6 Surprising Ways to Instantly Lower Stress

By Marlo Sollitto, AgingCare.com contributing editor

Feeling frazzled? Balancing life with work, kids, bills and managing a household can put anyone on the verge of a meltdown.

Caring for others, you probably forget to take care of yourself. But if you’re not healthy, you not only suffer, but so do those in your care. What you do isn’t easy, and you probably don’t have much time in your day for yourself, but reducing stress levels whenever possible is crucial to good health and good state of mind. So take a deep breath, and read on. Here are some surprisingly simple stress busters.

1. Laugh
Laughing for one minute is the equivalent to 15 minutes on an exercise bike or 10 minutes on a rowing machine. Laughter can reduce stress hormones, boost your immune system and lower your blood pressure. So pop in an old Seinfeld video, read your favorite comic strip, turn on Comedy Central, call a friend who makes you laugh or pull out old photos albums. Go ahead: laugh out loud!

6 Secret At-Home Stress Relievers

2. Embrace routine tasks
Instead of rushing through the day on auto pilot, elicit the relaxation response while you’re doing simple household tasks, like folding laundry or washing dishes. They may seem tedious and tiresome, but the repetitive quality of activities like these can actually have a soothing effect by short-circuiting stressful thought patterns. The key is to focus your attention on a particular aspect of what you’re doing, such as putting a crease in your pants as you iron them, which will keep your mind from drifting to more stressful thoughts. Focusing on relaxation while doing chores doesn’t take any longer, but it does take away from stress.

6 Surprising Ways to Instantly Lower Stress originally appeared on AgingCare.com

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Jane W.

9:20PM PDT on Apr 22, 2012

thnx for this - I'm going to try

send a green star

LMj S.

10:37AM PDT on Mar 27, 2012

good ideas, thank you.

Maria F.

9:41AM PDT on Mar 15, 2012

I will try.....LOL
tks so much.

aj E.

6:39AM PDT on Mar 14, 2012

thanks

Teresa C.

10:13PM PDT on Mar 13, 2012

Again, I've tried a few of these ideas, with good results.
Another good article--thank you.

jessica w.

2:55PM PST on Dec 5, 2011

Thanks

Betty C.

8:36AM PDT on Oct 2, 2011

Great tips to implament in my crazy days.

Kathy P.

5:44PM PDT on Sep 29, 2011

Our brains, like the rest of our bodies, wants to be in balance. Compensatory hormones come into play when we get anxious.

Ever noticed the longer you expose yourself to a stressful situation, it can get easier to bear? If you have, those compensatory hormones are working.

Aude L.

10:40AM PDT on Sep 11, 2011

like those simple tips ;)

Fantina F.

10:21AM PDT on Sep 4, 2011

well written article that has the ring of truth