According to an OpinionWay * survey, one in two French people consider themselves to be quite stressed, even very stressed, and women are the most affected by stress (60%). Are you? Are you looking for tips and advice to relax and put things into perspective? Discover our special relaxation program.
Stress is a normal reaction: if we stress, it is so that we can react "properly" and "on time" to a threat or danger. Thus, our body naturally produces cortisol – the stress hormone – so that we maintain a constant state of alertness and alertness, while this hormonal level rises when we face real danger.
However, if stress is useful in our daily lives – since it is protective, it can be harmful or even pathogenic when it reaches its peaks, generates fatigue, anxiety, moral exhaustion, or even health concerns.
To fight against an excess of stress and keep only “good stress”, it is therefore necessary to sympathize with the term “relaxation”. The mental relaxation and the body relaxation allow us to feel more peaceful, more peaceful, and by extension happier.
Shall we go (fingers in the nose)? Our tips, exercises and techniques to relax.
Video> These exercises in case of stress at the office:
<! –
->
I'm learning to deal with my thoughts
When we are under stress, we have difficulty unplugging our mind. Our thoughts assail us and go in all directions. Some devalue us (you suck, you'll never get there), others anticipate the future (and the worst) by going through a bunch of possible scenarios, still others relate a past event and exhaust us. However, it is difficult to really relax when our brain is agitated like this.
So the preliminary step to any relaxation time is negotiating with one's thoughts. But still ? Take a look: negotiating with their thoughts is like telling them that, for now, we are putting them aside, but promising them that we will come back. Why ? Because it is very difficult to chase thoughts away, and the more we try to do so, the more they impose themselves. Notifying them of "our imminent return" allows them to relax for five minutes (and five minutes is a huge amount) and truly let go.
In short, when stress is a part of us and of our daily lives, it is easier to deviate from it at times than to resolve to stop thinking.
I take five minutes (here and there) and cut myself off from everything
No matter how stressed we are and how urgently we feel to relax, we can isolate ourselves for a few minutes each day by cutting ourselves off from … everything. For this, we can choose a “corner” of the house – the “corners” are reassuring, they act as a refuge, a hut, and offer us a moment of withdrawal. If we are at the office, the “little corners” can accommodate us.
Once installed, you turn off your phone. During these five minutes (or ten minutes or two hours) that we allow ourselves, we do what we want: we look at the ceiling, we listen to comforting music, we close our eyes like a micro-nap … This distance, even fast, has the merit of making us take the necessary distance and therefore … relax.
See as well :
>>> How can you REALLY meditate?
>>> 8 tips to calm your stress and anxiety quickly
I'm breathing for real
We know how to breathe and for good reason, we breathe from morning to evening and from evening to morning. But what about mindful belly breathing? Breathing "really" soothes your head and body, what to do with it! How do we do ? We settle down comfortably, we take a deep breath through our nose, letting our stomach and then our chest rise, we contain the air for a handful of seconds, then we breathe out very slowly – as if we were blowing into a straw, while our thorax and then our belly deflate. We repeat it five times for a guaranteed relaxed effect! An accessible exercise that anchors and calms us, and can even help us fall asleep when practiced before sleep.
I practice contraction – relaxation
Once you have mastered belly breathing, you can try an exercise often discussed in sophrology: contraction – relaxation. To practice this exercise, nothing could be simpler: you lie down, take a breath then, while you keep the air in your lungs for a moment, you tense your whole body, with your fists in your face, from the buttocks to the soles of the feet. Three seconds later, we relax by becoming aware of the points of contact of our body with the mattress, and we focus on the feeling of heaviness and relaxation that invades us. By voluntarily flirting with the state of contraction, we set a benchmark that allows us to become aware, on the other hand, of the desired state of relaxation. At the same time, the tensions subside, our muscles relax and our minds catch their breath. You can use this method daily and repeat it three times in a row.
I hardly get up earlier
To stop running everywhere, we try to get up earlier. No need to get into Miracle Morning and establish a routine by five in the morning. Just try to set your alarm clock ten minutes earlier. These ten minutes are precious because they invite us to "take the time", to stop drinking our coffee in a hurry and not to look at the time every five seconds. And the fun part of playing the game is because starting the day calmly allows you to continue the day calmly. In the morning, he is a bit of the "la" of our daily life, he sets the tone, so let's take care of him to take care of ourselves.
See as well :
>>> Miracle morning: getting up earlier brings many benefits, the proof!
I try a meditative activity (walking, cooking, puzzle …)
To allow yourself a moment of relaxation, we dream of meditating. But meditation is like yoga, it is not always easy. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we fail to enter into a meditative state conducive to relaxation. Do not panic ! There is another version of meditation, or accessible activities that offer to meditate without noticing it, we have called walking, cooking or even the puzzle. Because when we cook, walk or do a puzzle, our brain focuses on the task at hand and our thoughts start to wander. Little by little, we act without being aware of our actions and we flirt with the present moment. This is how we regenerate! So forget the leggings, the rug, the suit, and cut tomatoes!
Discover our selection of puzzles for adults!
See also in video
>>>> These creative anti-stress activities:
<! –
->
I choose not to care
What if our new mantra was just "I don't care"? A slightly vulgar mantra on the edges which, however, is capable of changing our lives and of relaxing us thoroughly! Thanks to this little phrase of nothing at all, you calm your mind as if by magic. Are you stressed by an interview? Looping due to conflict? Disappointed by a loved one or anxious because the coming week is going to be intense? Regardless, tell yourself it's okay and we don't care. There you go, who cares, I don't care, the Earth is not going to stop spinning, I can just wallow on the couch for the evening and think of myself. For the rest, we'll see later! Try !
I take the self-massage reflex
It’s proven: a good massage relaxes. But since you can't afford massages every fourth morning, you might as well have a massage yourself. To do this, we focus on the shoulders and back of the neck, two areas of the body that build up tension. Cross your arms and place your right hand on your left shoulder and vice versa, then massage yourself. In addition to relaxing you, this massage technique circulates energy! Next, think about your face and massage your temples with your fingertips. Also run your fingers over your eyebrows, as if you wanted to style them. Overall, don't hesitate to rub an oil over your face with a long massage – until it fully penetrates your skin – to relax the facial muscles. Before sleeping, this habit is very relaxing. In order for her to play sleeping pills, remember to close her eyes during the massage.
To go further in the self-massage technique, it's here.
I inject laughter into my life
A good laugh is relaxing. We need it to let go of our tensions, to clear our heads and to put things into perspective: life is more fun when you laugh, we have to admit it. But how can you have fun every day when you don't share your apartment with three clowns? We have several options: we can get closer to our humorous friends, run to shows or even watch them on TV or on social media. And at the same time, we don't forget the comedies and series that can trigger huge laughs in us. And to make it work, we allow ourselves a moment of laughter every day, like a little ritual. In the long run, you will even learn to laugh at yourself and your stress, and that is great for your mental health!
See as well :
>>> The benefits of laughter, in detail
I define a lucky picture
To find relaxation when nothing is going right, don't hesitate to call up a picture – or pictures – that make you feel good. To do this, define it (or them) beforehand. Think of a landscape, a travel scenery, a pleasant memory, a body of water as calm as you are not, and mentally photograph what you see. You can also choose images that don't "exist" but that make you dream. Once your images are in the (mental) box, it remains to summon them in times of stress and anxiety. Like the "corner" which acts as a refuge, soothing mental images are real comforters capable of calming tensions in no time, since they throw us elsewhere, in our bubble.
I take height
We easily advise a stressed individual to "take a step back" to gain relaxation. Why not. But do better than that: take to the skies! Imagine your stress and negative thoughts at your feet and straighten yourself up by imagining that a thread runs from the top of your head to the sky. Tell yourself that you are strong, capable, and more talented than you think. This "height" method allows you to put your worries into perspective (they are much smaller than us and do not know who they are dealing with!) And, at the same time, to boost your self-confidence. Before heading to work or taking on the outdoors, don't hesitate to take a few minutes to sit up straight, straighten your chin, and tell yourself that you are a good person.
I keep a secret list
When you need to relax frequently, it's good to have a set of relaxation ideas on hand to draw from. Only, for this set of ideas to be useful to us, it must be concrete! So neither one nor two, we grab a notebook or a pretty sheet, and we write down all our favorite activities, or all the activities that we know can relax us. You can draw from this list (do a puzzle, go out for a walk, cook, breathe…) but also in yourself, according to your character and your experiences. Thus, we will find on our list "take a bath", "play sports", "call a friend", "play Scrabble", "organize a weekend", "watch real estate ads to dream" … On request , we reread the list and we move towards the relaxation activity that attracts us right now. And there is plenty to do!
I take action if necessary
Sometimes we get stressed because "nothing is moving forward", or because a hassle overwhelms us over time. What if the solution to unwinding was in action? What if taking a bath or breathing wasn't enough to relax? The solution may lie elsewhere, in other words in the concrete resolution of our problem. Maybe we need to call this friend to clear things up? Looking for a new job? Write that book you dream of writing? The passage to action can be reassuring, because thanks to it, thanks to our initiatives, we can move away from our stress and feel much better in our sneakers since more in line with our aspirations. And that is the real secret of relaxation: feeling in the right place at the right time, aligned with yourself.