Everyday life is stressful enough and stress is a normal part of life. But it can have severe negative impacts on your body and mind including mood swings, depression, and anxiety. With Covid-19 also raging on, stress levels are higher than usual in some households.
We may be stuck inside with nothing to do and it’s only natural that toes will be stepped on, but it’s important to take some time for yourself and indulge in a little stress relief. Stress levels can be mild which can be rectified with simple techniques while higher stress levels might require some more time and effort.
There are many products out there for relieving stress but some of the more popular ones are:
- Positive energy bracelets
- Acupressure Shoes
- Essential Oils
- Scented candles
- Sun Lamp
- Coloring Book
- Blanket
- Music
Energy bracelets not only boost levels but are pretty as well while acupressure has been proven as a valid method for wellbeing. Essential oils and scented candles provide great aromatherapy for stress while a sun lamp can relieve seasonal anxieties. Coloring books provide creative outlets and blankets are a well-known form of comfort as is music.
Minerals for Mind, Body, and Soul
Designed around the body’s magnetic field, positive energy bracelets come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and are made from different materials with unique properties. Healing stones such as quartz, jasper, citrine, and obsidian are usually used as decoration and for their properties alongside metals such as copper, titanium, and steel.
The basic premise is that these materials work together to realign the energy fields of the body and circulation of the blood, similar to acupressure and reflexology. Well-known healing symbols from various faiths are usually inscribed on the stones such as Buddhist, Yogi, and Taoist.
The Balls of Your Feet
Walking around with balls in your shoes doesn’t sound like much fun but acupressure shoes have been specially designed around reflexology techniques that work to realign energy by stimulating specific parts of the body.
Acupressure is similar to acupuncture just without the needles. Acupressure has been designed to help with bodily stresses and pain caused by various ailments or by simply aging. The technique has been shown to relieve stress by improving blood circulation, reducing swelling, and relieving tension.
Natural Stress Relief
Aromatherapy has been around for a long time and essential oils build on the philosophy by using specific ingredients for different ailments. A particular oil or a mixture of them can be used to help with various conditions, boost energy or relieve stress.
In particular, lavender, bergamot, and ylang-ylang are believed to be excellent oils to use for stress and they can usually be emitted through a diffuser, spray pods, or evaporation dishes. There are combinations that you can use in order to get extra benefits such as peppermint for energy, sandalwood for focus, and rose to help with anxiety.
Smells Good, Looks Good, Feels Good
Similar to essential oils, scented candles can help with stress because of their pleasant aromas that can have a direct impact on mood. There are many scented candle manufacturers but the best advice would be to get the best that you can afford since some candlemakers still use hazardous materials in production that will negatively impact your health.
Scented candles have a secondary quality as well in that they provide soft light which can help with mood and relaxation which directly impacts our general stress levels. Adorning a room such as a bathroom with many candles is very relaxing when taking a bath for example.
SAD No More
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a very common issue and one that most people won’t even realize that they have. Usually prominent in winter, the body and mind react to the changing seasons with increased depression, lethargy, and sleeping more than we should.
Some believe that it is a response to the lower amount of sunlight and sun lamps have been specially designed to mimic the effect of the rising sun in the morning and the setting sun at night. This has had surprising results for combating SAD as the brain is tricked into thinking it is summer once again and helps the body produce melatonin that helps with your sleep cycle.
Stay Inside the Lines, Or Don’t
Having a creative outlet of some kind has been widely acknowledged as genuine stress relieving therapy. Coloring books are currently one of the best-selling products for creative expression and stress relief.
Not everyone is an artist but just by using colors and pre-printed images as a guide, coloring books maintain focus and center the mind, providing stress relief by having something other than our life problems to focus on, even if it is for 10 minutes.
Snug as a Bug
As a child, we might have had a comfort blanket and as adults, some of us still do. Wrapping up is a tried and tested way of feeling safe and secure which lowers general stress levels as well as being warm. Comfort is an actual human necessity and feeling comfortable contributes to health and wellbeing.
There are even special weighted blankets with beads inside that have been designed as a form of deep touch therapy that promotes serotonin in the brain and has been shown to relieve stress, help with anxiety and improve sleep.
The Eternal Language
Since the dawn of time music has been used for relieving stress. From relaxing and soothing wind instruments that can be enjoyed in our favorite chair to heart-pumping thrash metal made for jumping around, music (and dancing to it) is one of the greatest forms of stress relief known to man.
Therapists recommend just sitting down for 5 minutes and putting on your favorite music as an excellent and almost immediate technique for calming down anger, anxiety, and stress. As well as music though, sounds of nature are also quite popular such as thunderstorms, rain, and forests, and these are often mixed in with relaxing music such as jazz, classical, and easy “listening”.