Stress Relief Tips

We all experience stress. Sometimes more tension with given particular situations or people. Although we have no control over what happens to us, we can choose how we act in these situations rather than reacting and feeling overwhelmed or frazzled. The more stressed we become; the more we open ourselves to physical illnesses. The more we need stress management tips. See previous article https://www.emotionalhealthtips.com/top-stress-management-tips// The following top stress management tips, if practiced, will increase our physical and emotional wellness. Stress is hurting our physical and emotional health and contributing to some of the leading causes of death in this country – U.S.A.” 2010 – American Psychological Association. More Top Stress Management Tips 1. Increase the Energy or Chi in Your Body Rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes for five seconds while you breathe deeply. Experience the comfort and release of stress. Again rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm. Then with each hand rub the a kidney in your lower back at least 30 times. Experience the increase in energy and release of stress.

Stress is hurting our physical and emotional health and contributing to some of the leading causes of death in this country – U.S.A.” 2010 – American Psychological Association We all experience stress. Sometimes we have more tension with given particular situations or people. Although we have no control over what happens to us, we can choose how we act in these situations rather than reacting and feeling overwhelmed or frazzled. We all need stress management. The more stressed we become; the more we open ourselves to physical illnesses. The following top stress management tips, if practiced, will increase our physical and emotional wellness. Top Stress Management Tips  Stress Management 1. Breathe Deeply Most of us breathe shallow and unconsciously. Begin by putting your hand on our abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands as we breathe deeply. Hold your breath for a few seconds, and then exhale slowly out as you push the belly in as far as possible. Repeat several times. Breathing deeply and consciously from our diaphragm increases oxygen into our blood which relaxes us and decreases stress. Stress Management 2. Anchoring: Visualize or Imagine a Positive Calming Scene

Top 5 Stress Relief Tips for Men As a man how do you handle stress or as a woman how do you see men gaining stress relief? As men when stressed, we tend to run away from our feelings, push them into our unconscious, or when pushed beyond our limits blow up in a rage. Men, in general, seek the company of other men in some activity like golf or watching a football game to escape their stress and get stress relief. Growing up, the oldest of five, in a family with a raging alcoholic father, I withdrew into myself for protection. So I learned at an early age to bottle up my feelings. I lived with the stress of never knowing when my father would come home drunk and goad my mother into a verbal fight. As a teenager, I never consciously thought about ways to relieve stress. I simply lived with it and the constant desire to find a way to escape the family as soon as possible. Living on a farm, however, gave me the chance to be outside and in nature a great deal of the time. Nature grants natural stress relief as well as being a mood elevator.

 You have a built-in mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is human connection. Kelly McGonigal, Psychologist, The Willpower Instinct How much stress have you experienced in the last year? What stress busters do you use? How much time have you spend connecting and helping others? Watch the video at the end of this article and learn how to use stress to strengthen your health rather than becoming less healthy. In the meantime, read the stress buster methods below. 4 Stress Busters for Relief During the Holidays or Anytime 1. Breathe Deeply A few minutes of deep abdominal breathing can provide stress relief and begin to calm us. Place your right hand on your abdomen and push it out as you breathe in. Then imagine all your tension leaving your body as you breathe out through your feet and your abdomen contracts inward towards your spine. You can also focus on specific individual tension areas as you breathe in and relax these as you breathe out. A few minutes of conscious breathing can calm us.  The advantage is that we can do it anywhere such as seating at a desk, driving in a car, or walking.

Women for stress relief tend to reach out to other women for emotional support and express their feelings. Women like to talk about their feelings and tell their stories, usually to other women. Suzanne Kramss, a writer, story teller and mentor for the mentally ill people, has handled stress over her life in these ways: In the hormone laden years, women turn to their best friends when stressed – salt, sugar, and lots of chocolate. Sadly, food can easily become the source of stress eating. Friends are the next outlet. We women tend not talk to our mothers when we are young, but as we get older then we cry the blues to them endlessly. We also talk to hair dressers and manicurists. You just have to be careful when your hair dresser has a bad day because you may end up looking like you are ready for the Westminster Dog show.

Why do men and women handle stress differently? When stress strikes cortisol and epinephrine hormones elevate blood sugar and blood pressure for both men and women. The brain also releases oxytocin which counters the other two hormones, producing relaxation. Oxytocin may influence our ability to bond with others. Women, however, produce more oxytocin than men which leads them to form nurturing relationships and to talk about their feelings more when they encounter stress. They “tend and befriend.” The higher your oxytocin, the higher your happiness and well-being, at least for women says Paul Zak, PhD, a researcher. Researcher Shelly Taylor, Ph.D. finds females under stress nurture themselves and their young – tend – and form bonds with other women – befriend. Women, as a whole, tend to focus on looking after other people’s needs which can create more distress for them as a nonworking behavior. This, however, orients them to the value of relationships and female bonding.