Verywell / Joshua Seong
Key Takeaways
- Stress relief strategies can include physical approaches, mindfulness, and other relaxation techniques.
- Other strategies include eating a balanced diet, using positive self-talk, expressing gratitude, and eliminating stressors when possible.
- Talk to a mental health professional if your stress is overwhelming or unmanageable.
From minor challenges to major crises, stress is part of life. And while you can’t always control your circumstances, you can control how you respond to them. When stress becomes overwhelming or chronic, it can affect your well-being. That’s why it’s essential to have effective stress relievers that can calm your mind and body.
No single stress relief strategy works for everyone in every situation. What helps at home might not be realistic in public, so it’s best to use various tools depending on where you are.
Highly Effective Tips for Relieving Stress
1. Taking a Walk
Exercise is a fantastic stress reliever that can work in minutes. Taking a walk allows you to enjoy a change of scenery, which can get you into a different frame of mind, and brings the benefits of exercise as well.
So whether you just need to take a stroll around the office to get a break from a frustrating task or you decide to go for a long walk in the park after work, walking is a simple but effective way to rejuvenate your mind and body.
One study found that combining walking and relaxation could be a particularly effective way to reduce stress.
2. Physical Touch
Physical touch can do a lot to relieve your stress. Hugging a loved one can be especially beneficial.
When you hug someone, oxytocin (also known as the “cuddle hormone”) is released. Oxytocin is associated with higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress.
Oxytocin also causes a reduction in blood pressure. It reduces the stress hormone norepinephrine and can produce a sense of relaxation.
So don’t be afraid to ask a loved one for a hug if you need it. It’s good for both of you, and it can be one of the simplest forms of stress relief available.
3. Leisure Activities
Leisure activities can be a wonderful way to relieve stress. Yet many people feel that their lives are too busy for hobbies, games, or extra fun.
But building time for leisure into your schedule could be key to helping you feel your best. And when you feel better, you’ll perform better, which means leisure time may make your work more efficient.
Whether you find joy in caring for a garden or you like making quilts, hobbies and leisure are key to living your best life.
4. Exercise
Physical activity is key to managing stress and improving mental health. And the best news is, there are many different kinds of activities that can reduce your stress.
Join a gym, take a class, or exercise outside. There are many different ways to get more physical activity in your day, too.
Walking, strength training, kayaking, hiking, and spin class are just a few different ways to relieve stress.
5. Yoga
Yoga combines physical movement, meditation, light exercise, and controlled breathing—all of which provide excellent stress relief.
And while you’re likely to reap immediate benefits from a single yoga session, you’re likely to receive long-term benefits if you incorporate it into your life in a consistent way.
Yoga offers a variety of physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits. To get started, you might take a class, enroll in an online program, or use an app to help you begin practicing.
6. Guided Imagery
Guided imagery is like taking a short vacation in your mind. It can involve imagining yourself being in your “happy place”—maybe picturing yourself sitting on a beach, listening to the waves, smelling the ocean, and feeling the warm sand underneath you.
Research suggests that guided imagery has the potential to positively affect attentional control and reduce stress levels.
Guided imagery can be done with a recording where you listen to someone walk you through a peaceful scene. Or, once you know how to do it yourself, you can practice guided imagery on your own.
Simply close your eyes for a minute and walk yourself through a peaceful scene. Think about all your sensory experiences and allow yourself to feel like you’re there. After a few minutes, open your eyes and return to the present moment.
7. Meditation
Meditation can provide short-term stress relief and lasting stress management benefits. There are many different forms of meditation to try, each unique and appealing.
You might develop a mantra that you repeat in your mind as you take slow, deep breaths. Or, you might take a few minutes to practice mindfulness, which involves being in the moment. Simply pay attention to what you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell.
When you’re focused on the here-and-now, you won’t be able to ruminate about something that already happened, and you can’t worry about something in the future. Meditation and mindfulness take practice, but they can make a big difference in your overall stress level as they bring you back to the present.
8. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation involves relaxing all the muscles in your body, group by group. To practice, you can start with a few deep breaths.
Then, practice tightening and relaxing each muscle group, starting with your forehead and moving down to your toes.
With practice, you’ll learn to recognize tension and tightness in your muscles, and you’ll be able to relax more easily. Each time you practice, however, you should experience a feeling of relaxation sweeping through your body.
9. Breathing Exercises
Focusing on or changing the way you breathe can make a big difference to your overall stress level. Breathing techniques can calm your body and your brain in just a few minutes.
The best news is that no one around you will know you’re doing them. So whether you’re in a stressful meeting or sitting in a crowded theater, breathing exercises could be key to reducing your stress.
While there are many different breathing exercises, like karate breathing, a few simple ones include:
- Breathe in through your nose and watch your belly fill with air. Count slowly to three as you inhale. Hold for one second, and then slowly breathe out through your nose as you count to three again.
- Breathe in through your nose and imagine that you’re inhaling peaceful, calm air. Imagine that air spreading throughout your body. As you exhale, imagine that you’re breathing out stress and tension.
10. Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy has real benefits for stress relief—it can help you to feel energized, more relaxed, or more present in the moment.
Emerging research suggests certain scents can alter brain wave activity and decrease stress hormones in the body.
So whether you enjoy candles, diffusers, or body products, consider incorporating some aromatherapy into your day.
11. Create Art
Getting in touch with your creative side may have been easy for you during childhood, but it’s not too late to pick it up again if you’ve lost touch with your penchant for artwork.
Consider coloring in a coloring book if you aren’t into drawing or painting. Adult coloring books have risen in popularity, and for good reason—coloring can be a great stress reliever.
Research consistently shows that coloring can have a meditative effect. One study found that coloring helped reduce feelings of anxiety, depression and negative feelings when combined with medication and physical therapy.
12. Eat a Balanced Diet
A poor diet can increase your stress reactivity. Emotional eating and reaching for high-fat, high-sugar foods can provide a temporary sense of relief that adds to your long-term stress.
Refined carbs, like cookies and potato chips, can cause a spike in blood sugar. When your blood sugar crashes, you might experience more stress and anxiety.
Consuming a healthy diet can help you combat stress over the long haul. Foods like eggs, avocado, and walnuts support mood regulation and energy balance.
13. Stress Relief Supplements
Some vitamins and supplements may have benefits for stress relief. What vitamins help with stress? A daily multivitamin may help address nutritional deficits and ensure you get the necessary vitamins and minerals to feel your best. Other supplements that may help relieve stress include:
- Melatonin: This natural hormone can help regulate your body’s circadian rhythm. Improving sleep can help you feel less stressed.
- Ashwagandha: This adaptogenic herb is thought to help improve the body’s resilience to mental and physical stress.
- L-theanine: This amino acid has been shown to help reduce stress, promote relaxation, and improve sleep quality.
- B vitamins: Some research indicates that B vitamins may help lower homocysteine levels, reduce stress, and improve mood.
14. Positive Self-Talk
The way you talk to yourself matters. Harsh self-criticism, self-doubt, and catastrophic predictions aren’t helpful. If you’re constantly thinking things like, “I don’t have time for this,” and “I can’t stand this,” you’ll stress yourself out.
It’s important to learn to talk to yourself in a more realistic, compassionate manner. When you call yourself names or doubt your ability to succeed, reply with a kinder inner dialogue.
Positive self-talk can help you develop a healthier outlook. An optimistic and compassionate conversation can help you manage your emotions and take positive action.
15. Gratitude
Gratitude helps you recognize all the things you have to be thankful for. Whether you’re grateful for a sunny day or thankful you arrived at work safely, think about all the good things you have in life.
Gratitude also reminds you of all of the resources you have to cope with stress, which can be quite empowering.
Research has also shown that grateful people enjoy better mental health, lower stress, and a better quality of life.
So whether you decide to make it a habit to identify what you’re grateful for as you sit around the dinner table or you decide to write down three things you’re grateful for in a gratitude journal every day, make gratitude a regular habit.
Problem-Focused Coping Stress Relief
Most stress relievers focus on changing your emotions. But sometimes, you won’t necessarily get relief until you change the environment.
This is referred to as problem-focused coping (as opposed to emotion-focused coping). Problem-focused coping involves taking steps to remove the stressor from your life (as opposed to changing how you feel about the stressor).
16. Reassess Your To-Do Lists
If you’re trying to squeeze 20 hours’ worth of work into 16 hours, you’re going to feel stressed. Reducing your workload could be key to helping you get through the day feeling better.
That could mean stepping away from a committee you joined or hiring someone to complete some of your household chores for you,
Honing your time management skills can allow you to minimize the stressors that you experience and better manage the ones you can’t avoid.
When you are able to complete everything on your “to do” list without the stress of rushing or forgetting, your whole life feels easier.
17. Obtain Social Support
Having supportive people in your life is the key to stress management. If you lack emotional support and friendship, it’s important to get it.
That 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.
You may also need to expand your network. Join an organization, attend a support group, or get professional help if you lack supportive people in your life.
18. Cut Out Things That Add to Your Stress
Sometimes, the best way to reduce your stress is to cut something out of your life. Get rid of the things that are adding to your stress so you can experience more peace.
Watching the news, being constantly connected to your digital devices, drinking alcohol, and consuming too much caffeine are just a few of the things that may add more stress to your life. Making some changes to your daily habits could be instrumental in helping you feel better.
Short-Term vs. Long-Term Stress Relief Strategies
Some stress relief strategies work fast (deep breathing), while others take time to be effective (eating a healthy diet). A number of helpful techniques, such as deep breathing and meditation, are fast-acting tools that you can do anywhere, anytime.
Whether you’re about to be interviewed for a job or you’re feeling overwhelmed by your child’s behavior at the playground, it’s important to have some stress reduction tools that can lower your stress right now.
The best short-term strategies:
- Can be performed anywhere
- Take very little practice to master
- Are free
- Provide immediate relief
But it’s also important to find ways to calm mental stress over the long term. Certain habits can promote resilience to stress and increase overall wellness. For example, those who exercise or meditate regularly tend to become less stressed in the face of a difficult challenge.
So it’s essential to create a lifestyle that will help you ward off stress and deal with challenges in a healthy way.
