Natural Remedies for Stress – Simple Tips for Stress Management
Everyone experiences stress in different ways, shapes, and forms, but not everyone knows or practices effective stress management to limit the negative effects of stress.
Not only is it unpleasant to feel stressed constantly, but being stressed out can lead to a variety of health issues.
According to Gina Popeil, a health consultant at Yes Wellness that works with people on healthy stress management, consistently experiencing stress can contribute to high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, anxiety, and depression, amongst other health problems.
Although the sources of your stress are often unavoidable, there are many natural remedies for stress that can help you handle stress better and reduce the negative impacts of stress.
The natural remedies for stress provided in this article are designed to help you manage stress in your life and effectively manage stress so that it does not cause additional health problems!
Exercise & Natural Stress Relief
Exercising is one of the healthiest ways of managing and relieving stress.
According to ACSMs Health & Fitness Journal, nearly all types of exercise can be beneficial for stress management, and exercise programs can improve your health along with helping you manage stress.
Personally, I believe you should schedule time for exercise the way you would schedule a therapy appointment because, in many ways, that is what it is anyways.
Exercise is a physical and emotional release from the aspects of life that are stressing you out, and there are various ways that exercise can help you reduce stress.
According to a study published in Public Health Records, exercise relieves symptoms of stress by improving self-image, social skills, and cognitive functioning while reducing physiological responses to stressors, amongst other positive adaptions.
Exercise also reduces your body’s stress hormone (cortisol) in the long run.
Although intense exercise or sports competitions can increase cortisol levels in the short term, even these types of exercise are beneficial for reducing stress overall. Furthermore, according to a study published by the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, low-intensity exercise does not result in a significant increase in cortisol levels and can actually reduce circulating cortisol levels.
Therefore, partaking in a low-intensity exercise like a fasted walk in the morning is one of the best ways to reduce stress levels from the time you wake up.
Exercise also helps to produce endorphins, which are chemicals that enhance your mood and act as natural painkillers.
A study published in The Physician and Sportsmedicine states that increased blood levels of endorphins cause exercise benefits ranging from “runners high” to the reduced pain perception individuals feel after exercising.
Furthermore, vigorous exercise promotes your brain to produce BDNF or brain-derived neurotrophic factor, promoting positive growth and regeneration and optimizing body processes, including regulating brain chemicals and processes that make you more resistant to stress.
Moreover, whether you have insomnia or you simply cannot sleep well each night, exercise can help. Along with helping you fall asleep, exercise can also enhance your sleep quality, which could be negatively affected by anxiety and stress.
As stated by a study published in Clinics in Sports Medicine, no daytime behavior has been more closely associated with better sleep than exercise.
Yoga & Stress Management
Yoga is a form of exercise, but it is much more than that when talking about stress management. In my opinion, yoga is one of the best natural remedies for stress.
As someone who has Tourette Syndrome and deals with a unique form of stress every day, I can confidently say that practicing yoga is my favorite way to reduce stress naturally.
I cannot imagine my life without yoga anymore, and once you get into a routine of practicing yoga, I am sure you will notice a dramatic effect on how stressed you are each day and how you handle stressful situations.
Practicing yoga provides multiple benefits.
Yoga is a great form of physical exercise that increases your physical strength, improves your cardiovascular conditioning, and improves your flexibility.
In addition, yoga places emphasis on your breathing.
The breathing structure practiced during yoga will help you become more relaxed throughout the session, and the physical nature of the yoga poses you are doing will give you something to focus on when thoughts are racing through your head.
The meditation and mind-body connection aspect of yoga also help you become more in-tune with your body and more capable of understanding your own emotions.
As per a study published in The West Indian Medical Journal, the state of mind and the state of the body are intimately related, so if the mind is relaxed, the muscles also are relaxed. As stress produces a state of physical and mental tension, yoga can help relieve both.
Many research studies highlight the ability of yoga to help reduce stress naturally, which is why I include it as a daily part of my life. If you would like to begin practicing yoga, I suggest you check out YogaDownload.com because it has structured yoga programs that can help you advance from a beginner to an advanced trainee. I use YogaDownload.com along with yoga videos on YouTube.
Diet and Supplement Tips for Natural Stress Relief
There are many dietary changes and supplements you can take that can positively promote stress reduction. Here are a few natural remedies for stress that involve making a dietary change or adding a supplement to your life:
Green Tea for Stress Reduction
Green tea is an excellent beverage for naturally reducing stress, and it can be an especially important addition to your life if you are used to drinking energy drinks or high-sugar and fat coffee drinks.
Green tea contains L-theanine, a wonderful amino acid and nootropic that helps your brain produce greater numbers of alpha brain waves. These alpha brain waves reduce stress levels and encourage relaxation while improving focus and allowing you to be more mentally alert.
More specifically, drinking green tea is beneficial for reducing stress because L-theanine plays an essential role in developing GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), one of the four primary brain neurotransmitters and the one most involved in promoting an ideal balance between stimulation and relaxation.
There are many great types of green tea you can buy, but I prefer drinking matcha green tea, which contains more antioxidants and other beneficial properties than other types of green tea.
If you would like to drink matcha green tea, I suggest you try this brand:
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Chamomile Tea For Natural Stress Relief
Drinking chamomile tea is another excellent choice for naturally reducing stress. Chamomile’s calming and soothing nature provides a nice sedative effect on the central nervous system, which is great for stress management.
Chamomile tea relaxes your muscles, eases anxiety, and promotes better sleep. As sleeping well goes a long way in making your mind and body more resilient to stress, chamomile tea is an excellent drink for reducing stress.
If you’d like to buy chamomile tea, I suggest you buy this one because the tea also contains lavender, another herb that can assist with stress reduction:
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Supplementing with Ashwagandha to Reduce Stress Naturally
Ashwagandha is a staple herb in Ayurvedic medicine and one of the most well-research natural remedies for stress reduction.
Ashwagandha naturally lowers cortisol levels in the blood, the marker for stress within the body. Also, ashwagandha helps strengthen your immune system and body when stressed.
I take ashwagandha consistently throughout the year, and it is a relatively safe supplement for naturally reducing stress.
If you’d like to try an ashwagandha supplement, I suggest you try this one:
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Supplement with Holy Basil to Naturally Manage Stress
Like Ashwagandha, Holy Basil is also a popular herb for Ayurvedic treatments and is impressively effective as a natural anti-stress agent.
In addition, holy basil is an adaptogenic herb that helps the body naturally counter physical and emotional stress and continue to function well when exposed to stress.
As stated in one study, holy basil is also antibacterial, antidepressant, antioxidant, and antiviral. Along with being used for natural stress reduction, holy basil is also traditionally used to improve memory and treat coughs, colds, indigestion, asthma, and fatigue.
You can check out this product if you would like to try a holy basil supplement for reducing stress:
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Supplement with a B-Vitamin Complex to Reduce Stress
Taking a vitamin-B complex supplement can be very helpful for many people experiencing significantly increased stress.
According to research published in Human Psychopharmacology, a 12-week study that compared a vitamin-B complex group to a control group reported significantly lower personal strain and reduced confusion and depressed/dejected mood.
If you’re considering taking vitamin-B supplements, it’s a smart idea to consult with a doctor first. However, vitamin-B supplements are generally safe because they are water-soluble, and the excess you intake is excreted through urine rather easily.
If you want to try a Vitamin B supplement, I think this is a great option:
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Minimize Your Caffeine Intake to Reduce Stress
Caffeine is a stimulant found in coffee, tea, chocolate, and energy drinks. If you drink high doses of caffeine, then it could maximize stress.
Research published in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension states that caffeine elevates blood pressure (BP) and stress hormone secretion, and stress combined with caffeine exerts additive effects on blood pressure and stress hormones.
If you drink many energy drinks or a lot of coffee, you can try switching to green tea, as I mentioned earlier.
Although drinking black coffee is healthy, drinking coffee combined with sugar and other sweeteners can result in weight gain and high intakes of caffeine.
If you exercise a lot and use a pre workout product, you should try switching to a stimulant free pre workout supplement if you are under work or personal life stress.
Lifestyle Tips for Naturally Reducing Stress
There are many aspects of your lifestyle which can either contribute to stress or help you reduce stress. Here are a few lifestyle alterations you can make for healthy stress management:
Practice Meditation for Natural Stress Reduction
One of the best ways to become or remain calm is by meditating frequently.
There are many ways that meditation or simple slow and deep breathing can help you effectively de-stress when you’re overwhelmed in a situation. Deep breathing brings more oxygen into the body, and that extra oxygen has a calming effect on your mind and body.
Meditation has also been linked to improving your concentration levels, helping you focus on important tasks at work.
There is a range of techniques that you can use when meditating, depending on which one produces the most benefits for you.
For example, you can try focusing on a single point and removing all thoughts from your head. When doing this, you can also try to repeat a single mantra, which can help improve your concentration and help you feel more prepared for the start of each day.
Mantra beads are useful for this type of meditation.
Alternatively, you can try observing thoughts without judgment as they pass through your head, giving you a greater insight into how you think, allowing you to introduce more inner balance into your life.
Finally, there is a range of classes and smartphone apps that you can try downloading.
I recommend doing 10 to 20 minutes of slow, deep breathing daily to reduce stress.
Take your meditation outside near a large outdoor fountain or some other type of calming natural place.
Take a Nap to Manage Stress Naturally
Even a nap as short as 25 minutes has been shown to have positive effects on reducing stress.
If you would like to try taking a nap to reduce stress, I recommend taking a power nap in the afternoon, about 15-60 minutes after your lunch. The reason for that is that we are biologically most tired at this time of the day.
Naps are a great way to restore your energy, boost your creativity, get additional brainpower, and naturally reduce stress levels.
Listen to Music to Reduce Stress
Listening to music is another great way for you to reduce the amount of stress you experience each day.
A study published in Music Therapy Perspectives stated that music therapy can play a part in stress management’s educational process, helping patients
Multiple studies have demonstrated that music can slow your heartbeat, reduce anxiety, and reduce your blood pressure.
Try Journaling to Reduce Stress
Another way to handle stress is to write down the things you are stressing about and assess them from a different perspective.
When you can see the things in your life that are causing you stress, you might be able to put a better perspective on your situation.
When you start writing down everything that is giving you stress, you also need to write down some points that you are grateful for.
Gratitude might help you to reduce anxiety and stress by focusing your thoughts on what is positive in your life.
At the end of each day, write down some of the things that you are grateful for that day, as big or small as you like. Then, when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, you can go back through the journal.
Keeping a gratitude journal will remind you of some of the positive things that you’ve been able to experience.
If you don’t have a journal you can write in, I suggest you buy one instead of trying to take your notes on your phone or computer. There is a powerful connection made when you write things down by hand. You could purchase a gratitude journal like this one:
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Take an Epsom Salt Bath
Stress causes low magnesium levels in the body and rising adrenaline levels, which is not a good mix if you’re under stress.
Epsom salt is especially high in magnesium, and magnesium is commonly regarded as the ultimate relaxation mineral.
According to the book Magnesium in the Central Nervous System, magnesium status is highly associated with stress levels, and both stress and hypomagnesemia (low magnesium levels) potentiate each other’s negative effects.
What magnesium does very specifically concerning stress is it increases serotonin in the brain, and serotonin is the neurotransmitter related to a balanced mood.
Soaking up epsom salt into your skin brings in added magnesium, which helps reduce stress, promote relaxation, and ease anxiety and less irritability, incidents of insomnia, and even abnormal heart rates.
Try this:
- Mix 1 cup of Epsom salt with a few drops of a select aromatic essential oil, and then add that to a hot bath
- Enjoy sitting in your hot Epsom salt bath for 20 minutes
- Schedule one of these two or three times per week
You could try an Epsom salt soak such as this one:
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Get a Massage
An effective massage is a great stress reliever for most people. Strategic massages can help open blocked energy channels to reduce stress and improve your overall health. In addition, having your massage focused on specific spots like your feet, hands, back, or head helps relax tense muscles, improve circulation, and suppress anxiety.
As stated by a study published in Orthopedic Nursing, the simple act of touch-focused care, even a simple 5-minute hand or foot massage, can be useful in lowering a patient’s perceived level of stress.
Incorporating lavender, coconut, or olive oil can accentuate your benefits.
A hands-on massage from a trained masseuse will probably provide the most benefits, but you can also consider purchasing self massage tools for home, such as the TheraGun G4 Pro, and massage parts of your body every day on your own.
Although you won’t receive all the benefits of a massage in a relaxing spa environment, you will still promote relaxation and help reduce stress with self massage tools.
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Try a Weighted Blanket for Natural Stress Relief
If you are looking for a product to add to your life to help you deal with stress and anxiety, a weighted blanket is one of the best natural remedies for stress you can buy.
There are many weighted blankets on the market, and one of the most famous is the Rocabi queen size weighted blanket because it is durable and has a luxury design.
Weighted blankets are designed to reduce stress and anxiety by shifting your autonomous nervous system into a more relaxed state.
I have used a weighted blanket in the past, and the effects of weighted blankets are unique and somewhat hard to describe. However, I believe many people will feel a powerful sense of stress reduction from using them.
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Consider an Emotional Support Animal!
Emotional support animals are not just ordinary pets. Medical professionals determine these animals to provide help and benefits to people with a verified and confirmed disability. For example, a blind person can be prescribed to care for a dog to assist them and essentially be the person’s eyes.
Since stress, anxiety, and depression are forms of mental disability, ESA’s can be of help too. In addition, emotional support animals have shown to be useful for helping people to experience a better mood in the long run.
You can check out this guide on how to get an emotional support animal.
It is important to legalize your ESA ownership because some properties have a “no pet” housing policy. Or, if you are traveling, you may need to bring your pet with you, and the official ESA legal letter may allow your pet to join you in an aircraft at no additional cost.
Concluding Thoughts – Natural Remedies for Stress Relief
This list of natural remedies for stress relief is not exhaustive, but I believe there are many stress management techniques in this list that can be very beneficial for anyone.
Effectively reducing stress involves managing emotional responses to stress and treating the physical symptoms of stress. By using these natural remedies for stress, I am confident you can better manage stressful situations.
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