How to Reduce Your Stress Now and in the Long Term

Here are 2 key ways to manage your stress: eliminate stressors and use tactics to bring us back to healthier baseline.

Let's take five minutes to see this week in a new light. By Wendy Rose Gould & Amy Morin, LCSW, Editor-in-Chief Top of Mind Effective Strategies for Reducing Stress Now and Later Stress is your body's natural coping response and is very useful in situations where we need to think and act quickly. However, chronic stress levels can take a toll on both our physical body and mental health.   Managing stress is accomplished in two key ways: by eliminating stressors and by using tactics that help bring us back to a healthier baseline. Ahead, we cover effective strategies to reduce stress both immediately and over the long term.  It's important to have a variety of stress relief tools at your disposal [so] you'll be able to pick a strategy that works best for your current circumstances." — ELIZABETH SCOTT, PHD  5 Ways to Minimize Stress Over the Long Term One of the best things we can do for our well-being is reduce our overall stress levels. This is done through ongoing self-care and mindful strategies. Any of these proven techniques are an excellent place to start:  Minimize Stressors: Identify commitments, relationships, and habits that often breed stress in your life. When possible, minimize these stressors by saying 'no' more often, reducing interactions, creating boundaries, and avoiding known triggers. Exercise: Exercise decreases sensitivity to the body's reaction to anxiety. It also can help enhance mood, improve energy levels, and promote quality sleep. Healthy Diet: You don't need to eat "clean" 24/7, but prioritizing healthy, nourishing foods can help you feel better and even provide you with more energy. Think about ways to fuel your body as opposed to just eliminating hunger.  Practice Gratitude: Giving thanks for the small and big things around us promotes positive emotions and makes us more optimistic. When we feel deep gratitude, our bodies produce all sorts of wonderful chemicals. Meditation: There's a reason meditation is recommended so frequently. This stress-relieving technique re-trains your brain and puts you in control of your mind and body. Methods to Combat Stress in the Moment   Sometimes, stress sneaks up on us and we need to find instant relief. Here are strategies that help reduce stress in the moment: Breathwork: Deep breathing brings more oxygen into your bloodstream while helping you redirect focus away from what's creating stress. Try one of these eight breathing techniques. Hugging: Embracing someone releases oxytocin (the "happy hormone") into your system, which can make you feel better instantly. Stretching: When we're stressed, muscle tension accrues and causes us to feel tight and on edge. Stretching can release this tension. Five to 10 minutes of simple yoga can make a big difference in how you feel. Music: Music positively impacts our mind and body—there's even a growing field dedicated to music therapy. Listen to music on your morning commute, over lunch, or while you're working on tasks.  On the Bright Side Ways to Stay Positive This Week Ways to Nurture Your Mind and Body  Today, take 10 minutes to assess your current task load and mental well-being. What's causing the most stress in your world, and how can you reduce it over the next week? What are some ways you can practice more kindness to yourself and eliminate stress over the long run?  Journaling is a stress-relieving technique that channels your thoughts and emotions and refocuses your mind. It can also be a space where you practice gratitude. Papier's Constellation Notebook is a beautiful option you'll look forward to scribbling in. Sometimes, speaking with a therapist is the best approach for tackling chronic stress. Advekit is a free platform that helps you find a therapist via a unique matching algorithm that considers availability, insurance, and type of therapy.   Here are a variety of interesting and useful stress relief products you can buy, recommended by the Verywell Mind editors. This Week on The Verywell Mind Podcast We're off for the holiday tomorrow, but it's a great chance to catch up on any episodes of The Verywell Mind Podcast you may have missed. A couple recent favorites are the episode with "This Is Us" star Chrissy Metz about healing her childhood wounds, or the episode with Eric Barker about how to make (and keep) good friends.   Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / RSS Read These Next Quiz: Do You Stress and Worry Too Much? READ NOW What Is Radical Acceptance? READ NOW What Stress Management Techniques Are Right for You? READ NOW Spread the Light Share the newsletter with someone you know to make their day a little brighter. SHARE We're open to suggestions! 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