Commonly Used Stress Management Techniques

Make time to practice yoga to reduce feelings of stress.yoga businesswoman image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com

With a few commonly used stress management techniques, you can effectively reduce the amount of stress you feel in day to day life as well as in particular situations. Stress can be extremely harmful to your health, and it can contribute to high blood pressure. If you are feeling excessively stressed on a regular basis, it is important to visit your general practitioner for professional help and advice.

Yoga

Yoga can be practiced regularly as a simple and effective method of reducing overall stress. Yoga can be used as a relaxing hobby, which can allow an individual to escape the stresses of everyday life and particularly stresses at work. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly through relaxing activities such as yoga can also aid in reducing stress, according to MindTools.com. Yoga breathing can help you relax during a situation that you are finding stressful. HolisticOnline.com recommends doing this by gently breathing in through the nostrils, hunching the shoulders as you inhale, avoiding puffing up the chest. Hold the breath for one second and slowly breath out through the mouth while relaxing the shoulders. Imagine the stress flooding out of you as your body relaxes; repeat until you feel relaxed.

It is important to get eight hours of sleep to combat stress and to feel energized throughout the day, according to MindTools.com. If you feel stressed about anything, you may find it difficult to get to sleep. Prepare yourself for sleep by avoiding any kind of mentally challenging activity in the two hours before you go to bed. During this time, do something enjoyable and relaxing such as taking a bath or reading a book.

MedicineNet recommends keeping your work area and your home organized to prevent stressful situations that could arise if you can't locate an object or important document. In the same way, organizing your schedule to avoid being caught short of time can aid in preventing stressful situations from arising. Avoid filling your schedule with more appointments than you can handle and prioritize to ensure the most important tasks are completed. It is important to include relaxation time in your schedule.