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1) Meditation
1) Meditation
Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: Barbara K. Hecht, PhD
A simple technique practiced for as few as 10 minutes per day can help you control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health, and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation.
The meditative technique called the "relaxation response" was pioneered in the U.S. by Harvard physician Herbert Benson in the 1970s. The technique has gained acceptance by physicians and therapists worldwide as a valuable adjunct to therapy for symptom relief in conditions ranging from cancer to AIDS.
When our bodies are exposed to a sudden stress or threat, we respond with a characteristic "fight or flight" response. This is sometimes called an "adrenaline rush" because the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine are released from the adrenal glands, resulting in an increase in blood pressure and pulse rate, faster breathing, and increased blood flow to the muscles.
The relaxation response is a technique designed to elicit the opposite bodily reaction from the "fight or flight" response -- astate of deep relaxation in which our breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, and metabolism are decreased. Training our bodies on a daily basis to achieve this state of relaxation can lead to enhanced mood, lower blood pressure, and reduction of lifestyle stress.
The relaxation response technique consists of the silent repetition of a word, sound, or phrase while sitting quietly with eyes closed for 10 to 20 minutes. This should be done in a quiet place free of distractions. Sitting is preferred to lying down in order to avoid falling asleep. Relax your muscles starting with the feet and progressing up to your face. Breathe though your nose in a free and natural way.
You can choose any word or phrase you like. You can use a sound such as "om," a word such as "one" or "peace," or a word with special meaning to you. Intruding worries or thoughts should be ignored or dismissed to the best of your ability by focusing on the repetition. It's OK to open your eyes to look at a clock while you are practicing, but do not set an alarm. When you have finished, remain seated, first with your eyes closed and then with your eyes open, and gradually allow your thoughts to return to everyday reality.
The technique requires some practice and may be difficult at first, but over time almost anyone can learn to achieve the desired state of relaxation. Dr. Benson, who originally described the technique, recommends practicing the technique once or twice a day. He recommends not practicing the relaxation response within two hours after eating a meal because the digestive process may interfere with the technique.
The relaxation response can also be elicited through other meditative and relaxation techniques. No matter how the relaxation state is achieved, the physical and emotional consequences of stress can be reduced through regular practice.
2) Reflexology & Massage
2) Reflexology & Massage
Virtually every symptom listed by the American Psychological Association can benefit from massage. Research has shown that it can lower your heart rateand blood pressure, relax your muscles and increase the production of endorphins, your body's natural "feel good" chemical. Serotonin and dopamine are also released through massage, and the result is a feeling of calm relaxation that makes chronic or habitual as well as acute or short-term stress much easier to overcome.
In fact, stress relief is one of the first benefits that come to mind when thinking of massage therapy. It's also a key component for anyone trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Clinical studies show that even a single 1 ½-hour session can significantly lower your heart rate, cortisol levels and insulin levels -- all of which explain why massage therapy and stress relief go hand-in-hand.
Benefits of Massage Therapy for Stress
Taking care of your body should be at the top of your priorities. By adding therapeutic massage to your routine now, you'll feel, look and simply be healthier far into the future. In fact, stress relief alone can improve your vitality and state of mind. So what better way to prep for a long, happy life than a relaxing, therapeutic massage?
We also specialise in Reflexology.
Reflexology is generally relaxing and may help alleviate stress. The theory behind reflexology is that areas of the foot correspond to organs and systems of the body. Pressure applied to the foot is believed to bring relaxation and healing to the corresponding area of the body.
3) Gardening
3) Gardening
(Health.com) -- Gillian Aldrich started growing vegetables in her backyard three years ago, and she's now working on planting a bed of hydrangeas, butterfly bushes, rose campion, and -- her favorite -- pale-pink hardy geraniums along one side of her property.
As she digs in the garden, her 8-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son often play around her, sometimes taking a break to dig for worms or pick strawberries.
Instead of watching them, Aldrich is playing, too -- "my kind of play," she says.
"When you sit at a desk all day, there's something about literally putting your hands in the dirt, digging and actually creating something that's really beautiful," says Aldrich, 42, a magazine editor in Maplewood, New Jersey. "There's something about just being out there that feels kind of elemental."
Aldrich isn't the only one who feels this way. Many gardeners view their hobby as the perfect antidote to the modern world, a way of reclaiming some of the intangible things we've lost in our busy, dirt-free lives.
Health.com: 7 steps to instant calm
The sensory experience of gardening "allows people to connect to this primal state," says James Jiler, the founder and executive director of Urban GreenWorks, a Miami-based nonprofit that creates garden and park programs for low-income neighborhoods.
"A lot of people [understand] that experience. They may not be able to put it into words, but they understand what's happening."
Working in the garden has other, less spiritual rewards. In addition to being a source of fresh, healthy produce, gardening can ease stress, keep you limber, and even improve your mood.
Here are just a few of the ways gardening can benefit your physical and mental health, and how you can start harvesting those benefits for you and your family.
Stress relief
A recent study in the Netherlands suggests that gardening can fight stress even better than other relaxing leisure activities.
After completing a stressful task, two groups of people were instructed to either read indoors or garden for 30 minutes. Afterward, the group that gardened reported being in a better mood than the reading group, and they also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
"We live in a society where we're just maxing ourselves out all the time in terms of paying attention," says Andrea Faber Taylor, Ph.D., a horticulture instructor and researcher in the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Health.com: Job killing you? 8 types of work-related stress
Humans have a finite capacity for the kind of directed attention required by cell phones and email and the like, Taylor says, and when that capacity gets used up we tend to become irritable, error-prone, distractible, and stressed out.
Fortunately this "attention fatigue" appears to be reversible. Following a theory first suggested by University of Michigan researchers in the 1980s, Taylor and other experts have argued that we can replenish ourselves by engaging in "involuntary attention," an effortless form of attention that we use to enjoy nature.
Trading your BlackBerry for blackberry bushes is an excellent way to fight stress and attention fatigue, Taylor says, as the rhythms of the natural environment and the repetitive, soothing nature of many gardening tasks are all sources of effortless attention.
"The breeze blows, things get dew on them, things flower; the sounds, the smells," says Taylor, herself a home gardener. "All of these draw on that form of attention."
Health.com: How to stop multitasking and lower stress
Better mental health
The effortless attention of gardening may even help improve depression symptoms.
In a study conducted in Norway, people who had been diagnosed with depression, persistent low mood, or "bipolar II disorder" spent six hours a week growing flowers and vegetables.
After three months, half of the participants had experienced a measurable improvement in their depression symptoms. What's more, their mood continued to be better three months after the gardening program ended. The researchers suggest that the novelty of gardening may have been enough to jolt some of the participants out of their doldrums, but some experts have a much more radical explanation for how gardening might ease depression.
Health.com: Boost your mood naturally
Christopher Lowry, Ph.D., an assistant professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been injecting mice with Mycobacterium vaccae, a harmless bacteria commonly found in soil, and has found that they increase the release and metabolism of serotonin in parts of the brain that control cognitive function and mood -- much like serotonin-boosting antidepressant drugs do.
Digging in the dirt isn't the same as taking Prozac, of course, but Lowry argues that because humans evolved along with M. vaccae and a host of other friendly bugs, the relative lack of these "old friends" in our current environment has thrown our immune systems out of whack.
This can lead to inflammation, which is implicated in a host of modern ills, from heart disease to diabetes to depression.
"By reintroducing these bacteria in the environment, that may help to alleviate some of these problems," Lowry says.
Exercise
Gardening gets you out in the fresh air and sunshine -- and it also gets your blood moving.
"There are lots of different movements in gardening, so you get some exercise benefits out of it as well," says William Maynard, the community garden program coordinator for the City of Sacramento's Department of Parks and Recreation.
Gardening is hardly pumping iron, and unless you're hauling wheelbarrows of dirt long distances every day, it probably won't do much for your cardiovascular fitness.
But digging, planting, weeding, and other repetitive tasks that require strength or stretching are excellent forms of low-impact exercise, especially for people who find more vigorous exercise a challenge, such as those who are older, have disabilities, or suffer from chronic pain.
Health.com: 10 exercises for people in pain
As a pleasurable and goal-oriented outdoor activity, gardening has another advantage over other forms of exercise: People are more likely to stick with it and do it often.
"It's not just exercise for exercise itself, which can become tedious," says Katherine Brown, the executive director of the Southside Community Land Trust, a nonprofit that supports community gardens and other urban agriculture in and around Providence, R.I. "It's exercise that has a context, that reinforces the limberness of your limbs and the use of your hands. You've got a motivation for why you want to grip. You're not just gripping a ball, you want to pull a weed."
Brain health
Some research suggests that the physical activity associated with gardening can help lower the risk of developing dementia.
Two separate studies that followed people in their 60s and 70s for up to 16 years found, respectively, that those who gardened regularly had a 36% and 47% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account.
These findings are hardly definitive, but they suggest that the combination of physical and mental activity involved in gardening may have a positive influence on the mind.
And for people who are already experiencing mental decline, even just walking in a garden may be therapeutic. Many residential homes for people with dementia now have "wander" or "memory" gardens on their grounds, so that residents with Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive problems can walk through them without getting lost.
The sights, smells, and sounds of the garden are said to promote relaxation and reduce stress.
Health.com: 25 signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease
Nutrition
The food you grow yourself is the freshest food you can eat. And because home gardens are filled with fruits and vegetables, it's also among the healthiest food you can eat.
Not surprisingly, several studies have shown that gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables than their peers.
"People who are growing food tend to eat healthy," says Brown. "The work that we do here with kids demonstrates it on a daily basis, throughout the seasons."
Studies of after-school gardening programs suggest that kids who garden are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables. And they're a lot more adventurous about giving new foods a try, says Anne Palmer, who studies food environments as the program director of Eating for the Future, a program based at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future, in Baltimore.
"I've watched a lot of cooking and gardening classes with kids," Palmer says. "It's amazing how many of them will try things like radicchio or some kind of unusual green that has a pretty strong flavor, like arugula, and they'll say, 'Wow, this is good.'"
Not to mention that homegrown produce simply tastes better.
"It's incomparably more delicious to eat something that's fresh," Brown says.
Health.com: 11 fresh fruit and veggie recipes
How to get started
You don't need a big backyard or a green thumb to benefit from gardening. If you have very little space or experience, you can start out with just a few houseplants, or you could even try gardening in containers.
"You can grow a wonderful crop of cherry tomatoes in nothing more than a five-gallon bucket that you've cleaned really well and put holes in the bottom of," Brown says.
For novices who want to learn the basics of gardening, a huge -- and somewhat overwhelming -- variety of information is available on the Web and in bookstores. But one of the best ways to get started is to meet some other gardeners, who can be found in local garden clubs and community gardens in just about any town or city.
For some great gardening tips, just start up a conversation with one of the gardeners next time you are passing by a community garden.
"Most will love to share their gardening savvy," Brown says. "That's a really nice way to start."
4) Cycling
4) Cycling
Everyone goes through a stressful period in their lives at some point. In a world where everyone is rushing to get their work done, it is a given that you will be stressed out. It is hard to vent out this pressure that can come on you. It can be for a number of reasons, including financial woes and work stress.
All of these together can contribute to people even going into depression, or having nervous breakdowns. It is very hard indeed to deal with mounting stress, and it can get to a point where it feels like there is no escape from it.
Prescription drugs are all the rage
So what is the way in which people usually get away from stress in their lives? Well, it looks like the world has swept its way towards prescription drugs. Everyone is hopped up on some drug or the other. These artificial means of de-stressing are rarely a permanent option, and can lead to things like addiction and other medical side effects.
Exercise while commuting is the best way out
This is where cycling comes in. You may not know it yet, but going for a ride on your bicycle can actually help you de-stress better than medication ever could help you out. Studies have proven this over and over again.
In fact, the way in which you get to work in the mornings can contribute to your stress levels more than you know. It is a known fact that active commuting to work can actually reduce your stress levels by upto 40%. This is in direct opposition to the classic methods of getting to work, which is public transit like the Underground or the bus.
Active commuting can mean any form of exercise when getting to work. This includes things like biking and walking. Any form of physical exertion when going to work and coming back as well will help you become far less tense than you are right now.
Stress is the cause of massive expenses on a national level
This is actually true for men more than women. According to the study, men are likely to have 50% more stress than women (bad luck, guys.). Although medication is still one of the most popular methods of fighting stress and depression in people, a lot of doctors have also begun to prescribe exercise therapy instead.
In the UK, one of the main reasons why people don’t show up for work is that they are under stress. This is made more common because people are constantly on their mobile phones, which means that they will be more likely to be exposed to stress causing factors. This can cost the country up to 4 billion pounds a year!
A lot of people say that cycling is the best way to de-stress, along with walking and other physical forms of commuting. How does cycling help boost your wellbeing? The scientific reasoning behind the common saying is actually very sound.
The physical benefits of cycling
There are many physical health benefits that arise from regular exercise like biking to work every day. One thing you should always keep in mind is that when you have a sound body, you will also have a sound mind. This is very true, for a number of reasons.
Brain Fertilizer
This may sound strange to you, but the way in which cycling helps you out is actually a little like fertilizing a field. When you turn your pedals for hours and hours all day every day, on your way to work and back and when you are in the mood for some leisure activities, you begin to get your blood pumping.
This allows for capillary beds to be created in your muscles, as well as in your brain. The better the quality of the capillary beds in your brain and in your muscles, the more oxygen that can be transferred between your blood vessels and your cells. This is simple physics as a greater surface area allows for a higher rate of diffusion.
This higher rate of oxygen transfer allows for more nutrients to be created and absorbed into the gray matter of your brain. This helps them to work better, and allows you to concentrate more on the tasks at hand without getting distracted.
Rebuilding your brain from the spine up
As you pedal on your daily cycling routine, your nerves begin to work a lot harder than they usually do. As this happens, new brain cells are created faster and more efficiently by the centers of your brain that deal in these matters. This is because as your nerves work harder, they increase the production of certain proteins with hard to pronounce names that assist in the creation of new brain cells.
This basically means that the more you cycle, the more brain cells are built within your brain, thereby literally increasing your capacity to think and focus on just about anything. In addition to this, you also release increased amounts of chemicals that cause the messages that are shooting through your neurons to deliver much faster than they used to.
Become a faster, more focused worker
As you grow older, these new cells are going to come in handy, as your organs slowly begin to deteriorate. This means that cycling to work turns you into a fine wine. You get better with age. By creating new neurons inside your brain, you are allowing it to work far faster and more efficiently.
This change will become very obvious when you look at your performance over a month of exercise, and compare it to your work a month before, when all you did was drive to work instead of cycle. You will see a marked change in the quality of your work as well as the amount that you put out.
Since biking is what is classed as an aerobic activity (at least for the casual biker; racing and other hardcore cycling usually turns anaerobic at some point), there is going to be a major workout for your heart, lungs and brain. All of this will help increase your level of physical and mental fitness like never before.
Getting in touch with nature
One of the best things about biking is the pace. Unlike the usual methods of coming to work which are public transport and driving, cycling is free. You can go at your own slow pace and not worry about all the rushing commuters tooting their horns angrily at you as you go at your own leisurely pace.
In fact, when you bike to work you even have the option of stopping every now and then to appreciate something beautiful that you see on your way there. This is not something you have the freedom to do when driving to work, and not something you can even think about on public transport, when all you can see is the gray wall of the tunnels in the subway.
Getting in touch with nature on your way to work and taking deep breaths of the fresh morning air is definitely the best way in which to reduce stress. Try going to a field near your house on your bike today and just breathing deep while enjoying the serenity of your surroundings. You are going to notice an almost instant change in your mental state.
Mood Booster
While improving your capacity to think and work better is an amazing way to help reduce your workload and therefore your levels of stress, you are also going to realize that it isn’t just work that contributes to your rising stress. In fact, it is not even close. One of the biggest things that help you become more stressed out is anxiety.
Anxiety is a condition which effects a lot of people the world over. You can be anxious about many different things. It is associated with the amount of responsibility you have. For example, if you have a family to support you are going to be passively worrying about possible threats to their livelihood as well.
All of this is going to help to increase your stress levels. However, when you do a physical activity, such as biking, jogging and walking, your body is going to start producing higher amounts of certain chemicals such as dopamine, which is known to increase a positive mood.
In addition to this, high amounts of cycling means that your body is going to start producing other chemicals as well. These include cannabinoids which are the same type of chemicals that can be found in marijuana. So if it is not legal in your location, cycle a lot and you should be able to get just as high.
All of these chemicals have been proven to reduce stress and lift up moods time and time again, which means that regular cycling is going to allow you to overcome serious conditions like depression in the long run.
Natural Meditation
You may not think it, but cycling is a form of meditation. As we all know meditation is one of the best ways to calm a troubled mind. It actually induces a state of passive hypnosis in you. This is brought on because the act of pedaling is very repetitive. Focusing on the rhythm at which you pedal is going to help you block out factors that bring on anxiety.
This could actually be better for you than yoga, because the mental meditation that cycling brings to you is in addition to the countless health and fitness benefits to your body.
Confidence Booster
When you master an art, you gain a lot of confidence. Doing it right over and over again is going to make you feel much better about yourself. When cycling, conquering new goals that you have set for yourself is going to leave you feeling far more motivated.
You will go about your daily activities with twice the zest that you do right now, because you have just beat your daily speed goal or time limit and it has you feeling on top of the world. Since cycling is actually one of the best sports to challenge yourself in, you are going to be feeling confident in yourself a lot more often than you ever were before.
Social Butterflies are always happy
Whether it is on a website like this one or while you are riding the trails one summer, you are always sure to find a pack of like-minded cyclists that you can bond with. Riding with your friends and people that you can enjoy yourself around is going to help you reduce stress. After all, laughter is the best medicine, and who doesn’t laugh when they are with their friends?
Keep yourself in control
While cycling does help you greatly reduce stress levels when done on a regular basis, overdoing it is going to cause you to increase your stress levels. After all, cycling is a form of exercise, and exercise places stress on your muscles and your organs.
As long as you keep your cycling in the aerobic region, you should be able to see a very distinct difference in the way you concentrate, as well as your general outlook on life. You will see things in a far more positive light than you ever used to. You will experience bursts of bliss instead of anxiety, and you will find more things in your surroundings for you to take pride in and to love looking at.
In fact, cycling is going to help you to become a happier, calmer, more focused person who isn’t affected by things like depression and anxiety, because you have molded your body into being a tool that actively fights stress in all its forms through cycling.
5) Organic Nutrition & Cooking
5) Organic Nutrition & Cooking
We often associate alleviating stress with indulging unhealthy vices, like an extra glass or two of wine, binge watching TV for hours, stress eating, even smoking a cigarette. The trouble is, after one of those activities, you’re rarely left actually feeling better—in fact, you usually feel worse, leading to added stress.
But what if one of the best stress relief activities is actually something good for you and your wallet and it’s fun? Yes, you guessed it: It’s cooking.
If you think of cooking as a chore, it’s time to give it a fresh look. There are more reasons to cook at home than there are coconut waters (#alot). Why does it work so well? Turns out cooking satisfies us in a few essential ways.
For one thing, mental health experts credit cooking with helping to relieve depression, anxiety, and its manifestations, like eating disorders. Mental health clinics have started using cooking as a type of behavioral therapy, much like music or art therapy.
Inspired? Check out more on this topic and other delicious superfood recipes, here
Not only is the act of cooking meditative on its own (chopping, whisking, stirring—OM), it also leads to improved diet, which experts are now recognizing as crucial to mental health. Studies also show a link between a healthier diet and higher levels of serotonin (the happiness hormone).
Psychologically, cooking is what’s called behavioral activation. To put together a good meal, you have to be engaged and present. You need to taste, make snap judgments, add or subtract heat. You can’t just stare out the window and think about your ex. It’s a positive mindful activity filled with easy, achievable goals.
Creatively, there’s something about losing yourself to the flow and process that’s healing. It’s a chance to flourish and shine, and the relatively easy learning curve gives one a sense of personal growth and mastery.
Physically, cooking satisfies an immediate need and offers quick gratification. Because honestly, at the end of the day, we’re all just a bunch of animals who need to eat.
It also can reduce your blood pressure, as you are able to control your sodium intake—something that’s harder to do when dining out; restaurant diners consume about 20% more sodium than home cooks.
If you’re thinking, “But what about the stress of meal planning, shopping and prepping?” one way to mitigate that hassle is with a meal-kit service. Green Chef, for one, offers high-quality recipes like this Korean Shrimp Noodle Bowl (above) that fit any diet, whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free or omnivore. Plus, its ingredients are organic, they provide flexible delivery and eco-friendly packaging. All you have to do is get yourself into the kitchen and enjoy the process—and the meals. (Show us your mad chops with #ILoveToCook on Instagram.) Now all of that is a stress reliever.
6) Music
6) Music
The soothing power of music is well-established. It has a unique link to our emotions, so can be an extremely effective stress management tool.
Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet classical music. This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. Music, in short, can act as a powerful stress management toolin our lives.
As music can absorb our attention, it acts as a distraction at the same time it helps to explore emotions. This means it can be a great aid to meditation, helping to prevent the mind wandering.
Musical preference varies widely between individuals, so only you can decide what you like and what is suitable for each mood. But even if you don’t usually listen to classical music it may be worth giving it a try when selecting the most calming music.
When people are very stressed, there is a tendency to avoid actively listening to music. Perhaps it feels like a waste of time, not helping to achieve anything. But as we know, productivity increases when stress is reduced, so this is another area where you can gain vast rewards. It just takes a small effort to begin with.
To incorporate music into a busy life, try playing CDs in the car, or put the radio on when in the bath or shower. Take portable music with you when walking the dog, or put the stereo on instead of the TV. A person with clinical depression or bipolar disorder might listen to music to help with their worst, lowest moods.
Singing (or shouting) along can also be a great release of tension, and karaoke is very enjoyable for some extroverts! Calming music before bedtime promotes peace and relaxation and helps to induce sleep.
Research on Music
Music has been used for hundreds of years to treat illnesses and restore harmony between mind and body. But more recently, scientific studies have attempted to measure the potential benefits of music. These research studies have found:
Music’s form and structure can bring order and security to disabled and distressed children. It encourages coordination and communication, so improves their quality of life.
Listening to music on headphones reduces stress and anxiety in hospital patients before and after surgery.
Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of both chronic pain and postoperative pain.
Listening to music can relieve depression and increase self-esteem ratings in elderly people.
Making music can reduce burnout and improve mood among nursing students.
Music therapy significantly reduces emotional distress and boosts quality of life among adult cancer patients.
You can review some of the more recent research on how music helps to relieve stress here.
Meditation
Certain music is appropriate for meditation as it can help the mind slow down and initiate the relaxation response. However, not all peaceful or “New Age” music works for everyone. Music with no structure can be irritating or even unsettling. Gentle music with a familiar melody more often is comforting. But search around to find what produces a sense of calm, familiarity, and centeredness for you as an individual.
The sounds of nature often are incorporated into CDs made specifically for relaxation. For example, the sound of water can be soothing for some people. It can help conjure up calming images such as lying beside a mountain stream on a warm spring day. Birdsong may also be of use as an aid to help your mind slow down and release stressful thoughts.
7) Dancing
7) Dancing
I have the privilege of teaching many people in very high stress positions such as lawyers, judges, police officers and surgeons. One thing they often comment on is how relaxed they feel at the end of their lesson. It’s as if their daily stresses and worries have just melted away. This has always thrilled and intrigued me so I thought I might write about it and shed a little more light on the connection between dance and stress relief.
We know life is full of hassles: deadlines, frustrations, and demands. Between work, study, relationships, family and domestic chores there is little time left for anything else and it is easy to become overloaded. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. This is concerning as when you’re constantly running in ‘emergency mode’, your body and mind will pay the price.
In recent studies stress has been directly linked to physical ailments such as:
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skin problems
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stomach ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders
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obesity/eating disorders
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cardiovascular disease
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Now for the good news!
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You can protect yourself by ensuring you take the time to do things that are fun, fulfilling and all consuming so you can switch off from the outside world. Activities that are best for stress relief need to treat both the body and the mind simultaneously. This is where ballroom dancing comes in…
I truly believe that when it comes to activities that reduce stress, ballroom dancing is one of the heavyweights and this is why:
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Aerobic activity: Dance will get your heart pumping, blood flowing and endorphins flying around your body. The aerobic activity required does not make it inaccessible, you can make the aerobic exercise as gentle or as hard as you like. You can do this by choosing the dance style and the music to which you dance.
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Physical Contact: Humans are designed to respond to physical touch, it’s just how we’re built. Ballroom dancing is all about being close to another person and moving with them in perfect unison to create the dance.
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Venting: The teachers here at QuickSteps often joke that we are part dance teacher part therapist, and we love it! Teachers and students develop a very special bond over time and sometimes just venting about your daily stresses can make you feel much better. So go for it, we’re all ears!
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The all consuming nature of dance: When you are ballroom dancing you are thinking about the following:
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timing
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techniques
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foot positions
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lead
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follow
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head position
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posture
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frame
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hip movement
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arm styling
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timing changes
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navigation
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floorcraft
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By the time you are done with these there simply isn’t any room for the things that have been weighing on your mind previously. If you spend 45 -60 minutes in this dancing state-of-mind, by the time your lesson is over it truly feels as if all your stresses have just melted away.
I experience this nearly everyday myself. Running a business is stressing too – HR, marketing, emails, accounting, meetings, the list goes on! Sometimes I arrive at the studio feeling stressed, frustrated and anxious before the day has even really started! Then… I dance. By the end of the night I honestly can’t even remember what I was worried about in the first place. What a gift.
If you don’t believe me give dancing a try for yourself, your mind and body will thank you for it!
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