How to relieve stress at home?

In the modern world, the scientific and technological revolutionhas reached an unthinkable scale. Huge information flows, increased noise level, environmental degradation - all this constantly affects a person and leads to constant stress. That is why modern man has a special need - the desire to reduce stress. And not always a person goes to the doctor. How to relieve stress at home? This term is usually understood as a state of tension, causing various unpleasant symptoms. However, in psychology, stress has the value of an adaptive response to the excessive pressure of the environment inherent in any person and includes various physiological and psychological changes that occur in the body. Thus, it is obvious that not every stress needs to be removed here and now.

Types and signs of stress

Psychologists describe two types of stress: positive and negative stress. Positive stress is usually caused by positive emotions or mobilizes the body's resources. To test it is not only not harmful, but also beneficial for the body. Negative stress is a stress that a person can not cope with, it is destructive to human health. It is in this state that a person faces the problem of how to relieve stress. The physiological signs of stress include increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased gas exchange rate, dry mouth, etc., i.е. Symptotic activation of the autonomic nervous system. The psychological signs include a violation of concentration, forgetfulness, difficulty in making a decision; anxiety, irritability, depression, frequent mood swings; decrease in working capacity, self-isolation, dependent behavior, etc. ... You can also talk about biological and psychological stress. The main difference between them is that under biological stress the threat is real and is aimed at the life and health of a person, and in the case of a psychological one it can be virtual and aimed at the person's social status or on his self-esteem. An example of psychological stress may be dismissal from work, family quarrel or any phobia. In this regard, the experience of stress in this case can be very long. How quickly to remove stress in this case? The personal qualities of a person play a big role in the level of stress reaction. For example, realizing your ability to influence the situation reduces the level of tension. Also, the existence in the past experience of successfully solving similar problems helps to relieve a lot of stress.

Self-help under stress

Not everyone is ready to ask for helpspecialist, and in most cases this is not necessary. There are different ways to remove stress, we list only the most effective of them. The first group concerns lifestyle in general. These changes are permanent in nature, in connection with which their creation requires some effort from a person, but at the same time there is a significant improvement in the quality of life. This includes the following recommendations:

Find or create a hobby for yourself. Often, in the case of stress, quiet classes are recommended, but in reality it depends on the temperament of the person. For someone, this hobby will be Ikebana or scrapbooking, and somebody does not like the soul in mountaineering or rafting on the mountain rivers.
Go to the gym. The recommendation is as old as the world, but its effectiveness is beyond doubt. During sports, the body releases endorphins - hormones of happiness - that instantly reduce the level of stress in the body. By the way, these same hormones stand out during sex, so regular sex is a great way to relieve stress.
Organize proper nutrition. A large amount of harmful food - only an additional burden on the body, and not a source of energy. Reduce the amount of fatty and roasted, add "anti-stress" products (fruits, vegetables, fresh juices, seafood - sources of vitamins B, C, magnesium and other useful microelements) - and your "anti-stress" menu is ready!
Smile more. Psychophysiology has proved that facial expressions and emotions experienced by a person are inextricably linked: just as the experience of joy can bring a smile, and a smile can cause an experience of joy.

The second group concerns general changes in thesocial sphere. It includes everything related to interaction with other people, as well as emotions caused by this interaction. This group is isolated due to the fact that psychological stress arises precisely because of problems in this area. Here's how to organize changes in this area:

Organize communication with close and pleasant people. This is one of the most important advice, because this kind of communication performs a psychotherapeutic function - a person shares the most important, receives support and participation, and his resources are magically restored.
Try to limit communication with unpleasantpeople. At least, deal with your circle of friends - maybe there are friends next to whom you feel insecure and have already forgotten why you should communicate with them at all. Well, as for people, communication with which you can not avoid - interacting with them, you can imagine them in a funny way.
Try to express those emotions more often and more,which you are really experiencing at the moment. This will allow you to feel a serious relief, since the lion's share of human resources is spent on restraining emotions.

The third group includes variousspecific actions, the implementation of which allows you to quickly remove the accumulated stress. However, their effectiveness is of a short-term nature, so that to achieve the best result they must be combined with recommendations from the first two groups.

Change of activity. Neurophysiologists have proved that a long period of monotonous activity causes a person a state of monotony, which acts depressingly on the human nervous system. All that is needed in this case is to switch to another activity. For example, after sitting at the computer, take a break and start cleaning.
Elimination of sources of stress such as noise,flows of negative information from the Internet, stuffiness. This includes reducing the work load, the number of family cases (if they are sources of stress).
Take a relaxing bath, add to itsea salt, use aromatic oils and your favorite shower gels and creams. The effectiveness of this recommendation is due to the combined effect on smell and tactile sensations.
Listen to your favorite music or watch your favoritefilm. This will give you positive emotions, which always acts encouragingly. This method is especially effective when you need to remove psychological stress.

The fourth group is the specific techniques takenfrom the psychology of self-regulation. These techniques are tested in many psychological studies, their effectiveness is proven and based on the features of neurophysiological regulation of the human body. They allow you to achieve a certain effect when performing a number of simple actions.

Autogenic training. It is based on the use of muscle and respiratory relaxation, as well as self-hypnosis. Exercises are carried out in the position of a cabman (straight back, hands on the knees, the head hangs freely) or lying down. Training begins with rest (the formula "I am absolutely calm"). Then there are the exercises for causing a feeling of heaviness and heat in the hands (the formulas "right hand is left and heavy"), regulation of the rhythm of the heart activity, breathing (the formulas "I breathe deeply, my heart beats smoothly"), causing coolness in the forehead. Each exercise is repeated somewhere six times and ends with calmness. Training should be systematic to achieve the best effect.
Massage and self-massage. Massage, as is known, has a relaxing effect. You can ask for a massage as a specialist or just a loved one, the main thing is to relax and have fun. However, if there is no one at hand, you can do self-massage - massage it gently, and then stroke your face and head (forehead, whiskey, cheeks), and massage your hands and feet. Self-massage is enough to spend several times a week.
Technique of a positive future. Think about the future, try to use positive and specific language, for example, "I will sign this contract with partners." It will also be useful to connect the visualization - try to represent in all the details the positive results of your actions.

Of course, there is no need to follow allthe above recommendations. However, the choice of those that you like and embody them in your life can help you to remove the accumulated stress and significantly improve the quality of your life. We advise you to read: