How To Reduce Stress Levels

Knowing how to reduce stress levels in everyday life is essential, but it is even more important if you run a business or have a very fast paced, high pressured job. Unnaturally high stress levels can play havoc on your central nervous system and cause many different problems, ranging all the way from muscular pain, illness and even mental issues if it is not dealt with. Let's face it, in this day and age stress is a part of life, you only have to step outside the door in the morning and there can be something new that comes along to get on your nerves, it may be before you even step out of the door (I don't know what your household is like!) so you need to look at the preventative measures, or be willing to accept the consequences in the long run.

Anyway, here are some of the best ways of reducing stress in your life, some will be more effective than others but you need to find what works for you.

How To Reduce Stress Levels - Top Tips

Meditate

This one certainly doesn't suit everyone, primarily because of the environment that many people have to live in and I do understand this, but when you consider the benefits of meditation it far outweighs the time it takes and the effort required to create peace and quiet for at least 10 minutes. This isn't an easy thing to do either, it is something that requires strict practice in order to master and gain the full benefits, but believe me when I say this, even taking a minute to clear your mind of all thoughts and just focusing on your breathing will make a huge difference. Focus on your breathes, slow it down and count to 10 as you exhale, really become conscious of the process of breathing and focus on this and only this. Other thoughts will try to creep in and this is normal, but don't let this deter you, really concentrate and focus on this process. You may only be able to achieve this for a short amount of time but I promise you the more you practice, the easier it will become and the longer you will be able to meditate for. You want to know the number 1 most effective method of how to reduce stress levels, in my eyes, this is it.

Develop a Positive Mind-set

Now I am fully aware that you can't just go ahead and develop a positive mind-set overnight, but you can make the decision immediately to start guarding your mind against the more negative influences in life and making a conscious effort to watch how you speak. For example do you regularly run yourself down? Do you tell yourself that you can't do something when you have the potentially to do anything within and sometimes outside the laws of physics! Whatever you let into your mind will reflect the person you become, so start changing the vocabulary you use to a more positive one, even if the little voices in your head disagree, the act of just using a more positive language will influence your subconscious mind to begin acting in a more positive manner, this reducing the amount of stress that you place upon your mind and subsequently your body.

Exercise Regularly

This is no secret really but it's one that so many people ignore, especially you business owners. (Don't try and tell me otherwise because I know it's true!)

Exercise is a key element in the equation of knowing how to reduce stress levels, as the release of endorphins as a result of exercise has a massive impact on the way the body deals with stress and how you feel in yourself. The sudden release of endorphins, the bodies "happy hormone", explains why we get that high after you have finished training, how do you think that will impact the way you perform day to day activities, probably somewhat better?

Designate Time to Relax

Again this may seem overly simple, but I can tell you now that where I come from (the UK), as a nation we work the longest hours in Europe, so it's no surprise that we get very little time to ourselves. It's very important that we make the time to relax, whether that be a soak in the bath in the evening, a long walk on the weekend, 10 minutes of solid meditation or even lunch out with a friend to catch up. It's the little things that can have a profound effective on your stress levels and our mental health.

These are some very effective and somewhat simple strategies that you can put into play in your life and massively reduce your stress levels, why not try a couple of them, stick to them on a planned and regular basis and see the results for yourself, your working life will improve no end.