10 Tips to Relieve Stress and Release Tension

Stress and tension seem to be an integral part of life. Wherever you go, they go after you. There is stress and tension at work, at home and in relationships. There is stress and tension due to health problems, and stress and tension brought about by one’s financial situation.

Sometimes, you can eliminate or change the external cause, and sometimes you cannot. Often, when you cannot change the external cause, you become more stressed. If you can deal with the external cause that’s okay, but what if you cannot?

Dealing with stress and tension should begin from within you. External causes might be the trigger for them, but in most cases, your attitude and thoughts are the real causes. You may not always be able to deal with external condition, but you can certainly teach yourself to change your attitude. With a change of attitude, stress and tension would disappear, irrespective of your external conditions.


Take two different people, with different mental attitudes, and put them in the same conditions. If you observe their behavior, you will see two different attitudes. One might get stressed easily, feels exhausted, and dwells on negative thoughts, while the other person remains calm, relaxed, happy and energetic.

Two Ways to Deal with Stress and Tension

There are ways to release stress and tension after they appear, and there are ways to prevent them from being created. There are certain things you can do when you experience them, something like first aid, and there are methods that prevent stress and tension from coming into existence at all.
The first aid method consists of certain small things that reduce the stress and tension, while the other method requires inner work, over a period of time. The second method brings more permanent results, resulting in a changed attitude, changed perspective of life and a state of inner peace. This second approach has been dealt extensively and in-depth, in my book Peace of Mind in Daily Life.
The following tips can help you to relieve stress and release tension, or at least alleviate them.

10 Tips to Relieve Stress and Release Tension

1. Pay attention to your body and to your muscles. Are they contracted and tense? Release the tension. Pay special attention to your face and scalp, and if you feel that they are tense, release the tension. If after a few seconds the tension returns, relax them again, until the tension disappears.
2. When feeling stressed or tense, stand up, with you head and back straight, and take a few deep, slow breaths.
3. Drinking a cup of water helps too. If you feel stressed or tense before going to sleep at night, a glass of milk, warm or cold can make you feel more relaxed.
4. Think about the thoughts that are causing you the stress and tension. In many cases, it is possible that you have created a mountain in your mind that does not exist in reality. Thinking positively about the situation can you bring new ideas for solving it, and therefore, eliminate the stress.
5. If the stress is caused by other people, talk to them about it. Don’t bottle it up. Sometimes, people don’t know what they are causing you, and a little relaxed conversation can do wonders.
6. Find causes to laugh. Watch a comedy on TV, or read something funny.
7. Leave everything that you are doing at the moment, and take a walk outside.
8. Go to swim or to the gym. In fact, if you train yourself regularly, your stress level will become lower.
9. Take it easy. Don’t pile up tasks, chores and goals. If you plan too many things to do you will probably feel stressed. Make a plan, but focus on one thing at a time.
10. This tip, though simple, might not be easy, but it is extremely useful. Try to look with a detached point of view at the situation that is causing you stress. It is like taking a step back in your mind, and looking at the situation, and at your thoughts and feelings, as if from the outside, as if they have nothing to do with you and do not belong to you. This might be a little difficult, since in a stressed situation it is not so easy to stay detached. You will have to remind yourself over and again, to remember this tip. If you are able to develop a little degree of emotional detachment, you will have more inner peace.

 

How to Relieve Constipation Quickly and Naturally

Constipation is a symptom of decreased frequency in bowel movements, usually because it contains less water than normal. This guide explains how one can relieve constipation fairly rapidly, using natural means and items available almost universally.  

Steps

1. Squat in a natural position to ease excretion. Prop your feet on a child's step stool and raise your knees when you sit on a toilet.^[2]
   
   
   
   
   
2. Drink two to four extra 8oz glasses of warm water when you feel constipated. ^[3] If you've had constipation over several days, drink 10-20 ounces of pure water the first thing each morning. ^[4]
   
   
   
   • In general, you should be drinking at least 10 glasses of warm water daily. Water is one of the best liquids that wash waste and toxins of our the body.^[5] Other drinks, such as juice and soda, cannot compare regardless of how healthy or natural they are, because they tend to contain excessive sugar that could actually exacerbate constipation.
3. Eat fruits, vegetables and other high fiber foods to increase your amount of fiber intake. Aim for at least 24 to 38 grams of fiber a day.^[6] Constipation results from overconsumption of fats, refined sugar, and dairy in comparison to fiber from whole grains, bran, fruits and vegetables. ^[7]
   
   
   
   • Consider taking a fiber supplement even if you think you are able to get that much fiber from your daily meals.
   • Dietary fiber cannot be digested by enzymes in the human body, so it's not absorbed into the bloodstream. Fiber then remains in the colon, where it absorbs water and softens the stool.^[8]
4. Eat prunes and/or drink two glasses of prune juice. Prunes are especially high in fiber and contain sorbitol, a stool-loosening sugar that naturally helps relieve constipation. Sorbitol is a mild colonic stimulant that helps reduce transit time of stool and thus decrease the risk of constipation. ^[9] If you don't like the wrinkly texture or unique taste of prunes, prune juice may be a more palatable alternative.
   
   
   
   • Note that prunes have 14.7g of sorbitol per 100g, whereas prune juice has 6.1g per 100g. You will have to drink more prune juice to achieve the same health benefits because the prunes are processed, and you will have to take in additional sugars.
5. If possible, avoid sitting down for 10 minutes and keep your body moving. Moderate to rigorous physical exercise is preferred, but even taking a low-key 30-minute walk will help your body promote healthy bowel movements.
   
   
   
   
   

Tips

• If you don't have any health risks associated with sodium or other salts, you may wish to substitute water for liquid with electrolytes added, such as an athletic drink.
• Adding a small amount of salt to each glass (less than 1/2 teaspoon) may also help.
• The time between drinking the last glass and needing to use the bathroom will vary. Be patient, and follow the signals of your body.

Warnings

• You may have a sudden need to urinate frequently, due to the increased water intake. Do not use this method if you need to drive or will otherwise not be near bathroom facilities for at least several hours.
• Do not use this method in conjunction with laxatives; try one or the other, but not both at the same time.
• Never strain or forcibly move bowels for any reason! Doing so may embed patterns of stress in your pelvic floor, which may appear as unexplained symptoms, and may take years to resolve. It can also lead to hemorrhoids.