Feeling stressed? Read. Getting lost in a book can lower levels of cortisol, or other unhealthy stress hormones, by 67 percent.
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Stress Hack: Creating the Relaxation Response
When you’re under stress, your body reacts by releasing hormones that produce the “fight-or-flight” response. Your heart rate and breathing rate go up and blood vessels narrow (restricting the flow of blood). Occasional stress is a normal coping mechanism. But over the long-term, stress may contribute to or worsen a range of health problems including digestive disorders, headaches, sleep disorders, and other symptoms. In contrast to the stress response, the relaxation response slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and decreases oxygen consumption and levels of stress hormones. In theory, voluntarily creating the relaxation response through regular use of relaxation techniques could counteract the negative effects of stress.
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Fitness Hack: Exercise & Feel Better
Feel better. Walking and other moderate aerobic exercise has been shown to help stabilize your mood and help with depressive symptoms. Studies have also found that regular exercise helps people better control their stress and regulate their emotions.
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Stress Hack: A Simple Way to Lower the Stress Speed
Learning a few good relaxation techniques will serve you well. For example, simple paced breathing may sound too easy, but it’s a great way to coax the body into a more relaxed state. It’s something you can do at your desk at work, in your car and before or after an event. Breathe in for four seconds, then out for six. Count in your head, and focus on your counting and the sensation of your breathing. Repeat as long as it takes to relax a bit.
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Stress Hack: It’s Time for LOL
A good belly laugh doesn’t just lighten the load mentally. It lowers cortisol, your body’s stress hormone, and boosts brain chemicals called endorphins, which help your mood. Lighten up by tuning in to your favorite sitcom or video, reading the comics, or chatting with someone who makes you smile.
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Health Hack: Let the Day Go – Relax
It’s normal to feel stressed from time to time, but high stress levels leave you vulnerable to a number of health conditions and problems including depression and elevated blood pressure. Find a healthy activity that relaxes you, then set aside some time every day to do it! This could be journaling or reading an inspiring book, spending time with a pet, meditating, or simply taking a few minutes to remind yourself of everything that is going well in your life.
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Stress Hack: Need a Break from Your Problems?
Write things down.
Putting your concerns on paper allows you to return to them later. You don’t have to dismiss them entirely, and you can feel comfortable knowing you will revisit the concern. Also, the act of writing engages your mind and reduces the power of racing thoughts. When thoughts are in your mind, they feel chaotic. Putting them on paper organizes them. Use a notebook or a designated computer document. Once you’ve taken a few minutes to organize your thoughts on paper or onscreen, your mind should be calmer. If you want, set aside a time limit for thinking about them before taking a break and coming back to them later.
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Stress Hack: Need Help Letting Go?
Focus on the present.
Returning your focus to the present will help you accept and let go of what you cannot control. It will also help you realize that you can’t change the past, and that the future hasn’t happened yet, so it’s a waste of time to keep thinking about them. (This doesn’t mean that you are unaware of what happened in the past or what is about to happen in the future.) Try taking a deep breath and asking yourself how you are feeling right now.
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Stress Hack: Stressed About an Upcoming Event? Read On
Get Your Sweat On
Sure, a solid cardio set can leave you looking just a little bit more toned, but the mood-boosting endorphins you’ll reap are an even better reason to work it out before a big event . . . In addition to triggering a happy-go-lucky feeling, endorphins released during exercise can help minimize anxiety, according to the Mayo Clinic. So if your big event has got your nerves on edge, use your workout to help get you back to a positive mental state.
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Stress Hack: Chew Gum
For a super easy and quick stress reliever, try chewing gum. One study showed that people who chewed gum had a greater sense of wellbeing and lower stress . One possible explanation is that chewing gum causes brain waves similar to those of relaxed people. Another is that chewing gum promotes blood flow to your brain. Additionally, one recent study found that stress relief was greatest when people chewed more strongly.
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