5 Powerful One-Minute Strategies to De-stress

Lisa Franchi November 23, 2015

Stressed out and feeling helpless that you can’t do anything about it at this very moment? There’s no need to go out from the office, call your boss for a ‘sick leave’, or sleep it out when you can’t. There are quick stress-relieving strategies that you may find very helpful especially if you’re the oh-so-busy type of person.

Breathe in and out 10 times.

Deep breathing is a great way to de-stress because it calms your body from head to foot. Whether you are feeling anxious, bothered or angry, this simple strategy is sure to make you feel a lot better afterwards. When doing this exercise, focus on the movement of your stomach and the air coming in and out of your nose. This way, you are shifting your focus on your body, not the outside.

Loosen up tension in your muscles.

It can be helpful to know how your body responds to stress. And one of the ways it does is by tensing up your muscles. This can cause pain, fatigue symptoms, and a great deal of discomfort. Progressive muscle relaxation - which is done by doing a spot check on your body and checking which parts are tense and slowly releasing such - reduces stress and anxiety.

Use guided imagery.

Guided imagery is a powerful meditation technique that provides stress-relieving results in no time. It basically gives you a temporary escape from your hectic and stressful day. This mental exercise invites your whole body to participate. How do you do this? Simple. Close your eyes, and imagine floating on a cloud, and what you would see passing by.

Write down all your worries and troubles.

It is easy to feel stressed when your mind is full of worries and troubles. Putting your problems on a sheet of paper and setting them aside for tomorrow is a great quick fix for the stress that you feel right now. Otherwise, you may be spending all your day thinking about your problems, which then put a huge toll on your productivity and happiness levels.

Stare up the ceiling for a minute.

If you’re stressed out doing a lot of stuff in your computer, give yourself a minute to gaze up at the ceiling. This simple technique stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn slows the pace of your breathing and lowers your blood pressure. No need to set a timer. It would be more helpful to do deliberate counting. This way, you are keeping yourself from possible distractions.

Which one of these strategies have you tried already? How was the experience? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to post a comment below.