What you identify as stress, fear, or anger doesn’t happen because of what’s around you, but due to your own faculties not taking instructions from you. If your mind were taking instructions from you, it would create pleasantness, not unpleasantness. It is your inability to manage your own system that causes stress.
There are many great stress relievers out there, but it’s not always easy to stick with them. However, the fun stress relievers do seem to be easier to practice on a regular basis–you look forward to them! So for those of us who like a little fun with our stress relief. Playing games whether with a group of adults you enjoy, or with children can be a great form of stress relief. Games have a way of keeping us in the present moment, with a light-hearted focus, and laughter that comes easily. I recommend creating a game night with friends you enjoy, and letting your inner child come out to play on a regular basis.
Laugher:
A good laugh can be a great stress reliever: it releases endorphins and other healthy hormones, laughter takes your mind off of stress, and can even provide a decent physical workout if you really get going. It also leaves you in a more positive frame of mind and can bond you to those with whom you share a good laugh with. Laughter can stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain which activate and relieve your stress response.
Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers; laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations. It also helps you connect with other people. Find a way to laugh about your own situations and watch your stress begin to fade away. Even if it feels forced at first, practice laughing. It does your body good. One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs. When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs. Meanwhile, the muscles you are not using to laugh are getting an opportunity to relax. Add laughter to your abs routine and make getting a toned tummy more enjoyable.
Gardening:
Planting a garden or even tending to a houseplant can be a great way to reconnect with nature, beautify your space, and enjoy other stress relieving benefits.
Gardening clearly has a positive impact on stress as well as mood and isn’t always thought of as the go-to stress relief activity and perhaps it deserves a little more attention as a stress relief option. There are several benefits to gardening that can minimize stress. It has been proven scientifically researchers have found that smelling roses and pulling up weeds can lower blood pressure, increase brain activity and produce a general upbeat feeling.
Even just looking at a garden can give you a positive boost. The evidence is so compelling that the health factor has been given its own name – horticultural therapy – and is being used to treat hospital patients, plan cities and even to calm prisoners in jails.
Gardening, more than most rehab activities, has the ability to be very distracting. Simply by taking people’s minds off their problems can alleviate pain and depression. Gardening, by its nature, means sticking your hands in the dirt. While our society shuns dirt and invents things like chemical hand sanitizer, dirt can actually be good for you! In fact, lack of dirt, and the soil borne organisms that come with it, has been linked to higher autoimmune disease. Soil is an incredibly rich source of natural bacteria, minerals, and microorganisms. Touching the soil regularly exposes the body to beneficial and small amounts of harmful microorganisms that can boost the immune system. If you don’t have time to garden it is a good idea to walk around barefoot outside for at least 20 minutes a day or use an Earth Mat when sleeping.
Drawing:
Rediscovering your artistic side with anything from doodling to serious sketching can be a good stress reliever for several reasons: it’s a good distraction, it helps you express and process emotions, and it leaves you with something beautiful to enjoy when you’re finished. Drawing helps you access the right side of your brain, which allows creative problem solving, strengthens focused, increases attention span, develops hand-eye coordination, and enhances strategic thinking. Drawing helps you appreciate the bigger picture of life, beauty, symbols, spirituality and storytelling. Because painting and drawing are very accessible and interesting tasks to perform, many people choose to paint or draw during their free time. Some can even spend several hours to create art. However, its more than just being a favorite pastime, there are many health benefits of painting and drawing. Painting and drawing would be healthy ways of enhancing the creative skills that they already manifest. On the other hand, left-brained or analytical people can also stimulate their creativity and improve it. Knowing these factors, drawing and painting is highly recommended for children.
In fact, many children who are at the developing ages are encouraged to engage in painting and drawing. By promoting the development of their brains, they would be more prepared for academic work. Furthermore, they would have an easier time conveying their ideas to their peers. Another point in the long list of health benefits of painting and drawing would involve the opportunity to improve one’s communication with other people.
As art involves expressing one’s inner thoughts and feelings, he/she may project all these indescribable emotions through paintings and drawings. In using art to break free from personal limitations, individuals can surpass their weaknesses. These can include shyness, autism, and other disabilities.
