Thinking about stress relief can relieve stress in reality.
When it comes to simple ways to reduce stress, what we think about matters. When you engage in positive thinking, visual relaxation and affirmations, you can lower the levels of stress. Because stress is often the result of over-thinking, if you change your thoughts, you can bring on an instant sense of relaxation.
Change your attitude and you can change your stress level. True or false? True. This is particularly true for those pessimists, perfectionists, and “type A” personalities. People with those personality traits usually have certain behavior and thought patterns that cause their body to have too much to deal with.
What can you do to reduce stress?
Simple things can reduce stress. Even those simple things like dark chocolate, music, meditation, laughing, exercise, or even sleeping can help you reduce stress effectively and leave you feeling bright, fresh and rejuvenated.
Laughing can lower stress hormones such as epinephrine, cortisol, and adrenaline, and strengthen the immune system by producing health-promoting hormones.
Playing with your pets can reduce stress. Pets offer non-judgmental companionship, which is a big plus to your mental outlook. Playing or petting an animal can increase levels of the stress-reducing hormone oxytocin and decrease production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits. It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.
Does it matter what type of exercise? No. Anything that you enjoy will decrease stress. Getting outside in natural sunlight can be the most enjoyable activity and easy to do.
