How to Reduce Stress

Stress seems to just be part of life, like eating or sleeping. Many of us experience daily stress at work, and if our jobs aren’t giving us our daily dose of crazy, we often get it from family members instead. Life is complicated, full of pressure, and filled with deadlines. Each of these add up until life is frantic, and stress seems like a necessary evil.

While we’ll all probably experience stress for the rest of our lives, we don’t have to experience it regularly. Stress can be a feeling that only arises now and again, when things get really tough. If that sounds impossible--be encouraged. A stress free life is not as far away as you think. There are three simple tips for lowering your stress levels, and we examine each one here.

Sleep

By now, you’ve almost certainly experienced a bad night of sleep due to stress. For you, it may even be a chronic issue. You can’t seem to turn off your brain, and stresses from the day keep you awake, worrying and wondering for too long. But, did you know that sleep can actually lower your stress? It works backwards too. If you get a better night’s rest, your stress levels can go down. In order to reduce your stress, try improving your sleeping arrangements. According to a Johns Hopkins' sleep study, a better pillow can help you get a better night’s sleep. Do what you can to get some sound slumber!

Vacations

Did you know that vacations can lower your stress? The trick is to take a peaceful vacation--an active, high-stress vacation isn’t exactly going to lower your cortisol levels. Getting away for a quiet retreat, by camping by the beach or by purchasing Sylvan Lake homes for sale, could help you meditate, relax, and start experiencing those lower stress levels. If you need to recover from high work stress, consider getting away for the weekend and unplugging completely. You might even feel like a new person when you return.

Creativity

You’ve almost certainly finger-painted in your life. You’ve glued noodles to cardboard. You’ve practiced piano, guitar, or another instrument, and you’ve probably written poetry too--but you don’t do any of that stuff anymore. Art is for artists; you work in an office. If that’s your mindset, you probably haven’t touched an instrument or a piece of chalk in decades. Don’t get too far from your creative roots, though--making art can actually help lower your stress levels. When you were a kid, you probably cared a lot about whether your art was “good.” As an adult, you don’t need to compete; you just need to create. If you could use some lower cortisol levels, consider breaking out some art projects on a regular basis. And no, you don’t have to glue noodles to cardboard. (Unless you want to.) Find a creative outlet that you love and start engaging in it regularly. A daily act of creation could be of huge benefit to your life and health.