We would describe stress as a pent up feeling of mental fatigue and emotional drain. It is what you experience when you feel taut, frustrated, and suffocated inside after long exposures to uncomfortable and unpleasant conditions. Stress is a common problem peculiar to every human. Handling the hustle and bustle of everyday life certainly causes a lot of physical and emotional strain over time.
Why stress is considered dangerous
Stress also presents itself on various levels. Everyone has experienced some level of stress at one time or the other. However, some people feel high thresholds of stress that is dangerous and alarming. When stress level keeps soaring, it may reach a tipping point where things begin to go downhill in your body system. Below are some symptoms that may alert you when you are stressed:
- You may get a headache and body aches often.
- Your heart may beat faster than usual.
- Your blood pressure may shoot up.
- You may experience a host of extreme emotions like anger, apprehension, frustration, impatience, etc.
These symptoms are ways through which your body warns you. Given the destructive nature of stress when left unattended, it is vital to find correct measures to deal with it amply. What place is perfect for unwinding and decreasing stress than your home?
We have in this text seven golden tips you can try at home to help you live a stress-free and unencumbered life. Read, digest, practice, and your body would be eternally grateful to you.
Meditation
Meditation is the state of being aware of your thoughts and feelings. It is a calm and quiet process where you ‘take stock’ of your emotions and put them in check. This is crucial because the first step in solving a problem is detecting the problem – for only when the problem is detected, can you begin to find innovative ways to solve it.
Speaking of innovation in regards to stress, while you are meditating and pondering, you become fully aware of the source of the stress. The process eventually leads you to find the means of avoiding and or reducing its effect. While everyone may not like meditating, it is beneficial to mental health.
Start by choosing a quiet spot in your house and dedicate ten to fifteen minutes just sitting still. Picture yourself opening your palm and releasing whatever it is that stresses you, breathing deeply, throughout your quiet time.
Yoga
Yoga is a great stress reliever because it helps you get in a position where you stretch and relax. Practicing yoga has proven to be very beneficial to human health time and time again. While doing yoga, you get to be in several positions that boost blood flow and the release of endorphins ─happy hormones─ which help to reduce worry and keep you stress-free.
Listen to music
Music is the food of the soul, and there’s no other thing that can reach and stir the core of our souls like music. Listening to good uplifting music is therapeutic in itself. Find a place with no disturbance and get lifted to blissfulness on the wings of the lyrics of uplifting and inspiring music.
Read good books
Reading books, like listening to music, can be a very immersive experience. The power of words in a book helps to arouse your imagination and take you on a mystical journey without leaving your home. Good books help to provoke strong memories and feelings of positivity and humor, which help to decrease and stave off stress. Many studies and books have been written on positive mental health, wellbeing psychology, anxiety, and worry alleviation, among others. Whenever you feel bound by worry and stress, you can always find comfort and freedom amidst the pages of a book.
Talk to someone
Symptoms of stress mostly manifest after a lot of stress accumulation. You will find that only having an in-depth conversation with someone dear can alleviate the heaviness you feel and give you the relief you’ve always wanted. Unwinding becomes a lot easier when you have someone who listens intently to you, points out your stress inducers, and caps it all a warm, loving hug.
Create time for fun
All work and no play make you a ‘stress-full’ person. Having fun with your loved ones not only helps to reduce stress someone but also helps to build a long-lasting and meaningful relationship. Deliberately and consciously create time to play games, go on picnics with people that matter. Remember the words of George Bernard Shaw, “we don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
Get things in order
As simple as it may sound, you may feel like the world’s weight is on you as a result of the disorderliness in your workplace or home. Besides, going through life with a haphazard and unplanned schedule may result in a frenzied lifestyle, which would undoubtedly cause a high level of stress.
You would find that having a fixed, orderly, and timely pattern for your schedules would give your life a steady rhythm, which in turn reduces stress. You can write out your plans for the day or month, allot appropriate time to them, and categorize them on a scale of hierarchy.
At home, get rid of clutters and junks, do the dishes, wash the sheets. Having everything in its proper place can give you some semblance of order and structure. Declutter and make working plans, at work, and at home, then you would get through most of the day in a hitch-free way, which helps reduce your level of stress.
While you cannot wholly eradicate stress in life, there are so many ways to live a life free and unburdened by stress. Find what methods work best in attenuating stress in your life and commit to them. Always remember to prioritize your mental health, and remember that your home is most likely the place to create the perfect ambiance conducive for dealing with stress. Live freely, and be happy!
