Easy Ways to Relax

During any big season in life, I always find it helpful to sneak in quick and easy ways to relax. By doing this, I have found that I am less stressed in my everyday life.

Pond with Tall Grass and woods in background

Stress seems to overtake our lives. We must find ways to help lower our stress so our bodies don’t pay the price. When you are stressed your body produces more cortisol. Which can lead to things such as high blood sugar, slowed digestion, increased blood pressure, constricted blood vessels, and tightened muscles, just to name a few. Finding different ways to help us relax in our daily routine can lead to major health benefits. Now this may look different for everyone so let me give you a few ideas of things I have tried or would like to try to implement into my daily routine.

Meditation

Meditation, Prayer, Gratitude. No matter how you would like to practice this relaxation method it is something that can be very calming. All three can be very beneficial for you and your health when practicing regularly. If you are not familiar with meditation there are many apps or YouTube videos that walk you through how to meditate. Maybe you are looking for more prayer or gratitude you can do this by simply getting into a calming environment and saying prayers or gratitude out loud, in your head, or writing them down. If this is something that seems weird for you there are many workbooks that can help with either prayer or gratitude. I have found this method worked easier to my schedule either right when I woke up or right before I went to bed because I was starting or ending the day on a good note.

Breathwork

Now this is one that I would like to try. I have used breathing techniques through other relaxation methods, however, I have never gone through a breathwork session where breathing is the only focus. Breathwork can really help with your blood pressure and heart rate, which in turn helps you with your stress, anxiety, and mood.

Dark Chocolate

That is right, eat that dark chocolate! Dark Chocolate with at least a 70% cocoa content has been found to increase heart health, reduce stress, balance immune function, combat diabetes, and improve brain function. So let’s quit the negative relationship with Chocolate and keep this occasional treat in our diet without guilt.

Yoga

Yoga is a great way to relax! While doing yoga you are almost forced into a different state of mind by having to focus on your breathing, make sure you are doing the position correctly, focus on your balance, and so much more. I have found that whenever I do yoga it gets whatever I am thinking about out of my head due to the nature of having to require more focus to complete the movements.

Sound Therapy

This is one that I would love to try out. Sound therapy can help reduce stress and anxiety by influencing your nervous system and brain waves through calming sounds. These sounds can help lower your heart rate and breathing and help you release those feel-good chemicals like dopamine and lower your cortisol levels. Essentially it is getting your body to match the sounds you are hearing to put it in a calmer state. I have heard that people even fall asleep during some sessions due to the state of calm that they achieve.

Walking

Not only walking but really any exercise you enjoy can help you relax. Whether you need to get your frustrations out with some boxing or just take a relaxing stroll and listen to all the sounds of nature or a great podcast, exercise can help energize and calm you. Exercise also boosts your endorphins which help decrease inflammation, stress, and pain while increasing your mood.

Holding a cup of coffee with a snowy background

Not every one of these things will work for you. In fact, maybe none of them do, but make sure you find something that relaxes you. It can be something as simple as taking a nice hot shower or bath at the end of the day, drinking your favorite coffee, or whatever helps you relax. I know on my busy days a coffee may be all I am able to squeeze in.