Everyone experiences stress at some point, from minor setbacks to major issues and traumas. While some people navigate these stressors with ease, it can be debilitating for others.
Stress shouldn’t be ignored or pushed aside. Chronic (long-term) stress can cause inflammation, weaken your immune system, and increase your risk of digestive issues, heart disease, weight gain, and stroke.
For this reason, it’s important to know how to reduce your stress levels in meaningful and practical ways.
Mindfulness can help you target your focus and let go of worries, stress, and anxiety. With this practice, you can learn to manage thoughts and feelings rather than become overwhelmed by them.
Psychologists have found that mindfulness can change your brain and your biology. Mindfulness not only reduces stress, but it may also reduce depression and boost your immune system.
Relaxation is the polar opposite of your body’s stress response, so knowing how to relax is important. Relaxation can lead to a slower heart rate, reduced blood pressure, and decreased muscle tension—all of which tend to calm your mind and alleviate stress.
One way to relax is to use progressive muscle relaxation. This involves relaxing all the muscles in your body, one by one. With this technique, you learn to recognize and consciously relax tension and tightness in your muscles. Some people find it easiest to start with their forehead and progress to their toes.
Disorganization, a long to-do list, procrastination, or an overfilled schedule are all recipes for added stress. Learning to manage your time can reduce stress, especially when you learn to break down projects, schedule your time, and prioritize tasks.
Improving your time management skills can help you reduce feeling overwhelmed or anxious and free up time for enjoyment and relaxation.
Resilient people bounce back from challenging situations and reduce stress. You can build resilience by practicing self-care, developing a positive outlook, improving problem-solving skills, embracing change, and setting realistic goals.
Other ways to improve resilience include learning from your past experiences, taking action when things are tough by pursuing therapy, and changing your perspective of your situation.
Doing something meaningful, helping others, or volunteering for a good cause can boost happiness and reduce stress. One study found that people who volunteered in the past year were more satisfied with their lives than those who didn’t. They also reported better overall health and improved mental health.
One possible reason volunteering reduces stress is that it releases dopamine (the feel-good hormone), activating the reward center in the brain. This causes your brain to link the activity and the pleasure, which motivates you to repeat the behavior.
A constant stream of information and stimuli from your digital devices can trigger stress and anxiety. Research has linked excessive smartphone use with increased stress and mental health conditions.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed, you may want to reduce your screen time. This can reduce stress triggers while giving you more time to prioritize other aspects of stress reduction, like sleep, eating well, exercising, and self-care activities.
Exposing yourself to relaxing or calming scents, such as essential oils, scented candles, or other aromatherapy options, may help reduce stress levels. One team of researchers found that using a diffuser with lavender oil reduced work stress and increased job satisfaction for healthcare workers.
Even the scent of a partner can be calming. One study found that your partner’s scent, or the scent that lingers on their clothes, can be relaxing for some people.
When stress hits, breathing exercises can sometimes be helpful. Not only are these exercises effective at helping you take control of the moment, but some research has found that breathwork can be more effective than mindfulness in reducing the anxiety that often accompanies stress.
Breathing exercises can also improve mood, diminish anxiety, and reduce heart and respiratory rates.
Finding time to be outside, near water, or among the trees can improve your mood. Spending as little as 10 minutes in a natural setting may help improve your mental well-being—including your stress level—and boost your happiness.
This may be challenging for people who live in more urban areas, but you can sometimes still find parks, botanical gardens, and other natural settings to help reduce stress’s impact on you.
Many studies have shown that moving your body and getting regular exercise can improve your mood and reduce stress. On the other hand, being sedentary can increase your risk for anxiety, depression, and low levels of emotional well-being.
Being active can counteract that effect. One study found that exercising twice weekly significantly reduced stress levels.
Building social connections and taking advantage of social opportunities can provide emotional support and create a sense of belonging.
When you consistently interact with friends and family, you may experience less loneliness, a major contributor to higher stress levels. Social connections can also boost mood, lower blood pressure, and decrease mortality.
Taking the time to notice what is going well in your life—even amid challenges and obstacles—can significantly impact your well-being. Some researchers have found that people who express gratitude report lower stress, a better quality of life, and fewer mental health conditions.
There is also preliminary research that gratitude may be linked to fewer signs of heart disease.
Journaling is a great way to process your thoughts and emotions. This approach can help you identify triggers and negative thought patterns and provide a sense of release.
Some people find that journaling allows them to get things out, especially thoughts and feelings they may otherwise suppress. Journaling and expressive writing may also be effective in addressing symptoms of depression and helping people living with chronic health conditions.
Stress can cause a variety of physical and emotional symptoms. These effects can be compounded if it is accompanied by anxiety. Here are some potential symptoms of stress:
- Burnout
- Changes in appetite and digestive issues
- Emotional changes or moodiness
- Excessive worry
- Fatigue
- Headaches or body pain
- High blood pressure
- Increased heart rate
- Insomnia
- Muscle tension
- Uneasiness or restlessness
- Weight gain
Stress can impact your mood and interfere with your daily life if not managed properly. If you’re dealing with ongoing stress, you may find concentrating, problem-solving, and completing daily tasks challenging. You may also worry excessively, constantly feel on edge, or expect the worst from people and situations.
If you are chronically stressed or struggling to get through your day, consider talking with a healthcare provider or a mental health professional. They can help you determine how your stress levels affect your health and well-being and formulate a treatment plan to help you learn to manage your stress and start feeling more like yourself.
It’s important to know how to handle stress effectively, especially since it can impact your overall health and well-being.
Some ways to deal with stress include becoming more physically active, spending time in nature, building resilience, and engaging in mindfulness.
If you are chronically stressed and not having much success reducing stress levels on your own, you may want to talk with a healthcare provider or a mental health professional.
