If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.”
George F. Burns
How do you relieve stress and live a more relaxing life?
I’ve already written about a few long-term and short-term answers to that in a whole bunch of articles. Some examples are 14 Sure-Fire Ways to Live a More Relaxing Life and the follow-up 13 Additional Sure-Fire Ways to Live a More Relaxing Life.
But what can you do about it if you feel stressed out right now? Here are 7 quick and immediately applicable tips to lower your stress-levels.
1. Go for a walk and an ice-cream. Slowly.
The exercise and fresh air is great to clear your mind and I find eating ice-cream to be a pretty relaxing thing. If you are stressed out then you’ll probably move fast and do things quickly. But it works the other way around too. So focus on walking slowly, enjoying your surroundings and eat that ice-cream at reasonable pace – depending on how hot it is outside – and you’ll soon feel more relaxed.
2. Take 30 belly-breaths.
This is probably the most efficient way to relax I have found so far. It’s easy, quick and you can do it anywhere. And it works pretty much every time. Here’s what you do:
- Sit in a relaxing position with your legs apart.
- Put your hands on your stomach. Using your stomach breathe in slowly through your nose. If you are doing it right your stomach will expand and you´ll feel it with your hands.
- Breathe out slowly through your nose and do it with some force so you feel your stomach pull slightly inwards towards your spine.
- Breathe in and out 30 times. Take deep and slow breaths.
- After you have taken 30 breaths and focused on counting them you should not only feel more relaxed and centered. Your body will also be able to continue breathing in this manner without you focusing on it. And that´s it. Continue with your normal day.
3. Find five things you can be grateful for right now.
Being grateful and appreciating your life and surroundings is one of the most effective ways to turn a negative emotional state to a more positive one. So find a few things you are grateful for right now. Perhaps it’s the sunny weather, that you feel healthy and energetic today, that you have just eaten a delicious after-noon snack, that the guy/gal that just walked by had a great looking jacket on and that tonight there is a new episode of your favourite TV-show to enjoy.
4. Make a list of the three most important things you have to do today.
Then do them, one at a time. Start with most important one. Don’t worry or think about the rest of the stuff you need to do. Procrastinating or just keeping busy to avoid doing the big and truly important tasks creates great amounts of stress. Once you are done with the most important task you not only feel calmer but also more self-confident and the two remaining tasks will become easier to handle.
5. Write everything down.
Write down your thoughts, appointments, commitments and shopping lists. Don’t try to keep it in your mind. This only adds stress as you worry about forgetting something and uses a good chunk of your mental RAM for remembering rather than thinking. Writing everything down is great and simple habit to keep your mind clear and focused on more important things than remembering how much milk you need to buy.
6. Declutter your workspace.
A clean and organized desk and workspace creates a clean and relaxed mind. Just take 5 minutes right now to clean up. Forming a habit of doing this on a regular basis is an easy way to not only keeping the workspace looking nice and clean but also to improve your mental focus and clarity.
7. Read Steve Pavlina.
This one might sound a little odd but when I feel stressed I read one or two of Steve Pavlina´s long pieces of writing. And it calms me down. I don’t really know why, perhaps it comes from focusing for quite a few minutes on a long, lucid and often pretty inspiring article. There is a different pace over at Steve’s blog compared to most of the internet and real-life, I guess.
译文:
迅速缓解压力的7个秘诀
“
如果你要问长寿的秘诀是什么，我会告诉你那就是尽量避免担忧，压力和紧张。而且即使你不问我，我也想说一说。”
乔治·F. 彭斯
你是怎样缓解压力，使自己放松的?
我已经在很多文章里系统的写了一些关于缓解压力的长期和短期的方法。例如轻松生活的14个秘诀和随后补充的放松生活的13个秘诀。
但是如果你现在感觉压力大，该怎么办呢？以下7个方法可以快速有效的降低你的压力感。
1． 散散步，吃一支冰淇淋，并且慢慢品尝。
动一动和呼吸新鲜的空气可以让你思路清晰，并且吃冰淇淋可以使你放松。如果你精神紧张，那么你就会行动迅速，并且做事有效率。但是反过来也一样。因此，集中精神散步，享受周围的美景，不紧不慢的吃着冰淇淋－这取决于外面有多热，这样很快你就会放松下来。
2． 深呼吸30次。
这是至今为止我知道的放松最有效的方法。这种方法很简单，快捷，在任何地方都可以做。而且屡试不爽。下面我教你怎样做：
－以一个放松的姿势坐下，双腿分开。
－把手放在你的胃部。用你的胃用力，缓缓从鼻子吸气。如果你做的方法正确，你的手会感觉得到。
－慢慢从鼻子呼气，稍稍用点力，你会感觉你的胃轻微的向内拉。
－这样反复呼吸30次。深且缓慢的呼吸。
－这样呼吸并集中数30次以后，你就会感到不只是放松而且集中注意力。即使你不把注意力集中在这上面，你的身体也会继续以这种方式呼吸。就这样，成为你每天生活的一部分。
3． 找出你现在要感激的五件事情。
对生活和周围环境心存感激是变消极情绪为积极情绪最有效的方法之一。因此找出现在你要感激的一些事情。也许今天阳光充足的好天气，也许你今天感到健康和充满活力，或是刚吃了一顿美味的下午茶，或是刚刚路过的那个男孩/女孩穿了一件很漂亮的上衣，或是今晚将播放新的一集你最喜欢的电视节目。
4． 列出你今天要做的最重要的三件事情。
那么，一一把他们做完。从最重要的一件事开始。不要担心其余的你需要做的事情。不要耽搁或因为忙碌而避免去做造成大量压力的最重要的事情。一旦你完成了最重要的任务，你不只会感到平静，而且会感到更加自信，剩下的两个任务也会变得更容易解决。
5． 把所有的事情记下来。
把你的想法，约会，承诺和购物单都记下来。不要试图把他们全记在脑子里。这只会在你担心忘记某事时增加你的压力，并且你要用大脑的一大部分来记忆而不是用来思考。把所有的事情都记下来是个又好又简单的习惯，可以使你头脑清晰，关注于比记住你需要买多少牛奶更重要的东西。
6． 清理你的办公场所
干净而有秩序的办公桌和办公场所可以使你的头脑清晰和放松。只需花费5分钟的时间去整理。养成这样做的习惯很简单，这不只会使办公场所看起来整齐干净，还能使你集中注意力，和使你思路清晰。
7． 读Steve Pavlina的作品。
这条听起来有一点奇怪。但是当我觉得精神紧张的时候，我就读Steve Pavlina的长篇作品。它使我冷静下来。我不知道这是为什么，也许是由于我花费一些时间集中精力读一篇长篇的，浅显易懂的和令人鼓舞的文章的缘故。我认为，同网上和现实生活中的大多数文章相比，Steve Pavlina的博客别有一番风味。