Learning a language, practicing more sports, eating better or quitting smoking are just some of the resolutions that are repeated every new year. However, this time we propose A different one: living with less stress.
The stress response triggers cortisol, sending hormones out of control, affecting our heartbeat, speeding up breathing and causing other negative health effects, even hindering us from accomplishing our goals. It becomes
we tell you What activities can you easily incorporate so that stress is not a problem?
Restorative Yoga: 5 Very Restful Asanas
There are many types of yoga for every taste and age. In particular, restorative yoga proposes a series of very relaxing postures that help eliminate tension from the body and improve relaxation, among other benefits.
try these 5 asanas at the end of the day or whenever you feel like,
1. Uttanasana, It is also known as Pinsar Asana and involves touching the ground with the hands, keeping the body relaxed. If you are not comfortable, you can bend your knees.
2. Tarasana, It is similar to the butterfly pose, with the difference being that in Tarasana the feet are placed at a greater distance from the body. To perform this pose, sit on the floor, join your legs in the middle, relax your back and stretch your body.
3. Supta Baddha Konasana, This goddess pose seeks to relax the chest and shoulders. Before doing this, keep some cushions on the floor. Then, lie on top of them, unbend your arms, connect the soles of your feet and relax your hips.
4. Viparita Karni en la pared. This position is ideal for people who sit for long periods of time, as it allows you to stretch and relax your legs, and also improves circulation. All you have to do is lie on the floor, get your butt as close to the wall as possible, and place your feet on it as if it were a support point. If you need to elevate your hips a bit, you can place a pillow.
5. Balasana, This last asana helps in releasing tension. To do this, you have to rest your knees on the ground, relax your back down and bring your arms forward while keeping your eyes on the ground.
listen to the music you love most
Your favorite song plays and you feel a lot of emotions and even memories. This happens because music has a very positive effect on the mental level. In fact, When you listen to a song you like, it helps reduce anxietyDecreased levels of cortisol, which is a hormone that is increased by stress.
uniformly, Music activates neural communication, elasticity and plasticity of the brain, In turn, this improves attention and memory. An example of the positive effects of music is the so-called music therapy, indicated for people with Alzheimer’s or other mental illnesses that use music as the main element.
Other benefits of listening to music are that it helps in reducing pain and blood pressure. With regard to the latter, the American Society of Hypertension observed that half an hour a day of classical music can significantly reduce high blood pressure.
For all these reasons, we encourage you to enjoy a list of your favorite songs for a while each day. also You can start the day with nature or similar relaxing sounds which allows you to remove concerns; And to end the day, you can put back the songs that inspire peace.,
manage time
Do you end the day with the feeling that you don’t have time for anything? This can become a stress trigger. there is a way to avoid Time Management which helps us to organize our day to day more efficiently.
As they explain to us from Quirónprevención: “We must bear in mind that it is not a matter of time, but of priorities.” So, instead of saying that you don’t have time to go to the gym or read a book, you should change the sentence and say “Going to the gym and taking care of myself are not my priorities right now.” Health”, because that’s what’s happening. This will allow you to become aware of your priorities and the time you spend on them, which may prompt changes in your daily schedule if necessary.
To achieve better time management, our experts recommend us Take the matrix propounded by Eisenhower as a model, which is still in use today. This involves drawing out four quadrants and writing down all the daily tasks in each according to their importance and urgency:
- Quadrant 1. They are urgent and important tasks What you have to do immediately, like, for example, buy a new refrigerator because your refrigerator broke down.
- Quadrant 2. Write down the tasks that are important but you have more time To accomplish them, such as creating a meeting scheduled for two weeks from now. “We must devote as much time as possible to these tasks, otherwise, they will become important and urgent tasks, and therefore, we will keep them running”, warns our experts.
- Quadrant 3. write down urgent but less important tasksWhich you should also delegate when necessary to be able to focus on the tasks of Quadrant 2.
- Quadrant 4. These are activities that are not important and not urgentThat’s why it’s important to spend as little time as possible. Like watching TV or watching mobile.
the technician explains it to us Productive people spend most of their time doing Quadrant 2 tasks, reducing the time they spend in Quadrant 1, and they don’t worry about quadrants 3 and 4. This is because the tasks in quadrant 2 help to lead an active life, anticipating and avoiding doing everything immediately. On the other hand, Quadrant 2 activities also help achieve goals, which contributes to feeling more satisfied.
you got this? Now review what you have written and think about which tasks you would like to spend more time on. Finally, plan how you are going to achieve it.
mindfulness in everyday life
consists of this philosophy Pay attention to the present and have full awareness, i.e. in the “here and now”, Accepting whatever happens. It provides many benefits such as self-control, resilience, reduced stress and anxiety, and improved concentration and memory.
To delve into the philosophy of mindfulness, you can start with the so-called stasis of consciousness or the mindful pause, defined by Dr. Ryan M. Niemik. this exercise consists of Breathe in and out for 10 to 15 seconds And ask yourself what is a strong point of your character that you can apply at that time. According to Niemik, there are at least 24 strong points in our character that can help us deal with certain moments. what is yours
On the other hand, if you want to start the day off right, wake up early to avoid the morning rush. Before you even kick your feet out of bed, take a deep breath and think about the day ahead as you connect with yourself. Enjoy the list of nature sounds and have breakfast consciously while savoring the taste of the food.
sleep better
Good rest for many is a pending issue. To avoid counting sheep in bed, you can incorporate these guidelines:
- wear comfortable clothes at homeSo you help disconnect your body and mind.
- avoid heavy dinner or unhealthy, which can delay sleep or wake you up at night.
- disconnect with relaxing music before sleeping.
- exercise for the day, In addition to many other benefits, sport has a very positive effect on night rest.
- Avoid using cell phones and other electronic devices, because they can replace the rest. It is also recommended that you disconnect them at night to avoid interruptions.