10 Best Ways to Unwind & De-stress

Monica Saxena

| Wellness Blogger | Certified in Holistic Health & Nutrition | Fully Accredited Professional Nutritionist |

Unwind after a stressful day, when your body feels exhausted and completely drained. You need a break to regain, rejuvenate, and recharge yourself. You need to refresh yourself to recover that lost energy. For most of you, the favourite go-to thing after a tough day of work is to slump on the sofa and watch TV while flicking through your tired eyes on your mobile.

As a result, relaxing becomes quite difficult for most of you. Still, relaxation significantly impacts your health, lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart disease, improves decision-making, and enhances memory. Often, we have no idea how to take this exhaustion out of our bodies. Here are some simple activities that will help you relax comfortably.

1. Grab your cup of herbal tea

For many years, people have used herbal tea for stress relief, brain health, fatigue, relaxation, or simply unwinding. Herbal teas are known to relax muscles, reduce stress and anxiety, and promote sleep.

Many herbal teas can be used as your daily evening cup, like chamomile tea, lavender tea, rose tea, peppermint tea, kawa, etc. These herbal teas have antioxidants that protect the body from stress, antiviral herbs, and herbs that reduce inflammation.

2. Chill with dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is associated with some positive health benefits, like better cardiovascular health and improvement in blood pressure, and is helpful in stress relief. Our body has cortisol as a primary stress hormone, which helps us to face stressful situations. But too much cortisol can lead to chronic stress conditions, and stress is bad for health.

Dark chocolate is said to negate stress and provide relief to the mind. It can be the go-to food to relieve stress, but remember not to go on a munching spree.

3. Go for a walk

Walking promotes the release of brain chemicals and endorphins that stimulate relaxation and improve mood. There are many benefits of walking that are good for your mind and body. You do not have to walk at a fast pace to get relief from stress, but a steady and comfortable pace of walking can be enjoyable as well as relaxing. More on walking

4. Colouring

Colouring was thought to be a pastime for kids, but in recent times, adult colouring has also become quite popular. The reasons can be many, like it brings a sense of peace, helps you de-stress, helps you focus away from yourself, brings you joy as you channel your inner artist, and restores the feeling of well-being.

5. 10 minutes of catnap

Some call it a power nap, cat nap, afternoon siesta, or daytime short sleep, but it is absolutely effective and necessary to refresh and recharge you. A catnap improves your focus and increases your memory. So, if you are feeling drowsy during the day, take a short 10-minute nap at the workplace, of course, informing others that it is going to increase your productivity. It increases memory consolidation and sharpens the mind. It is good for kids and adults alike.

6. Deep Breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing technique, also known as the relaxing breath, is all about—

1. breathing for 4 seconds

2. Holding the breath for 7 seconds

3. exhaling for 8 seconds.

It is said to induce sleep and relax the mind.

Similarly, deep breathing, where the air comes through your nostrils, fully filling your lungs, and the rising of the lower belly, removes tension and anxiety. Deep breathing will slowly and surely calm your nerves and soothe your mind. More about breathing easily

7. Meditation

Meditation is a great mind-calming activity and brings relief from stress and anxiety. It can be practised daily to bring about inner peace and calm. There are many popular meditation techniques, like visualisation, mantra, and mindful technique. It has been observed that when you calmly repeat a mantra mentally, it shuts down all worldly thoughts, removes stress, and brings calm to the mind and body.

8. Listen to music

One of the positive effects of music on stress suggests that listening to music can lower our heart rate and cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that affects every organ of the body when released and provides an energy source to the body. It releases endorphins, the hormones that the body releases when in pain or stress, which help relieve pain or stress and improve our sense of well-being. Listening to music also lowers blood pressure, improves sleep quality, reduces anxiety, and lifts the mood.

9. Take a hot bath and relax

Hot water provides muscle relaxation, relief from pain, and improved sleep. Taking a hot bath helps to relax and sleep, as it lowers the body temperature. A low-temperature signal to the body that it is time to sleep. Besides, hot water can kill bacteria and improve immunity; it can also relieve the symptoms of a cold and flu.

10. Massage your scalp

Head massage is the most relaxing and rejuvenating step to end your day. It helps stimulate the nerves and blood vessels near the scalp. It calms the muscle tension around the head and encourages the flow of oxygen to the brain. Do some hair tugging and apply herbal oil on your head while pulling your hair gently and massaging your scalp.

Methods to unwind can vary, but it is important to rest and calm yourself down from your daily hustles for a few moments and prepare yourself for the next day.

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