3 Effective Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety
Adjust your breath, practice cognitive defusion, and accept what is.
1. Adjust Your Breath
When you’re under stress, your breaths spontaneously become fast, short, and shallow.
That breathing pattern strains your body and creates a downward spiral of more and more stress.
So, it’s good practice to adjust your breath whenever you feel stressed.
All you have to do is follow the three simple rules of optimal breathing:
- Breathe through your nose.
- Breathe into your belly.
- Exhale longer than you inhale.
By deliberately breathing slowly, deeply, and rhythmically, you’ll signal your nervous system to calm down.
And that, in turn, will spark physiological processes to put your body and mind at ease.
2. Practice Cognitive Defusion
If you’re having stressful thoughts, that’s not a problem.
It only becomes a problem if you “fuse” with the thoughts and can’t separate yourself from them.
Imagine, for instance, that you’re preparing a presentation for work, and your inner…
