In our hyperconnected, always-on world, stress has become an unwelcome companion for many of us, silently eroding our health, happiness, and productivity. The constant barrage of emails, notifications, work pressures, and personal responsibilities can feel overwhelming.
If you’re wondering how to decrease stress, Tryon Medical Partners internal medicine specialist Nurse Practitioner (NP) Galbraith provides four straightforward, actionable strategies that can help you relax your mind, overcome burnout, and lower stress levels. These aren’t complicated, time-consuming techniques that require hours of meditation or radical lifestyle changes. Instead, they’re practical approaches you can integrate into your daily routine, starting today.
“I see a lot of anxiety in my office – young and old patients coming in with symptoms of heightened stress,” NP Galbraith notes. “They often request medication and sometimes that’s the answer to their problem. However, often stress can be effectively managed with some simple techniques.”
Signs you might be too stressed
NP Galbraith notes that stress affects every system in the body, so heightened stress levels manifest differently in different patients. Chronic stress might present as elevated blood pressure or heart rate, sleep issues, or depressive symptoms, like fatigue and a loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy. Because higher stress levels impact the immune system, it can also look like frequent bouts of illness or a prolonged recovery period.
Although we all have stress in our lives, constant stress is not typical and can lead to negative mental and physical health outcomes. Chronic stress is especially common for the sandwich generation, adults who are caring for both their aging parents and their own children. It’s important that those in the sandwich generation prioritize time for themselves so they don’t become sick simply because of their immense caregiving responsibilities.
“If you look at your life and feel you are always stressed, that’s not normal,” NP Galbraith says. “In this case, you need to reconsider: Are you putting too much on your plate? Where can you cut back?”
How to decrease stress: four practical tips
If you can’t cut back on anything at the moment, there are some techniques you can try to lower your everyday stress levels. NP Galbraith recommends:
- Deep breathing. Breathing is critically important to develop a calm nervous system. NP Galbraith says that we tend to breathe shallowly by default. She recommends taking a slow, deep breath in from your nose and out through your mouth whenever you have a spare minute, whether that is waiting in line at the grocery store or picking a child up from school. Your blood pressure will naturally drop with some deep breathing. For more structured deep breathing time, NP Galbraith recommends a weekly restorative yoga practice, which will incorporate stretching as well as breathing exercises.
- Essential oils. Essential oils, especially lavender and chamomile-scented oils, can be used for aromatherapy to relax your mind. Applying them topically to areas where blood flows close to the skin’s surface, such as the neck, chest, inner elbow, wrists, temples, and behind the ears, can create a calm and relaxing sensation. You can also put them in an oil diffuser to scent your environment. Aromatherapy techniques like these have a proven effectiveness in promoting relaxation and lowering stress levels.
- Turn off the news. News media can be highly stressful and difficult to escape with frequent alerts on our phones and televisions. One way to control the flow of anxiety-inducing news is to simply turn off the television. Instead, when you might normally turn on the TV while making dinner or doing dishes, NP Galbraith recommends listening to relaxing music, putting on an interesting podcast, or calling a friend to help create a calm nervous system.
- When possible, drink less alcohol. When people are chronically stressed, they often reach for something that gives them immediate relief, like an alcoholic drink. Nurse Practitioner Galbraith says that a drink is okay once in a while, but it can actually exacerbate stress and anxiety in the long run. If you find yourself reaching for a glass of wine at the end of the day to decompress, consider replacing it with a non-alcoholic beverage or taking a short walk instead. Additionally, it might be a good idea to schedule a weekly appointment with a therapist to release some of that anxiety. To address the stress we hold physically in our bodies, a monthly massage can provide tension relief and lower stress levels.
“You don’t have to be perfect and use these stress reduction techniques every day,” NP Galbraith emphasizes. “But using them once in a while will make a big difference in your overall stress levels.”
If you have more questions about how to decrease stress, or think you need some support, use MedChat or call Tryon Medical Partners to meet with a trusted clinician.