meditation as well.


Do you think you handle stress the best way?

See results

What is one thing that seems to be in most offices? Plants. Are they onto something or is it just decoration? Plants are air purifiers and they can help you relax as well. A study done by Washington State University found that a group of stressed out people had a four-point drop in their blood pressure when they entered a room full of plants. The other group only showed a two-point drop in their blood pressure.

Plants also add that natural beauty to a room that can be calming all on its own. I tend to lean towards plants that require low maintenance because I do not have a green thumb. I found this out, unfortunately, three Gardenia plants ago!

A lot of people work on the computer and therefore spend an abundant amount of uninterrupted time on it. This has been linked with stress, loss of sleep and depression in women. Late night use, however, was linked to stress in both men and women.

If you absolutely have to work long hours on a computer then make sure to take frequent breaks. You want to turn off the computer an hour before bed so you can power yourself down. This will help you to drift off into dreamland more easily.

Being affectionate always helps to alleviate stress. Kissing, specifically, has been show to help your brain to release endorphins. So find comfort in the arms of the one you love, or rather his/her lips!


My favorite way to reduce my stress is music! Depending on what you are listening to, though, it could make your stress worse. Classical music has been proven to induce soothing effects. If you don't like classical music you don't have to listen to it to induce a relaxed state. Any music that you love will release dopamine into your brain, which is that feel-good neurochemical.

So if you are driving home and traffic is stressing you out, turn up your tunes! If you are in the middle of something that is stressful, jamming out to your favorite music is beneficial. No radio or ipod? Well humming your own tunes serves the same purpose!

A DIAMOND IS JUST A PIECE OF CHARCOAL THAT HANDLED STRESS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL

Watching a funny video or videos of kittens has been shown to release endorphins into your brain. All those cat videos are now making sense aren't they! It also makes sense that petting a cat or dog is also stress relieving.

Oddly enough though, laughing actually triggers your stress response but then it deactivates it. This creates a rollercoaster effect that ultimately leads to relaxation in an individual.

Turning off your phone will also help you to alleviate stress. Just take a hiatus from anything and anyone. I know. It is a strange concept in today's world, but highly beneficial. Sometimes being totally accessible is a bad thing.

Lastly, try some meditation. Find a quiet place to relax and close your eyes. Tell yourself that no matter what is going on in life that getting all worked up over it will have no bearing on how it turns out. Instead take deep breaths and either visualize something positive or say reaffirming things out loud to yourself. When your mind hears something you said in your own voice it is very powerful. It will invoke positivity and a general positive outlook.

The main thing is to remain positive and take care of yourself no matter the situation or circumstance.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)