The 3 most original ways to eliminate stress (even before it appears)

Everybody feels stress from time to time, right? be it because of a problem at work, the next exams, unexpected commitments, the famous lack of time, and a long etcetera.

The problem is that trying to eliminate stress and not achieving it only makes you feel more stressed and, in addition, turns your daily routine into a maze with no way out. Things get worse because we carry stress 24 hours, which directly affects our health and well-being.

The good news is that eliminating stress (and even preventing it) is very easy and fun, in this article I will tell you 3 ways that can help you have more days of relaxation (guaranteed). So take a deep breath, breathe out gently, and keep reading.

There are only two times when I feel stress: day and night 

 

Please think for a second the last time you felt a lot of stress ...

Maybe your head hurt, you had severe indigestion, or you probably felt very exhausted and in a bad mood. In the end, you had all the emotions mixed up and the sensations crashed into your head, which made you feel just terrible all day.

In a short film, I learned a metaphor that can very well describe this stressful situation:

Imagine that your brain is a bottle full of water and diamond powder, when you shake it simply all the diamond turns round and round everywhere without sense and this is how your mind reacts during a stressful situation.

A mind with sustained stress for a long time seriously affects everything else in your life: your health, your productivity, your self-esteem, your relationships, etc.

This happens because a healthy lifestyle includes 3 fundamental parts: physical, mental, and social. All of the equal importance.

When one of these parts is not in an optimal state, it affects all the others.

 

Therefore, it is extremely important that we try to eliminate stress in a healthy way and above all learn to prevent it.

Before telling you about these unconventional strategies to relieve your stress and feel better, it seems important to me to define what we are dealing with: what is stress really?

What is stress really?

Although it seems that the definition of stress is very simple, in reality, it is not. First, because not all stress is the same, and second because even if you don't believe it, it is difficult to detect when someone is feeling stress.

I explain why: the characteristics of stress are similar to those you experience in other circumstances, for example, when you watch a horror movie or when you eat a delicious dinner. Pleasure and stress trigger similar responses in your body and in your mind.

However, according to molecular biologist John Medina, the perfect storm of stress is triggered when you are perceiving these two things simultaneously: high expectations (internal and external) and a lack of control over the situation.

Stress is a reaction of the organism to face a situation that is perceived as threatening

Did you notice It is a " perceived" situation In such a way that it is a mental state that generates a reaction in the body.

If I give you an empty bucket and it tells you to bring me some stress, could you do it? ... The answer is NO. Because stress is not tangible, you cannot touch or see it. It is a creation of our mind, purely illusory but it does a lot of damage. 

Interestingly it comes from a Greek word that means to  squeeze 

Many times anxiety becomes an unwanted travel companion that absorbs all our physical, mental, and emotional energy. ...

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I do not believe that a totally stress-free life is possible, as it is an answer to survive and face life's challenges.

Think that many years ago, stress helped our caveman ancestors survive in a hostile and dangerous environment. Feeling stress helped them run away from a dangerous lion, or fight ruthlessly with a mammoth to eat.

However, nowadays stress is completely different.

The problem is that many times these "dangerous" situations are not real, but imaginary. It is not measured in hungry lions but in thousands of earrings, exams, and grumpy bosses.

When this occurs, stress is activated in our brain as if it were a threat that endangers our lives, but in reality, it is not. What's worse, we stretch the unpleasant sensation for days or even whole months.

The best solution is to prevent stress before it appears and I will tell you how to do it. 

But before, it is important that you know what happens in your body when you feel stress and you feel smoke coming out of your ears.

This is what happens in your body under stress

As you already know, stress is a response to a threatening situation. Your body secretes substances and hormones that trigger a flight response to danger

Look at the animals: when they feel threatened they also feel stress, which activates various reactions in the body and prepares them to escape or fight.

In our case, the reaction is similar. The relationship between thoughts, emotions, and substances in the body is based on a key principle: "minimize danger and maximize reward."

This causes us to be exposed to a cascade of hormones and other powerful substances that, for prolonged periods, become extremely harmful to health.

For example, cortisol,  a hormone that seriously affects your body, your way of thinking, learning, and making decisions.

If this were not enough, while you feel that dangerous stress stuck in the throat for a long time, all this happens in the rest of your body:

 

If this situation of mental, physical and emotional tension is prolonged you can:

• Destroy your rest and sleep pattern
• Generate widespread chronic fatigue
• Intervene in the normal recovery processes of the body
• Prevents proper digestion of your food
• It affects your immune system causing diseases
• An affectation in the levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood

Among many other consequences that you definitely don't want to have in your life ...

I spoke to a renowned neuroscientist about what happens in your brain with stress and other emotions ...

 

What do I do to eliminate stress?

A few months ago I had severe pain in my neck, I didn't sleep well and I felt like a train had passed me.

It was clear: I had become another victim of stress.

When I became aware that stress was actually totally unnecessary and also was not helping me to solve the "problems" I had, I decided to do something about it ...

• I started to  meditate

I spent a little bit of my time closing my eyes, breathing and trying to listen to my body (which was crying out for a break).

But, as I tried to relax, all my problems (that caused me stress) appeared like ghosts, so I just watched them, without running after them or trying to stop them. Observing my problems without doing anything generated peace and tranquility (even though they were in front of me).

It is as if the diamond inside the bottle we were talking about at the beginning will begin to settle gently.

• Another strategy that has given me incredible results are exercising.

Virtually any form of movement (even walking down the hall) can act as a stress reliever.

Notice: exercising makes you feel good because it increases the production of endorphins, a substance that gives you that feeling of satisfaction.

In addition, regular exercise increases confidence in you relaxes you and decreases the symptoms associated with depression and anxiety. 

I hope there is, even more, exercise can also improve your quality of sleep, which is affected by prolonged stress. Waking up energetically helps you stay calmer (makes the diamond inside the jar stay on the bottom).

So while meditating and exercising has an effect on your mind and body. Together they are like Batman and Robin to fight the stress villain.

However, the most important thing is to learn how to prevent that terrible stress from appearing in the first place.

Here I tell you 3 super original and fun ways to do it.

The goal is to use these activities to delve deeper into the recesses of our minds, listen to our bodies, and prevent stress.

The good news is that if you are constant these relaxing activities will become a habit. So stress will decrease in your daily routine automatically.

1. Listen to music you like

Play music that relaxes you and loses yourself listening to at least one song. I already tried it and it gave me great results.

To go to work I use public transport and on the way, I did many things like reading or studying, but one day I decided to just listen to music.

The moment one of my favorite songs appeared, my mind drifted away. I wasn't even focused, I just felt my breathing and a feeling of calm above me.

And it is no coincidence, music has a positive effect on our brain, managing to change our mood.

In curious research, it was discovered that classical music specifically has a major effect on your body under stress. According to the results, participants who listened to classical music after feeling high levels of stress recovered their normal blood pressure and heart rate levels much faster.

This means that the anti-stress effect becomes more effective with Vivaldi or Beethoven.

If this were not enough, a scientific study showed that music can have an analgesic effect relieving pain.

Listen to a song that you like at least once a day. Use that tune as an escape and a moment to disconnect.

If you are more daring, move your body and dance to the rhythm of the music. It doesn't matter that you have 2 left feet, just feel the music.

It is proven that dancing has a strong impact on the brain, even modifying its plasticity (physical form) Try it and you will see how well, you feel afterward.

2. Eat slower

Eating has become a rushed senseless chore for most of us. It has been reduced to open the mouth and introduce food.

 

You can turn your lunch break into therapy to achieve inner calm and silence those turbulent concerns you may have. All you have to do is enjoy your food.

Leave your place setting between bites, take a breath, and relax. The trick is to be in the moment, savor, and enjoy every bite.

Remember that food nourishes the body and is not a race, so eat slower.

I recommend you read this article, with all the benefits of eating slower and how to achieve it.

Once you have mastered this, you will find that mealtime is a pleasant time. And you will eat only enough since you will be listening to your body from very close.

3. Play and have fun

We grow up and playing alone becomes a vague memory of our childhood. But,   playing has a great effect to relax your mind.

According to the Wall Street Journal, more than 50 major companies, including Nokia, Chrysler have incorporated the "ethic of gambling" currently have a games room for their employees' breaks. Some companies go much further, they have trained their executives with lego pieces.

If you have young children or nephews, take advantage of them to play and relax.

But if this is not your case, get some lego chips, a puzzle, or any other game that sparks your creativity. Have fun while you do it and put away all those thoughts that cause you stress.