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Are you suffering stress at work?

August 22nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

When you’re stuck in a stressful job, the stress from work can flow over into other areas of your life. Before you know it, your family is suffering as much as you are.

Relieve your stress at work

There are a dozen small, stress-relieving exercises that can help ease the symptoms while working toward the long-term cure. Stress produces a number of well-documented physiological effects like muscle tension, shallow breathing and compromised immune system. To combat these, you can take direct action.

Take a few deep breaths, slowly. No need to go into some kind of Zen state, just allow yourself to expand the chest and relieve tension around the center of the body. Stretch the arms and shoulders. Gently work the head from side to side. Flex the calves.

Take a few minutes to work on your mental processes as well. Stress often inhibits the ability to focus or concentrate effectively. It decreases memory retention on needed items because the irritation causes focus to shift to the fact of being angry.

While you’re breathing deeply, close your eyes and meditate for a couple of minutes. Again, that doesn’t require any form of deep relaxation, just a moment to let the external world go. At the same time, you don’t want to focus solely on the anger or stress you’re feeling. Focus on an internal image of something pleasant - a child’s face, the family dog, a great golf swing, anything that works for you.

Now that you’ve tackled the symptoms, go after the roots of the problem.

Many choose to start their own businesses. That choice brings with it a whole new set of challenges, but the overarching benefit is the freedom to meet them. You’ll find yourself working long hours with little recognition. But, even in the absence of large external rewards, the internal rewards - the satisfaction, the feeling of being the ‘commander of your own ship’ - is frequently cited as a major incentive for those who keep trying.

Many others will try to work for positive change within their current organization. Even when those efforts are only partially successful, individuals report that they gain satisfaction from the knowledge that they are not simply accepting their unpleasant fate passively.

You can make efforts to transfer to another job within the organization, or look forward to the day when that unreasonable boss will have moved on. Remember, very few things in any company stay the same for more than six months to a year.

While you’re waiting for better circumstances, focus on the process less than the results. Keep a realistic attitude about what is and what is not within your control. Try not to let the latter matter very much. Seek out the cooperative individuals in the company and don’t burden yourself with trying to change the others.

Stress at work can be managed: try breathing your way through the worst of the stress, and you’ll find your day progresses much more smoothly.

Natural Stress Relief Is Best - it can be as simple as breathing

August 5th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Did you know that you can provide your own instant stress relief by learning how to breathe?

When you’re stressed, your breathing changes, and you may pant or breathe a lot faster than usual: this cuts the oxygen supply in your body, and your body puts out distress signals for you to get more oxygen that might contribute to your anxiety.  (This is known as hyperventilation.)

When you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath.  Take many deep breaths for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This minute or so of taking time out to breathe deeply will give your body a time-out and help calm panic.  It will also lower your heart rate and blood pressure during stressful times.

Some people find it difficult to breathe deeply for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This is normal.  If you have this problem, keep a small dark glass bottle of essential oils nearby.  Sniffing the essential oil will make your body instinctively take deeper breaths. 

Some recommended oils that encourage deep breathing are lavender, frankincense and tea tree.  Bergamot works for some, but not for others. 

Scent is a very personal thing; take some time to sniff essential oils sold in a health, fitness, occult supply stores or pharmacies.  Some large chain supermarkets carry essential oils in their organic departments.  They are made from natural plant and fruit extracts and oils, making them truly organic and natural solutions for stress and anxiety relief.
Do you need professional help?

Always call your physician if you are you having trouble eating and/or sleeping, if you feel overwhelmed, if your worries are running so constantly through your mind that you can’t relax and if you think that if you stop worrying, it’s somehow wrong.

Evaluate these symptoms honestly.  If you suffer from any or all of these symptoms, make an appointment with your health care professional today.  Follow his or her advice closely and try to squeeze in these natural stress and anxiety relief exercises as well.

Stress Relief Tips - simple and cheap

July 26th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

The simplest stress relief tips are the best: go for a ten-minute walk in the middle of the day, or spend half an hour swimming after work - exercise relieves stress because it burns off the stress hormones which accumulate in your system.

Here are some simple and cheap stress relief tips:

Breathe!

Learn to breathe with your entire lung capacity. The easiest way to discover the art of breathing is through yoga: pranayama (breathing) is incorporated into even the simplest yoga exercise.

A fast walk gets you breathing too, as does any form of exercise. You have to breathe when you exercise, right?  It may seem like a no-brainer, but breathing the right way is a major component to effective exercising, whether it is yoga or running.  A good night’s sleep is the most obvious stress reliever we know, and learning to meditate effectively can help achieve some wonderful sleep.       

You shouldn’t have to work at relieving stress, and that is one reason why so many of us look for ways other than exercise when searching for stress relief tips. 

Some other common internet stress relief tips are simply listening to music and burning aromatherapy candles.  There’s nothing like doing nothing, and nothing is more relaxing than listening to soft music with the scent of candles in the air. 

With the speed at which the world moves, we can never truly relax, but we can hope to find a little relaxation and relief from the stress of our lives with the help of some useful stress relief tips. 

Copyright © 2007 Just Stress Relief

Credits: Try Yoga For Stress Relief: Easy Fab Yoga | Matteo Turchetto | Andreas Viklund

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