10 Easy to implement stress reduction strategies

Stress is amajor problem in the modern working environment. Many people are experiencing stress but attempt to ignore it until they are forced to deal with the issue. If you adopt this approach; by the time you accept that you have stress related issues and attempt to tackle them; the issues will be far more severe than they would have been if you had accepted your problems earlier on. As you might assume, the less severe the problems, the easier they are to address. Rather than wait for stress to build up, you can take proactive action. By implementing everyday stress reduction strategies, you can eliminate stress as quick as it builds up. These strategies are easy to implement and bring great benefits. ‘Stress reduction strategies’ is just a fancy term for positive actions that you can take each day. These actions will help you derive more enjoyment from life while releasing the small amounts of stress which build up on a daily basis. By releasing stress on a daily basis, you will prevent the larger stress related issues from arising. The great thing is that most of these stress reduction strategies are enjoyable and they are all easy to implement.

10 Everyday stress reduction strategies

The following are 10 of the simplest but most powerful stress reduction strategies. When you turn these stress reduction strategies into rituals in your everyday life, you will see significant improvements in your happiness, health and the results that you achieve.

1. Laugh

We tend to treat laughter as something that should happen naturally, however, in a busy life, if you are not careful, large periods of time can pass without experiencing laughter. Laughing heartily fills your body with endorphins and positive emotions Laughter is a tremendous stress reliever. It has the ability to help you unwind and forget about your worries. Take a minute to remember those times when you laughed uncontrollably. You will realise that you became caught up in the present moment, free from worry and fear.

Some of the best times in your life will occur when you laugh out loud as a result of spontaneous events. It is great to experience these moments but you do not have to wait for funny times to come to you. As you might imagine, laughter is one of the most enjoyable stress reduction strategies so, you shouldn’t find it difficult to make it part of your daily life. You could do the following:

• Attend comedy shows
• Watch comic movies
• Watch funny TV shows or panel shows
• Search for funny clips on YouTube
• Read humorous articles/books/comics

With the internet, laughter is never far away, if you look for it. Make laughter a part of your daily life and you will experience rapid stress reduction.

2. Indulge yourself in music

I am a big music fan. I have a wide and varied taste in music. I know from experience that music has the ability to manipulate your emotions. When you find music that you love, it will make you feel good. Taking the time each day to indulge yourself in music that you enjoy will see you become happier and healthier. Again, with the internet, iPods, mobile phones etc. music is one of the most accessible of the stress reduction strategies and, it has a profound impact on your well being. Make sure you enjoy some good music everyday and, if you want to sing or dance along to it; go for it.

3. Volunteer

One of the best ways to forget your troubles and worries is to serve those who are less fortunate than you. When you lose yourself in the service of others, you leave your cares and worries behind. You gain a greater appreciation for all the good in your life as you realise that things could be a lot worse. As you help others to gain more joy from life, you are reminded that you are a person of value who has gifts to offer the world. Your perspective and awareness will be changed for the better.

Give some of your time helping others; just don’t fill your calendar to overflowing. It is important to remember that volunteering should be in addition to living your own life; not at the expense of living your own life.

4. Take yourself on a date

I first encountered this idea when reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. The aim to of the book is to teach the reader to access their creativity. The concept of taking yourself on a date is just as vital as a stress reduction strategy. When you take somebody else on a date you treat them as a very special person. You need to treat yourself with the same level of importance.

5. Read for enjoyment

When you have a hectic working life, you do a lot of reading. You have to keep up to date with the latest developments in your field. You receive emails, memos, letters etc. It is easy to think that reading is a horrible but necessary part of life. However, one of the greatest pleasures in life is to get caught up reading something that you really enjoy. You are not trying to learn anything from the experience; you are just reading for pleasure.

A good work of fiction; be it a book, comic etc. is a wonderful way to escape. Getting lost in a good read is one of life’s most pleasurable and effective stress reduction strategies. The more you get caught up in the story; the more you let your cares and worries drift away; allowing your body and mind to recover from the stresses and strains of daily life.

6. Make time for your hobbies

Hobbies are things that you love to do. For some reason, many people treat their hobbies as if they are a bonus rather than an essential part of life. When times get tough, hobbies are one of the first things that they cut back on even though it is counterproductive.

Just like laughter, enjoyment rarely just happens by accident. When you find something that you love to do, you must make time for it in your life. Life should not be all work and no play. In fact, it is the play that makes all the hard work worthwhile. Find hobbies you enjoy and that keep your body and mind busy. When you do, you will be happier, healthier and more motivated to live the life you love.

7. Be in nature

This is a wonderful world full of living things, beauty and amazement. When you take the time to experience nature, you gain a much greater appreciation for the world you live in. You see that seasons change, everything has its ups and downs, and all living things experience death and regeneration. Once you understand this, you will be more at peace with the world and will be able to take both successes and failures in your stride.

There are many different ways that you can experience nature but it is important that you schedule some time in your life for the natural world. You could try:

• Gardening
• Plant flowers or vegetables.
• Hiking
• Cycling
• Canoeing/kayaking/sailing
• A visit to the seaside, etc.
• Watch the sunset or sunrise

8. Relax in the bath

Take a soothing bath. Light candles. Add a calming bath beads like lavender or chamomile. If you want, you can put on an eye mask and just relax. Taking a soothing bath is one of the easiest stress reduction strategies as it incurs minimal cost and minimum inconvenience i.e. you don’t even have to leave your house.

9. Play like a kid

Children know how to enjoy life. They are carefree and live in the moment. Society has taught us that adults know better than children but when it comes to attitude to life, this teaching is usually wrong. You cannot live a happy successful life by running away from your issues but you must remember that your issues have their time and place e.g. work related issues should be kept to work.

Rather than worry all of the time, take time to play and be a big kid. If you have kids, take time to play with them. The following are some examples of how you can play like a kid:

• Let go of worries and concerns
• Run around
• Giggle, laugh out loud and joke
• Just be silly
• Talk complete and utter rubbish with your friends
• Dance like there is nobody watching
• Sing in the shower, and much more

There is a place in your life for playing like a kid and, when that time arises, go all out and make the most of it.

10. Say ‘No’

One of the most enjoyable experiences in life is to be able to help others. Acts of kindness reward the giver just as much as the receiver. However, you don’t have to do everything for everyone all the time. In fact, it is incredibly unhealthy to even attempt to do this as you end up sacrificing your own needs to meet the needs of others. Other people can take care of themselves most of the time. The world will not end if you say ‘No’.

When you learn to say 'No', you free up more time, reduce stress and worries and allow yourself to make time for the things which matter most to you. Many people find it difficult to say ‘No’ and, if you are one of these people, you must change your ways. Saying ‘No’, when appropriate, is probably the most important and powerful of the stress reduction strategies.

To learn more excellent Stress Reduction Strategies, check out Stress Free Living.

Like all health related issues, it is better to prevent stress than have to deal with the consequences. There will always be the chance that major events will happen in your life, causing you to experience sudden stress. However, most cases of stress are preventable. With the help of simple, everyday stress reduction strategies you can release stress as quick as it arrives. This allows you to prevent a build up of stress which you will eventually have to deal with anyway. Implement the simple stress reduction strategies, outlined above, and you will greatly reduce your chances of experiencing a severe case of stress and the horrible consequences that come with it.