For most of us, stress and anxiety are a daily occurrence. Whether you are fretting about being late for work or you are nervous about an upcoming performance, you know full well how awful it feels to have stress sitting on your shoulders. Consistent anxiety in your life can quickly become a health problem, spurning on frequent illness and promoting disease. Let’s take a look at the top 4 easiest ways to reduce your stress levels for a better life.

3. Be an Artist

The thing you used to do as a kid is making a comeback in a big way. Adult coloring books are becoming all the rage and with a few great reasons. First, embracing that inner kid and coloring helps to spurn on your creative side. Second, it offers an excellent way to connect with your kids. Lastly, and most importantly, coloring is a highly effective stress reducer.

A study published in Psycho-Oncology reviewed the response of cancer patients to mindfulness art-based therapy. The response was incredible. Patients who had been suffering from high levels of stress and anxiety reported “a significant decrease in symptoms of distress and significant improvements in key aspects of health-related quality of life.”

2. Exercise

You know exercise is great for your physical body but did you know that it also positively impacts your mental health as well? Exercise has been shown in countless studies to improve your mental wellbeing by reducing stress, decreasing fatigue, boosting focus and concentration, and supporting overall brain function.

If you’re feeling anxious or stressed, try some of the following exercise-based suggestions:

• Go for a 30-minute walk outside
• Drop in a yoga class
• Perform a weight training session
• Ride your bike around your neighborhood or take it to a local park

1. Meditate

One of the most effective (if not THE most effective) way to control stress levels is through meditation. Mindfulness practice has been getting a lot of attention in the past two decades. Many studies have been released supporting the benefits of meditation on stress and anxiety.

Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

• Download a free guided meditation app
• Dedicate just 5 minutes a day for the first few weeks
• YouTube also has a collection of great meditation videos
• Consider taking a mindfulness yoga class to combine the benefits from exercise and meditation!

Tell Us What You Think!

Have these stress reducers worked for you?

What do you do to relieve stress?

Let us know your tips and tricks in the comments section below!

Monti DA, Peterson C, Kunkel EJ, Hauck WW, Pequignot E, Rhodes L, Brainard GC. A randomized, controlled trial of mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) for women with cancer. Psychooncology. 2006 May;15(5):363-73.

Elizabeth Anderson and Geetha Shivakumar. Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Anxiety. Front Psychiatry. 2013; 4: 27.

Fadel Zeidan, Katherine T. Martucci, Robert A. Kraft, John G. McHaffie, and Robert C. Coghill Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation-related anxiety relief. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014 9: 751-759.