Most people have times when they experience elevated levels of stress that they need to reduce. There are obviously lots of different ways that you can reduce stress but often we forget some of the really simple techniques that work well and don’t actually take a great deal of effort. Here are three stress reduction tips which you can use each week to lessen the stress in your life.

1. Use breathing exercises

It should be the most obvious thing in the world to use breathing exercises to bring about some instant stress relief and yet many people forget this. There’s obviously no cost and it takes very little time but you will notice the difference immediately. If you’re feeling stressed, stop what you’re doing and take a deep breath and exhale through your nose. As you do this let the tension drain from your muscles. As you do it several times, you will feel tension disappearing from your face and your shoulders. Deep breathing even done for just a minute will make you feel far more relaxed.

2. Remove or resolve a stressor

How many times have you put off doing something, because you’re uncomfortable with it, or because you can’t motivate yourself, or because you’re afraid, or because you don’t want to or you think you won’t do it well enough? There are many reasons why you may put something off but it’s generally a poor tactic, because you pile stress on yourself with negative self-talk where you might feel guilty, angry, worried, inadequate ... The longer you leave it the more stress you’re likely to feel.

It doesn’t have to be something very big, it may be something quite small, but the cumulative effect of different issues stressing you out can be truly awful. One of the things I was recently stressed about was a letter that I owed to an elderly aunt of mine. I started writing the letter in August, but hadn’t printed or posted it and I felt awful. It was getting to the point when I was beginning to feel that I ought to start again, but I kept putting it off. You can imagine I kept telling myself how silly I was being. But yesterday, I decided I had to take action. I didn't send the letter as I originally intended, but copied it and pasted it into an email and hit send. Easy. Why oh why had I let it stress me so much? The relief I felt was instant.

So remember, stop procrastinating or being indecisive, or just worrying about something - look at the things that are stressing you out and take some action. This will help to declutter your mind and you'll feel better even if you only do something small.

3. Do something you enjoy

If you’re feeling very stressed it’s often difficult to allow yourself or find the time to do something that you enjoy, and yet by immersing yourself in an activity that you really like will relieve your stress. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s something that holds your attention and makes you feel better. Lots of people use exercise in this way and it works well in reliving stress, but if you’re not into strenuous exercise, an absorbing book, cooking, going to the cinema are all examples of things you could do. Identify what works for you and make sure that you do something you enjoy on a weekly basis. Establishing this as a habit which you prioritise will improve your general well-being.

Summary

Using breathing exercises, taking some kind of action to remove or resolve some of the things that are causing your stress and doing something you enjoy are all actions you can take to relieve some of the stresses that you feel on a day to day or weekly basis. Just taking simple steps on a regular basis can make a huge difference in your life.

What do you do to reduce your stress?