Your working day may be jam-packed with various activities, meetings, exchanging of emails and text messages, project deadlines you need to meet, and phone calls you have to answer. Working days are usually stressful. Because of this, your body and mind deserve to relax and calm down afterward. Protecting, preserving and recharging are exactly what you need to function properly and keep being productive for the rest of the working week.
Here are some helpful tips to help you come down from a particularly challenging day.
1. Guided Meditation
It will help relax your body and mind greatly if you sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes, relax, and just focus on your breathing. Allow yourself to recall everything that has happened and then slowly let the memories leave your mind as you exhale and inhale rhythmically. Meditation is one of the fastest and most effective ways to take your mind off of stressful things. The more you do, the easier it gets to deal with stress. Guided meditation content can be found online on YouTube and similar websites for free.
2. Journal Your Thoughts
Some may be a bit skeptical about the effectiveness of journaling your thoughts in order to de-stress. However, it has been psychologically proven that writing out whatever makes you feel restless is a great way to relax and get back on track of what's actually important. Journaling does not have to be poetic, grammatically and stylistically correct, it doesn't have to make sense. Just write it out. One helpful tip here would be for you to purchase a cute journal that makes you want to write.
3. Drink Tea Or Coffee
After a tiresome day, make for yourself a nice cup of hot herbal tea. Drinking coffee in the morning to get energized is an approved method of starting your day. So should be getting a cup of tea after the day is over. Some flavors do not only taste wonderful but also have a soothing effect. You may need to do a little bit of research on what type is the best for a particular sort of physical or mental problem. If it's not unbearable try to drink it without adding sugar. Tea leaves are mild stimulants that will help you relax and sleep better after a stressful day.
4. Take A Long Bath
Make some time to take a long bath after a bad day instead of just getting a quick shower. Add magnesium to water which acts as a remedy to stress. Magnesium helps relax your muscles as stress tends to stiffen and tense them. You may take a glass of wine or your favorite book and read while getting a bath bomb-filled nice, relaxing bath.
5. Express Your Frustration
Your day can be stressful, but you still need to control your emotions and keep being optimistic. While that is all well, you still need to express the negative emotions at the end of the day as retaining them inside your body can be damaging. Find someone you are close to, be it on or offline and spill your heart out. You don't have to do this every day, once in a while is enough.
6. Get Your Game On
Some people prefer movies, you can try that out too but video and computer games can actually be super relaxing after a challenging day of working on various tasks. It's true that online gaming can be competitive, but the psychology behind this process is that you tend to forget about whatever is upsetting you as you get lost trying to win a match. That and other newfound online passions can help you become a part of the community where you can find like-minded people to communicate with. Talking to them and gaming with them can further help you release stress.
7. Listen To Music
This is a popular, tried and approved method. Play your favorite tracks. It will help you slow your heart rate and lower blood pressure. With music on, you find yourself unwinding as nothing seems as demanding as before. Especially when you are feeling down, the right music will instantly brighten up the day. Don't shy away from dancing to it or singing along if you want to.
It's essential to unwind after a stressful day. If you fail to do so, you are going to end up putting your health at risk in the long run. Here, we have covered only some aspects to help you become stress-free but feel free to do more research to discover other ways of de-stressing. Never forget self-care is a necessity.
This article was originally published here.