7 tips to combat stress
Do you sometimes feel stressed? You are not the only one! It is often said that the French are the world champions in drug consumption for this reason. In a 2017 Opinion Way survey , 89% of French people say they are at least a little stressed. People who never feel the slightest stress therefore remain in a particularly minority.
Fortunately, there are techniques to combat stress and restore serenity in your life. Here are our top 7 tips to combat daily stress.
1) Sleep well
We greatly underestimate the power and importance of sleep on the proper functioning of our body. Sleep that is both high quality and long enough can greatly improve your physical and mental fitness. A restful night's sleep improves your mood, your productivity, and makes you less sensitive to stress and distressing situations.
If you are unable to achieve long nights, a nap during the day, even for 10 to 15 minutes, can make a huge difference and put you back on your feet for the rest of the day.
2) Exercise
You've probably heard it said: sport is excellent for your well-being, but not only for maintaining your physical fitness. It also has particularly beneficial effects on the mood, mind and good psychological balance of practitioners.
This is not surprising! Physical activity helps generate endorphin and serotonin, powerful hormones with the most interesting properties: combating pain, relaxation, feeling of well-being, combating depression… We also call serotonin “the happiness hormone”. Even if the name is a bit exaggerated, there is no doubt that practicing a sporting activity will do you a lot of good for your morale, and will help you reduce stress in particular.
3) Spend time with friends
Loneliness is a shortcut to stress and anxiety; conversely, socializing is an excellent way to put things into perspective and minimize these worries that consume you on a daily basis. Again, spending time with loved ones causes positive chemical reactions in your body: it generates oxytocin, also called the “love hormone”. Oxytocin promotes the feeling of attachment and the pleasure experienced during social relationships.
More generally, seeing friends or people you love is the best way to take your mind off things and forget about your stress!
4) Practice meditation
Nothing could be more logical about this: one of the very principles of meditation is to decompress and fight against anxiety. Not only does it reduce stress by helping you chase away your parasitic thoughts, focused on the past or the future, but it also increases your concentration, allows you to enjoy the present moment, and to order your thoughts.
5) Practice yoga
Yoga offers benefits similar to those of meditation, while being a little more “physical” than the latter. It therefore perfectly combines the relaxing capacity of meditation and the virtues of sports practice.
Yoga helps reduce the heart rate, in particular through deep work on breathing. Thanks to better oxygenation of the brain resulting from pronounced ventral breathing, your body relaxes and your stress significantly reduces.
6) Consume anti-stress foods (and supplement if necessary)
Our physical and mental well-being depends largely on what we put on our plate. If you are prone to stress, here are some vitamins and trace elements that you should consume in larger quantities:
• Vitamin C : it supports immunity and vitality. It is found, for example, in peppers, kiwis, oranges, etc.
• Vitamin D : vitamin obtained by exposure to the sun. It is also found in cod liver oil, herring, mackerel or grilled sardines.
• Magnesium : magnesium. It is found in quantities in seafood, cocoa, almonds and walnuts.
• Omega 3 : these essential fatty acids contribute to the proper functioning of the brain. They are present in linseed, walnut or rapeseed oils, or even chia or flax seeds for example.
Unfortunately, these anti-stress foods are often missing from our diet. In case of chronic regularity, and if you cannot adapt your diet or wish to improve your situation more quickly, taking anti-stress food supplements is a good alternative.
7) Test CBD
CBD (short for cannabidiol) is a cannabinoid found in cannabis, alongside many others, such as THC. But where THC is the “psychoactive” substance, the one that “gets you high” and makes you addicted, CBD (the sale and consumption of which is legal) has no psychotropic or dangerous effects on health.
Thanks to its soothing and relaxing properties, CBD can therefore be an option to relax and combat your stress.
Want to know more about the virtues of CBD and try it? Don’t hesitate to discover Petit Coeur , which offers them in different forms (oils, herbal teas or flowers)!
Stress is not inevitable!
We hope that you will have found some interesting tips in these top 7 tips to combat stress. There is something for all tastes and affinities, so test what appeals to you the most. The effects of stress and pressure on a daily basis should not be neglected: take care of your body and your moral code, and don't let stress slowly eat away at you – take action!
