Love: Less Stress for More Inner Peace

Depression is certainly not a healthy way to deal with stress and yet for some people, this is their coping strategy. There is always time for less stress and more inner peace during National Stress Awareness Month. Let's get started with some key actions you can easily take.

Meditate. My preference lately to unwind is a mindful meditation practice. Head over to GetSomeHeadspace, http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/ for a free trial and find a volume of scientific reporting on what simple meditation can do. 

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/htb/13775085/, via http://photopin.com

There are many programs to get started with meditation but this one is structured, daily and easy – easier yet with a free app for when you are on the go! 

The bottom line as relates to stress is that mindful meditation soothes our nervous system. There are many techniques and processes to help reduce stress – EFT, the Sedona Technique and meditation. Any one of them will work for you when you put them into practice. 

If I can fit 15 or 20 minutes into a day of care giving with my 85-year-old mother, can't you find a similar block of time?

Vigorous exercise. Lately I'm into hula hooping because of the rave reviews by a friend of mine. Out of things you can do for free that I enjoy, exercise is at the top of my daily to do list. The Mayo Clinic describes exercise as – meditation in motion. It gets those endorphins pumping, not to mention the benefit of improving your fitness.

Exercise lowers any feelings of mild depression and so you feel more in control, as much as we can be in control. Even a short, brisk walk will improve your mood level.

Hormone releases. We could tap into two things more often for some lower hanging stress relief methods: laughter releases endorphins and human animal interaction releases oxytocin.

Many studies over the years prove that laughter is great for stress relief while being easy to do, cheap and readily accessible. Comedy shows, video clips that make you laugh on youtube.com, jokes, there are many opportunities throughout most any day for a little laughter.

Being a dog lover the 2010 research reported at the International Association of Human-Animal Interaction conference in Stockholm was fascinating. Friendly human-dog interaction releases oxytocin in both the person and the dog, in particular when the animals are touched and stroked. Dogs in some studies seem to stimulate social interaction and social competence, to reduce anxiety and increase trust in others, to improve mood and also to reduce cortisol levels and improve cardiovascular function e.g. by decreasing blood pressure. Wow, positive health effects too.

So if for whatever reason you can't or don't own a dog, or don't want to borrow a friend's dog, try laughing instead. It's just as good for your hormones.

Bonus: head over to the Stress Awareness Month website now to get one of their Kindle books free from April 15 to April 19. 

Watch for more ideas over on my business blog, http://www.patricia-weber.com, since it IS Stress Relief Month.

What do you find works best for you when you need some stress relief? How easy is it? How long does it take?