Stress is something most people have to deal with during the workweek. Avoiding stress is important but not always possible. However, instead of avoiding stress, you can try to focus on relaxing and letting stressful thoughts go. People have all kinds of ways to relax.

Relaxation is good for:

Your health: Stress is linked to higher blood pressure, an increased heart rate because the body is in high awareness mode. Stress hormones like cortisol also have long term effects like breaking down muscle tissue, the storing of fats and increased glucose levels. All things you want to avoid. Stress also causes tension, which translates into different kinds of complaints like increasing the tendencies to smoke, drink alcohol and eating sweets. Relaxation counters these effects and helps your body to find its balance.

Your state of mind: Long term stress has a direct influence on how you feel. Depressive thoughts, irritation, anger and rumination are common consequences on your state of mind of long term stress. Think about this: Most people feel a lot better when they are on a holiday. That is mostly because during a holiday, you can let stressful thoughts and feelings go. Your muscle tension lowers, you sleep a lot better, all contributing to letting those worries go. This in turn, helps you to enjoy positive activities like a night out.

Your energy levels: People tend to forget that relaxation is also important for your productivity. Like mentioned before, stress causes your body to be in a constant state of high alert. Our bodies are not built for this and get exhausted because of this. Both our body and mind need relaxation to recover, heal, and process input. Rewarding yourself with some relaxation time will reward itself back with an improved concentration and more energy during the day.

Easy ways to relax
Sitting on the couch and watching tv is often what people think about when talking about relaxing. However, relaxing is more than that. Breathing exercises and yoga for example are proper techniques that learn you how to relax. However, there are easier activities that can take the stress away.

Go outside: A walk through the forest or the park are good ways to get away from all the fuzz. The same goes for a walk down the beach, helping to blow all those worries away. A tip; leave the cellphone at home or turn your mobile network off so you don’t have any distractions.

Workout: Sports are good for the body and your mind because of the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Sports helps to distract you from worrying thoughts because your attention now goes out to playing the sport.

A warm bath or a sauna visit: An old medicine dating back to the romans.The heat helps your muscles to relax, improves your blood circulation and opens the pores. A bath or sauna visit are especially effective against headaches and muscle tension caused by stress. A warm bath is also the perfect tool to help you fall asleep.