In a 2011 Study from the American Institute of Stress, 80% of workers reported feeling stressed on the job and about half of workers felt they needed help learning stress management. In a similar survey in 2000, 65% of workers reported stress-related health issues. We all get stressed from time to time, and clearly work tends to contribute to that. If not addressed, the stress you experience can take a serious toll on your mental and even physical well-being. So before you ghost your job, sell all of your worldly belongings and run away to backpack Europe indefinitely… try some less extreme ways to alleviate stress from the daily grind.
If that’s not your thing, try some of these other ways to unwind right in your office:
Deep Breaths.
Mindful breathing is one of the best ways to reduce stress. By taking your focus off stressors and concentrating on how you’re breathing and how it affects your body, you can help to reduce tension in your body and relieve stress. Personally, if I can calm my breathing the rest of my body follows suit.
Try some of these techniques:
Belly Breathing
Sit or lie flat in a comfortable position.
Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.
Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest should not move.
Breathe out through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.
Do this breathing 3 to 10 times. Take your time with each breath.
Notice how you feel at the end of the exercise.
4-7-8 Breathing
To start, put one hand on your belly and the other on your chest as in the belly breathing exercise.
Take a deep, slow breath from your belly, and silently count to 4 as you breathe in.
Hold your breath, and silently count from 1 to 7.
Breathe out completely as you silently count from 1 to 8. Try to get all the air out of your lungs by the time you count to 8.
Repeat 3 to 7 times or until you feel calm.
Notice how you feel at the end of the exercise.
Walk it out!
Get up from your desk and take a quick 5 minute walk. Chat with your coworkers, or dip outside really quick to soak up some much needed Vitamin D (Zyrtec in hand, because it is springtime after all) Getting away from a screen and getting some fresh air will do wonders, even if it’s only for a little while.
Stretch the stress away!
Try this easy 3-minute yoga session from the National Health Service UK to check-in with your body and relieve some of that tension. Your lower back will thank you!
Splash some water on your face!
No, it’s not just something you see in movies! Hydrotherapy is the application of water to the body surface to help it heal and feel better. How does it work? According to Dr. Peter Bongiorno, “The wet and cold causes our surface vessels to vasoconstrict (tighten up) making blood move from the surface of your body to the core, as a means to conserve heat. Not only does it conserve heat, it also reflexively bathes the brain and vital organs in fresh blood. This movement will bring nutrition, oxygen and also help gently detoxify the area.” Just make sure to dry off before heading back to your electronics!
Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, try some of these techniques to help provide some quick relief. Stress can be a part of life for everyone, but by taking time for your physical and mental health it can certainly be manageable. Find what works best for you!
While you’re here, check out some of the other great stuff Texas Flange has to offer like our catalog or online drawings!
Sources for the featured techniques in this article, as well as more stress reducing techniques: