Stress Management practical solutions.

Stress is something that we are faced with on a regular basis and must learn to manage. There is good stress which causes us to feel motivated to achieve goals and get out of bed in the morning and not so good stress which has negative consequences like worrying excessively and feeling tension in the body. One common solution to managing not so good stress is by exercising more. The American Medical Association recommends adults get an average of 150 minutes of cardio exercise per week in order to maintain good health. This also means good mental health. Getting your heart rate up and sweating a bit can help release endorphins which boost your mood and help you body manage stress. Another common solution to managing stress is deep breathing. This helps the body and mind relax and reset. Simply inhale through your nose breathing normally for 4 seconds, the hold your breath for 4 seconds and then exhale through your mouth like you are blowing air through a straw for 4 seconds. Notice how you feel. Then repeat as many times as necessary until you get the desired result. Yet another solution is mindfulness meditation. There is research from Massachusetts and Stanford Medical School on MBSR (Mindfulness-based stress reduction.) Visualize a stream or river flowing with water and leaves floating on the water. The leaves float by you. Now think of the leaves as thoughts that are floating through your mind. Just let the leaves float down the river without attaching yourself to them. The negative thoughts that we have can create anxiety and if we don't attach ourselves to them then we won't become anxious. Finally journaling can be an avenue of reducing stress. Simply free associate and let all your thoughts and feeling pour onto the paper with your pen. It is not something you need to reread again, rather, use simply as a tool to vent your feelings on. I hope that these have been some simple solutions to your managing stress better.