Beat Stress Learn to Relax
There’s no avoiding it – stress is a fact of life. Learning to relax could be the strongest defence against its debilitating effects
We all experience some form of stress at some stage of our lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines stress as ‘the reaction people may have when presented with demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.’ In other words, when you are stressed, you are pushing yourself, or being pushed, beyond the limits of your resources.
While completely banishing stress from your life is an unattainable goal for most people, developing coping strategies will provide you with a sense of control over your life. Learning how to and being able to relax will help you manage both physical and emotional stress.
Different Ways of Relaxing
Relaxation is as subjective an experience as stress. Just as there are many stressors that evoke different reactions, there are many ways to relax that, depending on your personal make-up, provide varying degrees of relaxation.
Some strategies are more effective than others, but anything that helps you to unwind can count as relaxation.
Ways to Relax
PUT THE KETTLE ON Keep calm and have a cuppa – but with a friend or two. Even though tea contains some jitter-causing caffeine, there are certainly times when it seems to calm rather than jangle the nerves. Turning to the ritual of making and drinking tea has become an almost conditioned response during
times of stress. And, according to researchers at City University London, it seems to work. But the calming effects may have nothing to do with chemistry. Researchers believe that it is the tea ritual itself, with its associated social aspects, that make a cup of tea a natural tranquilliser.
MAKE YOUR EXERCISE ‘GREEN’ Research from the University of Essex suggests that exercising in nature is especially beneficial to mood and self-esteem. Benefits were found to be greatest after just five minutes of such ‘green exercise’, with light-intensity exercise having the biggest effect on self-esteem and light- and vigorous-intensity workouts the biggest effect on mood. Walking, jogging, cycling, boating, horse riding, gardening and swimming in the ocean, lakes and rivers are all good options for moodenhancing outdoor exercises. Not only will they combat stress, they will also improve your physical fitness.