December, the end of the year – a time of good will and the ‘Season of Stress’. At this time of the year, we are all buckling under the weight of stress – at work, at school, shopping for the Holidays, coping with crowds, financial worries. For almost everyone, stress levels in their everyday life are ramped up right now.

And then there are the parties! With so much going on it’s almost impossible to reach the New Year without crashing in a heap.

There is no point waiting until after the damage is done and the celebrations have finished to try to pick up the pieces. The key is to get on top of the extra stress right now.

Which brings us right back to one of the big stress triggers – you have no time right now to add anything extra into your busy life.

Simple Strategies to Regain Calm Control

While the stress hormones, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol were essential to life in the wild, our bodies haven’t caught up, so our stress hormones and lifestyle are not in synch. Too much of the hormones designed to save our life in cave-man days surging through our body today can have dire consequences on our health. The constant level of stress we live with keeps these hormones permanently switched on, constantly increasing our cell’s stress levels.

There are many quick and easy ways you can defuse stress in just two to five minutes. It’s simply a case of learning them and then remembering to use them.

Strategies to Reduce Stress Levels

These ten wellness hacks take less than five minutes and will get your stress levels down and have you on track to hit the New Year running. Try all of them out or just try one. But do yourself a favour this holiday season and practice a little self-care.

#1 Sweetly Scent-sual

Simply take a long, deep breath from your bottle, or dab on your temples whenever you need it.

If you find your stress levels rising when you are out shopping duck into the closest florist and take some good deep calming breaths.

Flower Power can also be accessed through flower essences. Carry them with you and you simply drop a few drops on your tongue whenever your stress, anxiety or worry levels start to rise.

#2 Calm Racing Thoughts

Sometimes your thoughts can go a bit wild when you are under stress. Your mind is always busy as they run round and round your head, building up your anxiety and increasing your stress.

When you find this happening begin to focus on a single object, it can be any object, even just a pen. You need to really focus on it, concentrate so other thoughts don’t creep in.

Once you are focused start to breathe deeply and slowly, right down deep into your abdomen. If you are not sure about doing this, try it out a few times when you are calm to get the hang of the process. You can learn how to belly breathe on Mastering The Breath Of Life.

Keep the breathing going for three minutes while you maintain your focus. This is an excellent way to calm your mind and relax.

#3 Breathe…

You don’t necessarily need to focus and breathe when you feel stressed.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing alone soothes your nervous system and increases your alertness. Once you have mastered this technique it is easy to simply stop and do it. Even just breathing for two minutes can settle you down considerably.

Breathe down into your belly, through your nose, hold for a couple of seconds, then release slowly through your mouth.

#4 Tea Time

How often do we say “let’s have a nice cuppa tea” after some big drama is sorted out? Full of antioxidants, tea is the perfect way to calm down, especially if you stop rushing around and sit quietly to enjoy it.

Black, green and white tea, all have some calming effect. But if you want the big guns of relaxing teas you can’t go past some of the herbals.

Chamomile is the simplest and is usually available in most cafes so is a good one to fall back on. It is far more effective when it’s brewed up with lavender though and works well in many other blends.

Ashwagandha has been used in Ayervedic medicine for thousands of years to treat even severe stress. A great choice while you’re working as it calms your nervous system without sending you off to sleep. As a bonus it induces a sense of wellbeing and clears your mind.

Lemon balm, passionflower, skullcap, valerian, lime blossom and oats are just some of the others that calm and relax.

There are so many wonderful herbs already combined in excellent relaxing blends that all you need to do is select the combination that you like the most. Try out a few different blends until you discover your favourite.

#5 Talk With A Friend

Whether you vent, speed-talk, shed a few tears, or simply sigh, talking to a good friend who is ready to just listen, can make a huge difference to your stress levels. Research has shown that as well as getting stuff off your chest talking to a friend actually reduces your stress hormones as well as your blood pressure.

#6 Smile

Frowning or grimacing, clenching your jaw, or wrinkling your forehead all suppress your immune system and trigger the release of more stress hormones. Simple smiling boosts your levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and endorphins. These are the ones the one that induce good moods and make you happy. As smiling increases your endorphins it also lowers your levels of cortisol.

The more you stimulate your brain to release these mood boosters by just smiling the more relaxed you feel. But here’s the amazing thing. You don’t have to feel happy. It’s the simple act of moving the muscles in your face that triggers the action. Putting on a happy face starts the process.

#7 Visualise – Free Your Imagination

Your mind is a powerful tool and the gateway to escaping your stress. Remember how good you feel when you think of your favourite vacation spot? Or perhaps when recalling time spent with close family or friends?

By closing your eyes and taking your thoughts inside your minds-eye to your favourite perfect, beautiful scene or happy experience you can return to those times when you felt secure, happy and relaxed.

Simply closing your eyes gives you the space to spend a few moments to ground yourself and reduce the stress hormones surging through your body.

#8 Yuuummm…

Now here’s one you will love. Small amounts of dark chocolate really do make you feel better and reduce your stress. Eating dark chocolate increases serotonin and endorphin levels in your brain. Remember, these are the mood enhancers. Plus, it lowers your levels of that difficult stress hormone, cortisol.

Just 40 grams of dark chocolate a day for a couple of weeks does the job. And the darker the chocolate, the better. It must be at least 70% cocoa derived. Sweet, milk chocolate doesn’t offer the health benefits and don’t even think of white chocolate. But be sure to practice moderation, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

#9 Meditate

Not only does meditating calm you in the moment, establishing a regular meditation practice changes the way your brain responds to stress.

Many people think meditation means sitting still for hours with a completely empty mind. But there are many forms of meditation, some still, some active and some taking just a few minutes.

Have you ever found yourself gazing at something, perhaps a magnificent scene, completely caught up in what you are looking at, your mind a blank? You are in a state of meditation. Anything that totally pulls your focus and allows you to switch off other distractions is meditation. Sometimes it can happen simply by watching something absorbing, at other times it helps to repeat a simple word or phrase in time with your breath. Words such as relax, I am calm, peace or serenity are all suitable choices. Find one that has the most meaning for you.

Concentrating on your breath is one way to focus and meditate. Zen masters may do this for hours on end but even doing it for just a few minutes has a powerful effect on your whole body, your brain, your nervous system, your emotions and your muscles. You can even meditate by concentrating on your breathing as you take slow measured steps in time with each breath.

#10 Meridian Magic

This is a different take on how to relax and calm yourself.

The Triple Warmer is an energy pathway running through your body which is related to stress. This twenty second exercise is an ancient healing practice that rebalances this energy pathway to reduce the stress effect. Realigning this meridian supports your immune system and improves your ability to manage stress and release tension, anxiety and fear. It’s so simple, quick and effective, you can do it anywhere, and it only takes seconds. This year, set yourself up to hit the New Year running.

We can’t totally eliminate stress from our life in these times because it surrounds us day and night. But adopting simple strategies to prevent the effects of that stress building up in your body before it reaches a level where you crash, just makes plain good sense. Perhaps even more importantly it gives you back control of your life.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.