When winter sets in there’s a chance you start to get depressed and stressed out. It’s cold and dreary many times and this makes it hard to get outside and enjoy life. If you go through this every winter, you need some tips to bust that mid winter stress that can get you feeling down. Below are five activities to help you successfully beat the stress and anxiety.

Exercise: A Great Mood Enhancer

When you workout, you get your heart pumping and this releases endorphins into your system. Endorphins are your natural feel good hormones. Yoga, walking, weight lifting, and stretching are all good exercises to relieve stress. If you need a good workout plan then be sure to take a look at The Rebound Workout.

Hobby: Feeds Your Mind

Getting a new hobby may be just the distraction you need to forget about mid winter stress. A hobby will give you something to look forward to everyday and a sense of satisfaction when you complete it. Some common stress relieving hobbies are arts and crafts, puzzle solving, pets, and reading.

Meditation: Relax, Reenergize

When you’re stressed chemicals are released into your body, this is called the fight or flight response. It’s a natural survival instinct built into your body and in a true emergency, it can be a lifesaver. The constant release of these chemicals when they’re not needed begins to wear you down. Meditation can decrease these affects by bringing your body back into balance. There are many ways to meditate and all are good for stress relief. Choose a method you’re comfortable with like deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation and then set aside 10 minutes every day to practice. You’ll reduce the stress hormones, slow your heart rate, and lower your blood pressure, which all highly effective methods for dealing with stress.

Abdominal Breathing: Get Deep

Breathing is a natural occurrence so you may think that practicing it is a waste of time. When you’re stressed, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid, this type of breathing decreases oxygen to the body. When you practice deep abdominal breathing, you increase oxygen, release endorphins, and expel toxins from the body through the lungs. The practice is almost an instant calming of the mind and body. To do deep breathing place your hand right beneath your rib cage, now inhale fully through your nose counting to four slowly. If done correctly you should feel your tummy expanding and not just your chest. Now, breath out slowly again counting to four. Work up to ten sets of ten breaths and you will see a dramatic decrease in your stress.

Stress Balls: Hit Your Nerves

Stress balls were created by the Chinese many years ago and were very popular in ancient Chinese medicine. Originally they were solid and it was not until much later that they were made hollow. In Chinese acupuncture, it’s believed that the hands are connected to every organ in the body. Squeezing the ball hits all the major acupuncture points on the hand and relieves stress in your body.

Those are just some simple tips and strategies to try out when you feel the holiday pressure stressing you out.  And remember working out is your best bet to relieving your stress and staying fit, so keep those workouts consistent!

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