Natural Stress Remedies

Written By: Maddie Wing

The world we live in can often bring stress into our day-to-day lives. From a “go-go-go” mentality or simply having too much on your plate, stress begins to go where it doesn’t belong.

Sure, we all feel the weight of stress from time to time, but how can we reduce the impact it has on our lives? Here are five natural stress-reducing practices to help you live a more fulfilling and peaceful life.

1. Exercise

We all know exercise is essential to our overall physical health, however, exercise significantly impacts your mental health as well. As you begin to exercise, your brain’s “happy” neurotransmitters otherwise known as endorphins, begin pumping through your body. You may have heard of “runners high” which refers to this process, however, any aerobic activity can provide an increase in endorphins. Endorphins work hard to ease the impact stress has on our bodies while improving your mindset simultaneously.

While the physical benefits of exercise are vast, the act of movement is a great deterrent for the “racing mind”. Oftentimes, when we are stressed our mind piles all scenarios into one providing an overwhelming stressful sensation. With exercise, you can shift your focus onto one task, taking time for your body and well-being.

2. Journaling

Simply writing your thoughts onto a piece of paper can make a significant impact on the way we handle stress. Journaling is an important practice that can benefit our overall well-being. By putting pen to paper, a beautiful release of stress occurs. The overwhelming thoughts that once lived in your brain suddenly hold less weight when they live on paper.

Journaling can be much harder than it seems. It can be tricky to be vulnerable and real even when you're writing to yourself. But how beautiful would it be if the thoughts that once took up negative space are released onto pages you can later reflect on? Journaling is a great way to mitigate stress and bring your mind to a peaceful place.

3. Meditation and Breath Work

Mindfulness is essential to reducing stress and its effects on our bodies. Meditation in particular does a fantastic job at centering our minds and clearing out stressful thoughts and circumstances. Not only is meditation a great way to ease stress, but it also increases self-awareness. Stress can often live outside of the present and it's important to re-center our attention on the present.

Breath work is something many of us often don't consider when working through our day-to-day stressors. Breathing is typically an afterthought, however, practicing breath work can increase the airflow in your body in turn calming your nerves and mitigating stress.

Both meditation and breath work take time and practice, so be patient with yourself and try new techniques to see what works best for you in relieving stress.

4. Spending Time with Others

As humans, we crave time with others. Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, human interaction is essential to our happiness. Although this previous year didn’t enable much freedom to spend time with others, we can now gather and spend time with loved ones.

Stress is skilled at keeping us in our heads, however, spending time with others can bring perspective and assist a mental shift.

5. Setting Boundaries

At the end of the day, it’s okay to say “no” to others. As we cope with stress, it can be tricky to balance many different plans, tasks, and daily to-dos. It's important to look inside and reflect on what may be best for you at that moment to relieve stress. Maybe it's going out with friends and being surrounded by people, or maybe it's taking a bubble bath and reading your favorite novel. It’s okay (and important) to set boundaries and prioritize your mental health.

5. Supplements

At times, our bodies may need extra assistance to work through stress. It’s important to talk with your doctor to see where your body may be lacking in key nutrients that help support stress mitigation.

Let’s face it… life is stressful, but it doesn’t have to take over your happiness. Try out these natural stress remedies and see what works for you!