Managing stress is vital for a healthy lifestyle

The world is a busy place. We spend our days balancing work, home and other obligations. We often neglect ourselves, causing us to feel overwhelmed and “stressed out.” Here are five tips on how to alleviate that stress and rebalance your life:

Breathe. Deep breathing exercises have been proven to be one of the best (and easiest) way to shake the stress. For optimum effectiveness, try 4-square breathing: Close your eyes. Breathe in for the count of 4, hold your breath for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4, repeat. A few cycles of this and you will begin to feel your stress melt away.

Eat Good Foods. When you are feeling run down and stressed, a snack can be the perfect boost. Reach for tasty foods that also offer some nutritional value, such as nuts or blueberries, to recharge your system. Limit snacks to about 100 calories.

Crank It Up. By listening to soothing music (soothing can be whatever soothes YOU), you are helping your brain switch from a pressure-fueled mindset to one of relaxation. When you listen to music that you enjoy, your overall mood improves helping you to shake the stress.

Walk It Off. All it takes is 20 minutes a day of exercise to begin feeling the positive effects. Exercising raises the level of endorphins our bodies, which translates to an overall better feeling. When our endorphins are raised, our stresses feel smaller.

Make Time For You. Getting a massage is a great way to relieve your stress and tension. Getting a massage with aromatherapy oils enhances this effect. Studies have shown that people who receive even a short, 15-minute aromatherapy massage while listening to music feel a dramatic shift in relieving stress.

To find out more about how massage can fit into your healthy lifestyle, visit our website. To make an appointment at our salon or to learn more about the service we offer feel free to contact us.