By Bhumika Ramesh

That hustle culture does more harm than you know! Well, life without stress is just a utopian ideal, but we all know stress is just inevitable – especially while facing the pressures of today’s world. Therefore, knowledge of handling stress is crucial to have on hand, especially when chronic stress can unleash damage on your mental and physical health. 

Simple relaxing tasks and techniques can do wonders to the levels of stress. Let’s go over a few of them!

  • Guided imagery

One of the best ways known to calm the mind down. It is a sort of psychotherapy by which one evokes and creates mental images that stimulate the senses. This practice helps your mind find its focus. These mental images are unique to every person – you can re-visit a nostalgic memory or create a whole new fantasy! Guided imagery releases tension and physically relaxes the body too. 

  • Take out that trash and tidy up

Dismantling clutter – whether it be in your bedroom or the kitchen, gives the mind a sense of relief and a short term task to focus on. It also gives a sense of gratification after seeing everything spic and span. Cleaning also provides a slight amount of exercise, which also provides endorphins and you finish those tasks on a positive note!

  • Listen to those tunes and break out a move

Music has a vigorous effect on the mind and our emotions. Slow and fast tempo beats can definitely impact your mind in different ways – the former calms and soothes whereas the latter improves concentration and focus. Dancing to music can make you feel like you’re floating on a cloud with all the serotonin and can leave you feeling recharged and ready to tackle new tasks! 

  • Aromatherapy

Often known as essential oil therapy, it makes use of aromatic oils such as lavender, chamomile, clove and others to calm and improve the mind, body and spirit. There are various ways of using these oils: diffusers, oil droplets, bath salts, lotions among many. It stimulates the olfactory system which in turn (via the limbic system) create a subtle soothing effect. 

  • Write down your thoughts or start Journaling

Penning down feelings, emotions and thoughts gets them off your mind. Writing down what you go through acts as an outlet for your mind. Journaling consists of much more detailed writing but it definitely serves as a great stress management and self-exploration tool. Going through words on paper help you view them from a different perspective – great for problem-solving! Keeping a gratitude journal is also a terrific alternative.

Stress is definitely a hurdle we all face, and while focusing on tasks is good, relaxation is equally as important. Relief can be found. Hoping these tips help you to rewind after a dreary day!