Everyone has moments and periods when they feel overwhelmed, this is common. While these feelings generally occur in high-stress environments such as work, school, or family settings, they can essentially take place at any time. Unfortunately, increased stress and feeling overwhelmed can lead to a number of health issues.
While a small amount of stress can actually be beneficial and keep you on your toes, too much of it can lead to a number of problems. Some common symptoms associated with stress includes headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, angry outbursts, and more.
How To Relax
Even when you do recognize yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, many people don’t know how to calm themselves down and relax. These techniques can be effective in managing health conditions and increase well-being. They can help to solve and reduce issues related to insomnia, pain, nausea, headaches, and more that are commonly associated with high stress and feeling overwhelmed.
There is a long list of reliable relaxation techniques that you begin to implement in your day-to-day life to deal with the problems that you may be facing at work or home.
Breathing Exercises
There are a number of breathing exercises that you can do to help your mind and body relax. One common and simple type of breathing exercise is belly breathing. If you have never tried a breathing exercise before, this is a good starting point.
Belly breathing is a basic exercise that you can perform at any time. To do it follow these easy steps:
- Sit or lie flat in a comfortable position
- Put one hand on your stomach just under your ribs and the other on the chest
- Take a deep breath in through the nose, let the stomach push your hand out. Your chest should not move during this motion
- Breathe out through pursed lips and feel the hand on your stomach go in, us it to push all the air out
- Repeat this three to 10 times and pay attention to how you feel after the exercise
Along with belly breathing, there are many other exercises that you can try and implement into your life, such as 4-7-8, roll, and morning breathing.
Exercise
As we all know, exercise holds numerous benefits for your physical and mental health. If you’re experiencing an unhealthy amount of stress, exercise can help too. Even small to moderate exercise can have strong impacts on your health. Doing something simple like going on a brisk walk or jog a few days out of the week can help a lot. There is a strong connotation that surrounds exercise that may discourage some from getting outside of their comfort zone, but just starting small like going for a walk around the neighborhood with a friend or pet can lead to more commitment later on.
Avoid Unhealthy Habits
Unfortunately, some common go-to coping methods for stress and feeling overwhelmed are unhealthy and can actually make your situation worse. Tobacco and alcohol use are two all-too-common substances that people rely on when they are having problems in their lives. However, by not getting to the root of the problem and instead drowning your issues with a bottle, it can actually exacerbate the situation and even, in some cases, become a deadly cycle. This is can lead to one of the many reasons why alcoholics can’t stop drinking.
Similarly, tobacco use is common for people who are feeling anxious and overwhelmed as tobacco can be used to deal with these feelings for some people. But, this is not a healthy way to cope. In fact, tobacco is one of the most deadly substances in the country accounting for almost a half a million preventable deaths each year.
Take A Break
If you are dealing with high amounts of stress at work or school, it is sometimes best to just take a step back from the situation. Shut the office door and close your eyes or walk around the office or campus. Simply getting your mind off of the problem or issue can help you take it on with a fresh take when you get back.