Stress Relief

It is a known fact that stress is essential for survival. It triggers the fight or flight response, which is the reaction of your body when something mentally or physically terrifying occurs. However, your body can not differentiate between various types of stress. This means that your body will react to a life-threatening situation the same way as it would before a deadline or even something as simple as getting an upsetting notification on your phone. Prolonged stress reactions like this result in headaches, poor sleeping habits, back problems, and high blood pressure. Fortunately, there are several stress relief tools to help you relax, which we elaborate on further below.

There are numerous stress relief activities, and to find out which works best for you, we rounded up three different activities for you to try today!

Work out

When you experience stress, your muscles clench as they are ready for action. This tension consumes a lot of energy, which often results in discomfort and fatigue. Working out helps to relieve tense muscles. Working out also stimulates the release of endorphins. These feel-good chemicals act as pain relievers and mood enhancers, giving you a sense of relaxation and optimism.

Practice daily meditation and breathing exercises

Breathing meditation is a great tool to eliminate stress. This is the simplest form of meditation, where you practice clearing your mind and focus primarily on your breathing. As you become more familiar with the practice of meditation, you will be able to just observe stressors, such as traffic and work, rather than being completely caught up in them.

Want to take it a step further? Try the Wim Hof breathing exercises. By taking deep and rhythmic inhalations, you induce a brief stress response which eventually leads to greater resilience toward everyday stress. Please note that this exercise can be very intense, so practice sitting or lying down and take your time. Never practice while driving or while being in or near water.

Make a sleep schedule

Did you know that adults who sleep less than 8 hours a day are likely to experience more stress than people who sleep at least 8 hours? This result is not surprising because while you sleep, you recharge yourself in order to wake up refreshed and ready for whatever that day may bring. Unfortunately, falling asleep while experiencing stress is not always easy. Making a sleep schedule can help you with that. After following the schedule for a while, your body will get used to going to sleep at a certain time, regardless of what is going on in your daily life.

In addition to the breathing exercises explained above, the Wim Hof Method gives you the tools to help you even further with stress relief. For example, did you know that taking a cold shower every day also helps you cope better with stress? In addition, the method also provides other physical and mental benefits, such as improved sports performance, an immunity booster, and better focus. The method helped Wim to fully optimize his body and mind, which enabled him to achieve groundbreaking goals. For example, Wim has more than 20 Guinness World Records to his name!