5 Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
As a psychotherapist, I treat clients who are struggling with stress and anxiety. Whether it’s due to personal stressors, demands at work, or global events, learning ways to manage these feelings is essential. Below are 5 proven strategies to manage stress and lower your overall anxiety.
1. Talk to your people
Connection with your community is important for emotional wellbeing. Talking with family and friends gives you a place to help problem solve and vent. Talking to supports can also help you feel less alone. Unfortunately, social isolation has become an epidemic since 2020, and I am noticing this in my clients too. The act of simply sharing your thoughts and feelings with trusted people, helps ease the feelings of stress.
Action: Schedule regular conversations (like coffee dates or phone calls) with close friends and family.
2. Practice moments of mindfulness
Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment without judgment. By focusing on your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, you can develop a greater awareness of your internal experiences.
Action: Take 5 to 15 minutes each day to practice mindfulness. One option is doing a breathing exercise. But you don’t have to sit in one place, you can go for a walk in nature.
Challenge: Leave your phone in another room while you practice mindfulness.
3. Get enough rest
The body’s stress hormone, cortisol, reduces as you sleep. Thus, sleep is an integral part of reducing your body’s stress state.
Action: Create a bedtime habit.
- Try going to bed and waking up at the same times every day.
- Put away your phone at least one hour before bed.
- Give yourself time to wind down at night before going to sleep.
4. Exercise
Physical exercise reduces stress and increases your energy source (which sounds counter-productive! But it’s true!). Get those endorphins pumping in your body with movement and exercise.
Action: Find an exercise you enjoy and complete it for at least 30 minutes a minimum of 3 times per week.
5. Protect your time
There are many things we all must do each day, like working, going to school or taking care of our children. Look at the parts of your schedule where you have the choice to say no and reconsider these commitments. When you say “no” to invites or requests, you reduce your chances of feeling overwhelmed.
Action: Each week, review your schedule.
- First identify the areas where you feel stretched and reconsider this commitment. Ask yourself if It is something you can say no to or can it be delegated to someone else.
- Plan self-care breaks in your weekly schedule.
Implementing these steps takes time. I encourage you to make them your own and don’t give up. You got this.
