How To Relax and De-stress at Home

The first post on this blog will be dedicated to learning about what stress is and how to deal with it. Due to COVID-19, many people have faced more stress and negativity within their life. My goal is to educate whoever reads this about what stress is and ways that it can be dealt with at home. 

Firstly, let's start with the definition of stress. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, stress can be defined as "...how the brain and body respond to any demand." According to this definition, stress is a response to a situation. There are different types of stress such as acute and chronic stress. Acute stress is a response to a situation such as running late to work or having to give a presentation. Chronic stress is a long-term response to situations that do not go away after a short amount of time. Examples of this include food and/or job insecurity and also bad relations with others. Chronic stress can have a negative impact on the body since it can lead to high-blood pressure and tension. Acute stress is something that is more easier to treat as it is not a long-lasting situation unlike chronic stress. The information I will provide will be useful in combatting acute stress and chronic stress but it should be noted that chronic stress is often caused by situations we do not have control over, but we can control how we view and react to such situations to an extent.

Method 1) Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises can be helpful in slowing down one's heart rate and breath rate in a stressful state. When we are stressed, we may be breathing higher in our chest than lower in our diaphragm. It is important to recognize when we are breathing this way as it can be calming to redirect our breathing to our diaphragm and taking more full breaths. Below are 2 breathing exercises that are easy for beginners.

• Resonant Breathing: According to Healthline (2019) resonant breathing is a helpful exercise. To do this exercise, you breathe in for 5 counts and then exhale for 5 counts. This should be repeated for 2-5 minutes. 
• Pursed Lip Breathing: This is helpful for a stressful situation, especially a physically stressful situation. To do this exercise inhale a breath through the nose for 2 counts, purse your lips, and then exhale through the mouth for 4 counts. This technique can be observed at Cleveland Clinic with images to visualize the exercise.

Method 2) Physical Exercise

Physical exercise can be helpful in reducing stress levels and muscle tension by releasing hormones that are mood-boosting. Exercise can be any exercise you find enjoyable, such as going for a run or doing yoga or HIIT (High-intensity interval training) at home. There are many resources for exercising at home, including small-space and apartment friendly workouts. Such videos will be included in every blog post, and one can be found at the end of this post.

Method 3) Self-Care Day

Self-care is a term I have seen a lot around on the internet nowadays. Self-care is so many things! For some people, this could be taking a warm bath or putting on a face mask. It could also include cooking a delicious meal or watching your favorite movie. It can be helpful to set time aside for yourself and the things that make you happy, whether they be big or small. Sometimes we need to take a rest from our daily lives and invest energy into ourselves so that we can recharge.

Those were three methods that can be helpful in combatting stress. These are not the only methods available but I wanted to highlight a few that are easy to do at home and during any time of the day. For the ending of this blogpost, I am going to include a workout video that is a quiet HIIT workout so it is suitable for those in apartments, small spaces, and those who cannot do jumping exercises. I will also include a healthy and easy recipe so that you can maybe try something new on a day you may be considering take-out or if you're just looking for cooking inspiration. Thanks for reading!

Parmesan Spinach Mushroom Pasta Skillet