We all know that managing stress levels is important because excess stress is often the cause of mental health issues like anxiety and depression. But the problem is, a lot of us aren’t very good at handling stress and we all live very busy stressful lives. There are a lot of important things that you need to do to relieve that stress like managing your work/life balance effectively and making sure that you take time out for yourself. But a lot of people find that whatever they do, they just can’t beat the stress. The thing is, everybody is different and we all need to find out own ways to relax and unwind at the end of the day. If you think that you’ve tried everything and nothing is working, you need to find some more unusual ways to relieve stress and maybe they’ll be more effective for you. These are some of the more unexpected ways to relieve stress which could work for you.
Drinking Orange Juice
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Everybody knows that orange juice is good for you because it contains high levels of vitamin C, which your body needs. But a lot of people don’t realize that vitamin C is also good for reducing your stress levels so a glass of orange juice could be a great way to unwind at the end of the day. If you’re the kind of person that usually has an alcoholic drink to relax after a long day, it might be best to swap it out for orange juice instead because alcohol can actually increase feelings of stress and anxiety in the long term and you don’t want to develop a habit. The only downside is that orange juice has a high sugar content so you don’t want to be drinking too much of it. You could consider vitamin C tablets instead if you want to boost your vitamin C intake a bit more.
Eat Something Crunchy
This sounds a bit odd but eating something crunchy can actually be a good stress reliever. It reduces physical tension and makes you feel more relaxed, so a crunchy snack alongside your glass of orange juice is a good way to end the day. However, be careful that you’re not always going for unhealthy snacks like crisps because eating lots of fatty foods isn’t good for your mood. Instead, go for a healthy alternative that still has lots of crunch like carrots or nuts, because they have a lot of nutritional value as well as being good stress relievers.
Chew Some Gum
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Chewing gum is a habit for a lot of people but they probably don’t realize that it’s actually helping them to relieve stress. Studies into chewing gum showed that people who were chewing had reduced levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. They also reported feeling more alert compared to people that weren’t chewing gum. Next time you’re feeling stressed, you should try having a piece of gum and see whether it makes a difference.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture seems a little scary because it involves inserting needles into the body but you won’t actually be able to feel it and it has a lot of great health benefits. People use it for pain relief and muscle problems a lot but it’s also good for relieving stress because it helps to balance your chi energy. If you’re thinking, what is chi energy, it’s the Chinese term for the life force or energy that flows through all of us. In western terms, it’s often known as bioenergy or electromagnetic energy. In Eastern medicine, it’s a very important concept and it is believed that people with positive chi energy are more resistant to negativity and stress. Things like yoga and tai chi, as well as acupuncture, can help to improve your chi energy and manage stress levels. It doesn’t work for everybody but if you’re struggling to control your stress, it’s worth a try.
Knitting
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If you don’t like the idea of inserting needles into your body, why not pick up a few and try knitting instead? There are a lot of different benefits of knitting, including stress relief. Once you get the hang of doing the stitches and you get in the zone, it’s very therapeutic. Often, we get stressed because we’ve got a million different things running through our minds at any one time and we just need a little time to relax and clear our heads. That’s why a lot of people use meditation as a way of relieving stress, but if that doesn’t appeal to you, knitting gives the same effect. It helps you to distract your mind and focus on a simple task so you can clear your head a bit and forget about the things that are causing you stress.
Fractals
Fractals are repeating patterns often found in nature and in architecture. Common examples of fractals include things like snowflakes, spirals, and ocean waves. It isn’t exactly clear why but there has been some research into the effects of looking at fractals and the results show that it can reduce stress quite a lot. It has an impact on the brain and immersing yourself in fractals for 20 minutes or so can actually help you to relax and relieve your stress.
Housework
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Housework might seem like the last thing that you want to be doing if you’re stressed out because you want to put your feet up and relax. However, it could actually be a good way to relieve your stress because the repetitive motions can be quite relaxing for a lot of people. It’s a similar effect that you get from knitting because it allows you to zone out for a while and clear your head while you focus on a repetitive task. Your surroundings also play a big part in your stress levels and you’ll feel a lot more relaxed if your home is clean and tidy.
If you think that you’ve tried everything to beat your stress, you should try some of these unusual methods, you never know which ones could work for you.