If you’ve ever wondered why anxiety is considered the plague of the net-generation, you need look no further than most people’s day-to-day lives to understand the reason. The endless possibilities and countless options that pop up every day, coupled with an infinite supply of easily-accessible information can often be enough to give anyone a heart palpitation. Or six.
Think about it – did it kind of suck that back in the old days, when it came to picking a profession, you basically got the choice between either being a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker? Of course it did! But it also probably made life a whole lot simpler and more stress free too. I mean, would you rather your biggest conundrum of the day be, “Should I bake regular buns, or hot cross buns?” or, “Did my presentation to the board go over well, is my spouse flirting with their co-worker on Facebook, and why the hell is my 8-year-old daughter TiVo-ing Tila Tequila’s Shot At Love?”
The bottom line is that human beings weren’t designed to sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day, only to go home and to participate in the “leisure” version of the same activity. Whether we realize it or not, the modern way of living takes its toll on both our bodies and our minds, and before long, anxiety and stress have become an uncomfortable norm.
So if these days, you’ve found yourself feeling more and more like your irksome co-worker’s head might make a good stress-ball, take a breath and relax. Here are three easy, cheap and proven ways to help you crank the Stress-O-Meter down a couple of notches.
Epsom Salt Bath
A quiet bath can be relaxing in its own right, but a bath with a few cups of Epsom salt mixed into it is a scientifically proven stress-reliever guaranteed to make the “crazy-vein” above your left eye settle down and stop throbbing. The major components in Epsom salt are magnesium and sulfates, and guess what? Most North Americans are deficient in both causing problems down the road such as heart disease, joint pains, osteoporosis and arthritis.
Everyday stress has a number of negative effects, one of which being that it drains the body of its magnesium, which in turn leads to anxiety. All it takes is the infusion of the right amount of magnesium, absorbed through say, oh, I don’t know…an Epsom salt bath…and the central nervous system starts pumping out serotonin which plays a major roll in mood regulation. An Epsom salt bath also works to improve circulatory health and flushes the body of toxins. All it takes is two cups of salt in one bath a week, with a soak of at least fifteen minutes. We still suggest you still take other regular baths in between.
You’re Getting Sleeeeepy….
One of the most overlooked ways of dealing with stress is also the simplest – get enough sleep. While this is probably already something you’re aware of, it still bares repeating because it’s the stress reducer that requires the least amount of effort on your part. Eight hours a night and you’re golden.
We’ve all been there – trudging through the day bleary-eyed, irritable as hell and daunted by even the slightest of involved tasks. When stress is experienced, the body’s stress hormone levels shoot up. The correct amount of sleep provides the body a chance to regenerate and return its stress hormone levels to normal. Literally overnight! Getting less than adequate sleep means your stress levels never get to fully reset themselves, and suddenly – BAM! – you’re in the supermarket yelling at someone else’s kid for grazing your jacket with their shopping cart.
Hug A Tree
As clichéd as it may sound, something as straightforward as a walk through the woods or a stroll on the beach can work wonders when it comes to wringing the stress out of life, even if only for a little while. Why do you think meditation CDs are always called, “Soft Sounds Of The Sea,” or, “The Quiet Clearing,” and not, “Soothing Sounds Of An Old Man Yelling At A Post Office Clerk”?
People spend so much time glued to a screen or stuck in traffic that it can be easy to forget just how much calmer the world really is in the places that aren’t paved. I liken it to being in an otherwise silent room with a computer that’s processing. You think you’re hearing silence until you turn the computer off to realize there had been a slight buzzing in the background the entire time. When the noise disappears, you and your brain can finally relax.
-Justin Fragapane