Tag Archives: Better Health

How to Manage Anxiety and Stress

Feeling stress and anxiety is common. Some many moments or reasons give us sweaty palms, increased heartbeats and quick breathing. It can even send some people to panic mode where they don’t have any idea what to do. We experience such things while sitting for an interview, exams or waiting for a doctor’s report.

 

Person having Anxiety | Alliance Herbal

 

 

There are many ways to feel better when you are stressed as well as to reduce the “stress triggers” produced by the body. All you need to follow the tips given below.

 

Do Exercise:

 

Doing a workout is one of the simplest things you can do to deal with stress. However, it takes you to do daily exercises. It can be anything, from a simple walk, yoga, gym workout, dancing, or swimming.

 

Here is how exercises can reduce anxiety and stress.

 

  • Exercise minimizes the body’s stress hormones such as cortisol. It also releases happy hormones such as endorphins, which can improve your mood and work as natural painkillers. 
  • Exercises also promote sleep quality, which can be affected by anxiety and stress. 
  • Exercises also increase confidence and self-esteem. 

 

 

Take Supplements:

 

Certain herbs are useful in stress management. They are good for relaxation. Here are some of them:

 

Ginger:

 

Ginger is known for many healing properties. It is a powerful stress-busting remedy. It contains a powerful antioxidant known as Gingerol that can deal with the harmful chemicals found by the body during stress. Stress can cause an upset stomach as it hinders the production of stomach acids. Ginger can also improve stomach acid. You can add ginger in your tea.

 

Chamomile:

 

Chamomile is a traditional remedy and is touted for its calming effect. It promotes relaxation as well as reduces anxiety. It derives its relaxing qualities from phenolics such as flavonoids, phenolic acids and quinones. You can add two tbsps. of dried chamomile flowers in 2 cups of hot water and infuse it for 2 minutes. Strain and drink it like tea.

 

Ashwagandha:

 

Ashwagandha is a useful herb being used in many health concerns, including depression and stress. It is used in many health concerns, and stress is one of them. Many studies have found that Ashwagandha can ease stress and anxiety. It is available as pills and powder.

 

Basil:

 

Basil herb or tulsi being used for many health concerns. Related to the family of mints, it is an effective antioxidant for relaxation and stress relief. The leaves of tulsi can be used in tea and cooking.

 

Lemon Balm:

 

It is another useful herb to minimize stress and anxiety. It can be combined with other herbs such as chamomile, lavender and valerian.

 

Lower Your Caffeine Intake:

 

Caffeine is found in tea, chocolate, coffee and energy drinks. It is a stimulant which can increase anxiety if taken in high doses. However, it all depends on your thresholds. If caffeine causes stress or jittery feeling, consider minimizing it.

 

Although some reports show that coffee can be beneficial in moderation, it might not benefit everyone.

 

Spend Time with Near and Dear Ones:

 

Social support from family and friends can help you deal with stressful times. You can approach your friends in tough times. According to one study, spending time with beloved ones and kids can release oxytocin, a natural stress reliever—this is known as “tend and befriend”.

 

On the other hand, people with the fewest social connections are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety.

 

Laugh Out Loud:

 

Whether you are giggling watching a sitcom or breaking into a smile at a newspaper cartoon, laughing has many benefits. After all, laughter is the best medicine as they say. And it’s a great form of stress relief, too.

 

For example, when you laugh, you get distracted from disturbing thoughts. It gives your brain a break from stressing over the issues. It also improves your mood and promotes a sense of well-being. Above all, it decreases stress hormones such as cortisol as well as releases feel-good chemicals.

 

And there are many ways to add laughter to your life. You can follow a funny meme account which can put a smile on your face as you go through the posts over there. You can spend time with your pets. And spending time with funny people is the tried and tested way to drive your stress away.

 

Take Good Sleep:

 

Well, sleep is a powerful remedy to decrease stress. Good sleep clams and restores the body enhances concentration and improves mood. Sleep is so crucial that even sleep deprivation can lead to stress and anxiety. You should try to take 8 hours of sleep.

 

If there is something that keeps you awake at night, you need to manage such thoughts by opting for counselling. Even motivational audiotapes/podcasts and books can help you with that.

 

Breathing:

 

You are often told to breathe deeply when you are stressed or have anxiety. Well, there is the reason behind that. When you breathe deeply, your brain gets a message to calm down and relax. The brain then communicates this message to your body.

 

Those symptoms that take place where you are anxious or stressed, such as racy heartbeats, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all can decrease as you breathe deeply to feel relaxation. There is lots of breathing exercise you can do to feel better. You can start with belly breathing that is simple to learn and easy as well. It is often recommended if you have never done breathing before.

 

Here’s how you can do it:

 

  • Sit or lie in  a comfortable position
  • Place one hand on the belly just below the ribs and another hand on the chest. 
  • Take a deep breath through the nose. Let the belly push the hand out. Make sure not to move the chest. 
  • Breathe out through the lips as if you are whistling. Feel the hand on the belly go in, and utilize it to puss all the air out.
  • Repeat this for 3 to 10 times. 

 

Perform Meditation:

 

If stress has taken a heavy toll on your, consider performing meditation. Even a few minutes of meditation can help you gain your inner peace and calm. It is a simple tool anyone can do.

 

It can be done when you are out for a walk, at the office or even in the middle of a stressful event. It promotes relaxation and tranquillity.

 

When you perform meditation, you have a supreme focus away from the jumbled thoughts, causing stress and anxiety. This process can help you feel relaxed. This way, it not only enables you to overcome stress and anxiety but also leads to overall emotional well-being.

 

Perform Yoga:

 

Like Mediation, yoga can also help you ease stress and anxiety. The goal of yoga is to join your body and mind. It can reduce cortisol levels, blood pressure and racy heartbeats. It works over the three aspects that are often affected by anxiety and stress: mind, body and breathing.

 

 

So these are some ways to reduce stress and anxiety. These ideas are all about to make you feel good. Make sure to see your doctor if your stress starts getting worse or don’t go away and disturbs your life.

 

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Explore the World Outside for a Better Health: Benefits of Ecotherapy

Even the idea of spending time in nature makes you feel better, isn’t it? The warmth of the sun, the sounds of the birds, the shade of the trees, and so on; all these are enough to attract you over and over again to step outside. Whenever you feel like doing nothing or you are stressed out completely, a short or long trip into the lap of nature is something which can help you feel instantly better.

With the passage of time, humans are now less connected with the nature. And somewhere or the other, it is a huge reason behind increasing number of diseases and diseased around the globe. Experts state that getting lost into nature helps reduced levels of stress, depression and anxiety. Other benefits include increased resilience, improved self-esteem and improved capacity to engage socially.

Well if you haven’t planned for something similar, you need to learn different benefits of Eco-therapy. Read on some of them here:

Vitamin D:

Vitamin D

So, you already know this. Sunlight and vitamin D sounds to be synonymous. But have you put efforts for them? Definitely, not! Thus, one of the major reasons and benefits of spending time outdoors is that it contributes to your good health when your body is the exposed to Vitamin D. This vital vitamin is responsible for many aspects of health. Its deficiency has been linked with a number of health issues like obesity, cancer, as well as some mental disorders, and much more. Although you will get supplemental Vitamin D easily, but your body deeply needs sun exposure to get adequate Vitamin D.

Exercise:

Exercise

Do you get early in morning? Go for a brisk walk? Or perform yoga? No, because you are too busy. Then few days with nature can help you recover all that you missed out. Spending time in nature generally involves driving into the woods and includes some form of exercise. It could be anything rock climbing, canoeing, swimming, hiking, or any other form. The fact which remains constant is that these outdoor activities include some sort of movement. Hence, even if you aren’t getting enough exercise regularly, moving outdoors provides a chance for fun and exercise, altogether.

Fresh Air:

Fresh Air

Do you know that indoor air is up to 70 times more contaminated than the outdoor one? Yes, the reason behind is the plethora of chemicals and plastics present in your homes, more air-tight insulation, windows and doors, etc. Thus, when you go outside to spend some time outdoors, it allows you breathe in fresh air. Best places for this purpose could be like the beach or near waterfalls. Here you can smell the “freshness” in the air and feel the difference.

Eye Health:

Eye Health

Another surprising benefit of spending time outdoors is concerned with your vision. Nowadays the increasing number of eye problems, especially in children, forces you to choose this way out to treat it naturally. As stated above more amount of time spent on screen is one reason. In earlier days, the children used to spend most of their time outdoors. They were more interested in variety of colors, levels of brightness and depths. But now, they spend around seven to eight hours a day on computer or tablet screen, which results to an increase in nearsightedness. Take your kids out and gift them great eye health.

Nature has served with abundance of love and care. All you need to do is just push yourself to step outside of your closet and breather freely. This is something you can do for your good health, that too without investing a hefty amount. Share on your ideas to make the best out of your next visit outside!