Quick ways to reduce stress

Sometimes you don’t realise how stressed you are until the ‘emergency’ painkillers don’t work anymore.

Usually this is because it takes a while for the stress to build up. When that happens, it’s good to have a game plan to fall back to.

I have had more than a few stressful days at work and I have come up with a few tricks to deal with the stress. The first is exercise.

“Exercise burns off excess stress hormones that build up throughout the day. It also releases feel-good endorphins while boosting mental clarity,” says a Harvard Health study on Exercising to Relax.

A few quick few minutes of lunges and push-ups are enough to reduce cortisol production and get your head back in check.

Number two is music. Nothing has a more powerful and immediate impact on motivation and mood.

According to Insight Report: Potential Therapeutic Targets for Alzheimer’s, music is one of the only treatments that temporarily reduce symptoms of patients with late-stage degenerative brain disease.

If it can work on them, it can work for you too.

Last is the sense of smell. Your nose is a direct line of communication to the amygdala, the area of the brain most strongly tied to emotions and memory recall.

You can use it to ground yourself after moments of high stress. Take a whiff of anything tied to good memories. It could be a scent or a food.