The best way to relieve stress

One might wish a stress crusader could save you from the tension of traffic jams, chaotic meetings, arguments or tantrums? Well, you can be your own stress-busting superhero. Use your senses to tap into the power to reduce the impact of stress as it is happening and stay in control when the pressure builds. When you know the best way to relieve stress, you can stay calm, productive, and focused, no matter what life throws at you.

There are countless methods for managing stress. Yoga, meditation, and exercise are just a few examples of stress-relieving activities that work wonders. But in the heat of the moment, you can’t just excuse yourself to meditate or take a long walk. In these situations, you need something more immediate and accessible. Talking face-to-face with a relaxed and caring listener can help you quickly calm down and release stress. Although you can’t always have someone to lean on in the middle of a stressful situation, maintaining a network of close relationships is vital for your mental health. Between sensory-based stress relief and good listeners, you’ll have your bases covered. It is not simple to concentrate on your senses when you are in the middle of an experience but with practice it become a second nature thing and easier to run-through.

• Take small steps:
  Slow and steady wins the race, this saying holds true here too as instead of testing your quick stress relief tools on a source of major stress, start with a foreseeable low-level source of stress and start with the small intricate experiences which give you stress. Master handling stress in these situations before you move to bigger stress-related issues.
• Identify your primary stressor:
  Pick up your primary stressor and target it until you can bet on it not causing you stress anymore and then evaluate your own stress buster techniques to cope up with.
• Sensory Inclusions:
  Include sensory inputs while practising stress busting techniques. For eg: One could wear his favourite perfume to relax himself and feel at ease before entering an interview.
• Tune in the process:
  Done force any stress busting technique on yourself, keep trying until you find the one that suits you and keeps you going. While we spoke about sensory stress-relieving strategies, there are various other impactful and long lasting strategies that we can discuss which might be helpful in relieving stress:
• Guided imagery (metaphor therapy):
  has proved to be one of the best ways of relieving stress and anxiety where one seems to take a short vacation in the mind and imagines oneself in a place or situation in which he feels peaceful and happy.eg-relaxing on a beach, partying in Las Vegas etc.
• Art Therapy :
  It basically means putting down the disturbing and stress related thoughts into a beautiful drawing with the help of colours and paints. It relaxes the mind and helps one concentrate on certain situations which were unheeded due to stress and anxiety. It has done wonders for people and has proved to be a great medium for individuals who find it difficult to communicate their feelings leading them to stress.
• Take a Walk:
  Walking has proved to be one of the best ways to relieve stress again as a lot of therapies and theories of counselling revolve around the importance of walking and how it helps one relieve stress. Stress again is a psychosomatic factor and walking can do marvels in releasing the fiery energy caused by the stress factor and help one feel calm and relaxed.
• Administer your self-talk:
  What you’re telling yourself every moment has a lot of impact on the stress caused to you .Make sure you are not having self-critical ,harsh, negative thoughts all the time and there is enough space for self-motivation and self-esteem in the mind talks.
• Grab Social Support:
  Having supportive people in your life is key to stress management. It may mean reaching out to your existing network. Perhaps confiding in a family member or distant friend can help you become closer and it may give you the social support you need OR you might even visit a counselling centre and speak to a psychologist.

Figuring out the best stress relief strategies may take some trialling. Some strategies may take repetition too.

But it's important to keep looking for the tools that will help you manage life's inevitable ups and downs in a healthy way. Managing stress level is important for your overall well-being.We @ Mindsight believe in helping individuals recognise their stress busters and our well-equipped counsellors help individuals relieve their stress and anxiety by incorporating various communicative and therapeutic interventions.