1. Find an exercise program you like. If you actually enjoy the workout, part of the stress relief has already taken place. Create, or get help creating, a program which is based on 2-3 resistance weight workouts and 3-5 cardio workouts per week.

2. Do breathing exercises 2-3 times per day. Breathing helps calm down the nervous system physiologically and helps the body find balance in stressful situations.

3. Meditate a few times per week. It can be a guided meditation, it can be sitting to your favorite music or in a quiet place, and it doesn’t have to be any more mysterious that that.

4. Eliminate unhealthy foods from your diet. Processed foods, refined sugars, and too much caffeine put stress on the body. Treat your body with healing products and energy-rich foods such as fruits and berries, fresh organic vegetables, and lean meats. And heal your metabolism by eating small meals every three hours.

5. Give to others. One of the most powerful ways to heal yourself, get stress relief, and feel joy is to give, give, give. Whether you choose to lend an ear to a friend in need or open the door for someone, give a gift every day!

As you can see, stress relief is about so much more than just working out. Get out there and Live as Loud as you can!!!

Image: Helga Weber

Is the economy or other stress distracting you from your health? I have found that in times of stress, physical exertion is one of the most important and effective actions we can take. Exercise releases feel-good hormones such as endorphins and adrenaline, and reduces stress hormone levels.

Yet our natural reaction to stress seems to be to remove things from our day that feel superfluous and time-consuming. Often that includes the time we spend on our health. We sacrifice that time, and ourselves, to other more “important” causes at hand, despite the fact that the stressor might be something we don’t have any control over, anyway.

Endless studies have confirmed that the right amount of exercise relieves stress and boosts the immune system. I would like to add a few other reasons to exercise that are highlighted less often, but are great incentives to find that time every day to just move:

• Taking time for yourself can have a meditative effect. Focusing on just your physical exertion and breath gives you space and time to disconnect from your worries for that moment. It’s a golden moment given to yourself by yourself.

• In times when you feel out of control, a planned workout gives you the ability to influence your environment, thus helping you take a break from feeling helpless.

• My favorite reason to exercise is that it’s a cathartic outlet. Exercising helps us let off steam and build coping skills. The time that we give ourselves to take care of our bodies is an act of self-love.

30-Minute Stress Relief Workout
Breathing is an important aspect of stress relief workouts. Yoga teaches us that nose breathing is proven to actually calm down the nervous system. Combine it with a workout, and you will experience several benefits just by moving and breathing! Try this workout where all elements are involved: high and low heart rate intervals, stability and mobility exercises, and a focus on nose breathing.

In 5-minute intervals, alternate the following moves:

1. Do plié squats with arms reaching overhead. When you come up, straighten legs to standing, gaze upward, and bring arms down alongside the body.

2. Dance, jump, skip, hop, jump rope, step up and down on a curb, or do jumping jacks.

3. Slowly do a sequence of sun salutations or upward and downward facing dog.

4. Dance, jump, skip, hop, jump rope, step up and down on a curb, or do jumping jacks.

5. Do a quick sequence of ab work: standing twists on a ball if available, or lying on the floor.

6. Do lying down stretches on the floor or, if you have a foam roller available, use the last 5 minutes to roll out leg and back muscles.

Image: stuartpilbrow

• Inhale through your nose and count slowly to 4.

• Try to fill your lungs from the lowest part to the highest part, pushing out your abdomen…

• … then your lower ribs, then your chest as your body fills with air.

• Hold your breath for 3 seconds.

• Exhale, and try to let air out as you let it in – from the lowest to the highest parts of your lungs.

Repeat for 5 to 10 minutes.

If you become lightheaded at any point, alternate 6 regular breaths with 6 deep breaths.

Exercise adapted from the Hendricks Institute.

Make it a habit to always begin your training, meditation, or breathing exercise with one or two minutes visualizing your desired result. Take yourself through the process step by step and motivate yourself mentally.

Find yourself in your meditation and your breathing. Try to practice breathing five to ten minutes every day, whether after work, on your lunch break, or in the car before you pick up your kids.

Stand up and breathe a few times a day. Become aware of your breathing and how it feels to get more oxygen in your body. Breathing exercises can be done in short breaks and for longer periods when you practice conscious breathing in association with meditation.

Want more tips for developing life-long health habits? Check out my e-book, Your Life Force: Training for Strength & Harmony.

Image: Mike Baird

Here’s a sneak peek … or make that a sneak LISTEN!

Exhaling Breath (right-click to download)
A breathing exercise focusing on the exhale

Want to get more each week? Click to join:

Here’s a sneak peek … or make that a sneak LISTEN!

Click to listen: Breathing Exercise For Work Break
When you just need to take 5 … and reconnect with yourself and your breath.

Want to get more each week? Click to join:

Breathe. Breathe again. Smile. Relax. Arrive where you are. Be natural. Open to effortlessness, to being rather than doing. Drop everything. Let go. Enjoy for a moment this marvelous joy of meditation.

– Lama Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha Within

Image: ePi.Longo