The convenience of modern life can come at a price. Feeling overwhelmed from the rush of daily living is a common occurrence in this day and age, but you don’t have to take medications to help you to relax. There are many effective and natural methods to calm your mind and your spirit.
Natural Ways to Relieve Stress: Our Top Four Picks
Sleep
According to the American Psychological Association, sleeping fewer than eight hours a night increased the chances of a person feeling stressed. In the same study, many people reported an inability to sleep due to racing thoughts from a stressed lifestyle.
The American Sleep Foundation provides the following tips for getting a more restful sleep every night. Create a healthy sleep environment to help you to relax at night. Use the bedroom only for nighttime activities and not for watching TV, updating your Facebook status or reading. Do these things elsewhere before going to bed for the night. At least one hour before bed, stop working and begin to relax before bed.
Meditate
Meditation does not always have to go hand-in-hand with spiritual practices. The Mayo Clinic outlines several highly-effective forms of meditation. One type is mindful meditation, which just means focusing on your breathing instead of your racing thoughts. Other meditation-related natural ways to relieve stress include yoga, transcendental meditation, qi gong, tai chi, guided and mantra meditation. Compared to other stress-reduction techniques, meditation is cheap, effective and it can be done anywhere.
Exercise
Getting adequate exercise helps reduce stress in the body in several ways. Exercise not only helps you to improve your muscle tone and cardiovascular healthy but it also boosts energy, helps support healthy hormonal balance and changes your brain chemistry. According to the American Psychological Association, studies on animals indicated a link between a rise in norepinephrine and exercise. Norepinephrine is a chemical that is considered a natural antidepressant.
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