When you’re a kid, life is pretty simple. You play, you eat, you sleep – repeat. Then, with each year that passes, life seems to get a little bit more complicated. You begin paying attention to what you wear, you start getting nervous about college and so on. Before you know it, you’re a full blown adult and it can sometimes feel very overwhelming. After awhile, these types of feelings can compound into harmful stress which can ultimately affect your thoughts, actions and overall health. So, let’s explore some encouraging methods that will help you relax more and worry less.
Meditation
You might be thinking, “isn’t this for monks or something?” Well, sure, monks have been known for their lifelong commitment to the art of meditation. But, that’s not the point. The point is meditation has been used for thousands of years for a reason. It has proven to help alleviate and manage our anxiety, pain and depression. In fact, it was found that regular meditation was just as effective as taking antidepressants. You may not be able to see the physical result, but periods of reflection can affect change within us.
It’s all about consciousness, being conscious of your thoughts and focused breathing. We must be able to thoughtfully manage our inner feelings and outward movements in order to achieve our ideal meditative state. However, the methods of meditation are numerous. Which is why, it’s up to you to choose what works best for you. To learn more, we recommend joining classes in your community to help determine your ideal meditation method. Luckily, each technique will dedicate time to your well-being which can only result in positive mental reinforcement.
Epsom Salt Baths
We’re all very aware of the importance of iron and calcium in our bodies, but we never really think about magnesium. Surprisingly enough, magnesium is the second most common element in our cells and contributes to our muscle control and energy production. What may not come as a surprise is Epsom salt is packed with magnesium sulfate. Unfortunately, humans are not capable of successfully absorbing magnesium through their stomach. However, our skin can easily do this for us.
One quick Epsom salt bath can help flush our bodies of toxins, ease our muscle pains and even improve heart and circulatory health. But, the main benefit is the ability to relieve stress. Unknowingly, stress can drain the magnesium levels in our body, which is known to be our natural stress reliever. So, regular Epsom salt baths can help replenish magnesium and create serotonin in our brains necessary for relaxation. It may not be traditional, but it can give us the minerals we require to fight stress.
Hand Massages
As we know, the most commonly used method of relaxing is massages. Nothing feels better than getting your whole body nurtured while you let your mind rest. But, massages can be both expensive and time consuming. Not to mention, the moments of intense anxiety that can creep up on us at any given time.
So, how can we help ourselves when we’re feeling stressed? It might be useful to know that our hands are full of pressure points which can be triggered to help control our anxiety. By applying repeated, continuous pressure between our palms and fingers, you’ll find that self-administered hand massages can relieve headaches, anxiety and pain. This form of hand stimulation can also help with mobility in certain repetitive tasks, such as typing.
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