Nowadays, most people live busy lives, so they deal with life’s inevitable challenges through quick fight or flight responses. They either drink huge amounts of coffee to stay awake, skip breaks to get things done, or eat fast food during the busiest hours. It’s always on the now-or-never approach.
Sure, this isn’t entirely bad. Pushing through the obstacles shows your physical and mental strength, which comes in handy when accomplishing your daily duties. However, leaning on to such methods all the time will only turn into a disadvantage. Eventually, you will find your mind and body saying no—that’s when you start building up too much stress.
Stress has a significant impact on your daily life. It triggers an exhausted and disorganized mind, resulting in reduced productivity and illnesses like heart disease, stomach ulcers, and stroke. But you don’t have to continue living life this way! Stress is inevitable, but you can handle it with a calm start.
How exactly are you going to do that? This stress management guide will discuss the best ways to calm yourself down so that stress doesn’t get out of hand.
What Stress Does to Your Body
Stress can hone our memory, performance, and awareness skills. In addition, it can be very beneficial when we face various difficult events because we get accustomed to dealing with them. That being said, it will only work in that manner when stress is moderate and short-lived.
But when stress becomes constant and you can’t deal with it the right way, it can gradually destroy your mental and physical health. Here are some concerning effects of stress on your health.
Physical Symptoms
Watch how your body feels and reacts whenever you feel stressed. If you feel one or more of the following, you might need to evaluate your stress levels and start managing them.
- Nervous system: social withdrawal, trouble sleeping, weak brain activities, and learning and memory problems
- Respiratory system: breathing problems, lung disease (e.g., emphysema), panic attacks, and hyperventilation
- Cardiovascular system: high blood pressure (may lead to stroke or heart attack)
- Digestive system: diarrhea, constipation, stomachache, vomiting, acid reflux, heartburn, and a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes
- Muscular system: headache, tight and sore muscles, back pain, and shoulder pain
- Reproductive system: decreased sexual desire, risk of infection on male organs (e.g., prostate and testes), and irregular menstruation cycles
- Immune system: extended recovery period and viral infections such as common colds and flu.
Mental and Emotional Symptoms
Stress triggers anxiety and other mental and emotional issues that can eventually lead to mental health problems like depression. Watch out for the following symptoms and address them as soon as possible.
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Depression
- Lack of focus and awareness
- Panic attacks
- Anger management issues
- Lack of motivation
- Restlessness
- Feeling overwhelmed
5 Tips to Keep It Cool: The Different Ways on How to Calm Yourself and Manage Stress
Some people deal with stress by overeating, smoking, drinking, drug abuse, or gambling. Naturally, those are unhealthy habits you should avoid at all costs. Experts suggest that nurturing a calm and healthy mind is an effective way to manage stress.
Stress management is not always easy to accomplish, but it’s not impossible either! Here are five calming techniques you can try out, along with some healthy food and drink options to incorporate into your regular meals.
Tip #1: Master the Art of Breathing
Breathing is so natural that it goes unnoticed and taken for granted most of the time. Little did we know, the way we breathe makes a big difference in our stress levels. So focus on how you breathe and change the way through proper techniques.
The simplest breathing exercise you can try is breathing in and holding it for a few seconds, then letting it out twice as long when you hold it in. This slows down your breathing pace and reduces your blood pressure and heart rate.
Tip #2: Relax Your Tense Muscles
When stress strikes, we clench our jaw and the shoulders and neck muscles tighten. Consequently, it causes aching in different body parts, especially around your neck, upper shoulders, and back. You can get rid of this pain through muscle exercises, such as progressive muscle relaxation.
This method involves tensing and relaxing each group of muscles. Your muscles tense as you breathe in and then relax as you breathe out. This muscle exercise helps reduce tension and anxiety, nailing both a physical and mental stress-related problem.
Tip #3: Listen to Soothing Tunes
When experiencing prolonged stress, your heart rate and breathing pace run unhealthily fast. Hence, you need something that will help you slow it down. This is where soothing music comes in handy. What’s that one song that always gives you a very relaxing vibe?
Relaxing sounds help release feel-good brain chemicals. As a result, your breathing and heart rate slows down, and your focus, mood, memory, and sleep are also improved. There’s nothing better than contemplating situations with a calm mind. Moreover, soothing tunes don’t always have to be a song! It can be the faint sound of light rain, the rustling of leaves, or someone’s gentle voice.
Tip #4: Get Rid of the Clutter
You might think of cleaning as an exhausting chore, which isn’t really wrong. But when done right, it can also help relax and reduce your stress. Why? The mess in your space increases your stress levels.
So spend some of your time cleaning and organizing your space to build an environment that nurtures relaxation. Some people even say that cleaning their space feels like they’re also cleaning their minds. Having good control of your environment can help you relax and focus better, especially in tough times.
Tip #5: Consume Healthy Food and Drinks
A stress-free lifestyle requires a healthy body, which means you need to take in the right nutrients. Healthy meals are also tried-and-true secrets to longevity. Some of the best stress management food are dark chocolate, salmon, dairy products, and citrus fruits. As much as possible, include them into your daily menu.
What to drink to calm nerves? Aside from our food suggestions, there are relaxing drinks such as water, chamomile tea, warm milk, banana smoothie, and any other caffeine- and alcohol-free drinks. They’re the best drinks for reducing anxiety and nurturing a healthier mind.
Karviva Highlights: Healthy Ingredients, Drinks, and Recipes
We hope this guide gives you the right tools and methods to start living a calm life. At Karviva, we’re all about promoting healthy living through our delicious and nutritious wellness food and drink recipes. Check out our highlights below!
Health Ingredient Highlight: Adaptogens
Today’s health ingredient highlight for stress management is adaptogens. They’re found in two Karviva Unwined ingredients: mulberry and Schisandra.
What are adaptogens? Adaptogens are natural substances of herbal medicines known to help the human body adapt and handle stress.
What do adaptogens do? The body goes through a three-phase response when dealing with stress called general adaptations syndrome. It consists of the (1) alarm, (2) resistance, and (3) exhaustion phase. With adaptogens involved, you can stay in the resistance stage longer and alleviate stress levels.
Healthy Drink Highlight: Unwind With Karviva Unwined
Karviva Unwined is an alcohol-free replacement drink that contains antioxidants and adaptogens to help you deal with stress and boost your immunity. If you’re looking for an elegant drink to pair with your fancy meals, this non-alcoholic wine is a perfect and healthy choice for you.
This burgundy-colored drink comprises a healthy superfood powerhouse: mulberry, Schisandra, dark cherry, Aronia berry, and pear. Additionally, it’s gluten-free, non-GMO, has zero sweeteners, and contains only 80 calories per bottle.
Some people refuse healthy drinks because of their undesirable taste. However, our wellness drink tastes great and gives your body the benefits it needs to manage stress better. What more can you ask for?
Healthy Food Highlight: Start Fresh With Karviva’s Strawberry Basil Sorbet Recipe
Here’s a vibrant, refreshing, and tasty snack that supports your stress management project! To nurture a calm mind and build a stress-free lifestyle, try making our strawberry basil sorbet. It features Karviva’s Detox Whole Plant Juice Drink. Here’s how to get started:
Total Prep Duration: 3 hrs 10 min
Serving Capacity: 4-6 servings
Ingredients You Need:
- Two bottles of Karviva Detox
- 1 cup of fresh and roughly-chopped strawberries
- 1 packed cup of fresh basil leaves
- Some fresh basil leaves for garnish
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Pour the Detox drink into an ice tray.
- Freeze for three hours (minimum) until it turns into solid ice cubes.
- Once frozen, put all ingredients in a high-speed blender and process them.
- Scoop to serve and consume immediately. Enjoy!
Final Thoughts
Stress can be difficult to manage, but with this guide, you’ll be able to calm yourself down and relax. If you don’t know how to calm your mind and focus, there are many ways and tools that can help you deal with stress in calmer ways. Sometimes, it can be as simple as deep, slow breathing, practicing meditation, and consuming healthy food and beverages.
When stress gets the best of you, consider adding Karviva Unwined into your diet for relief. Our range of whole plant wellness drinks and healthy recipes are tasty replacements for your unhealthy meal plans. We make these products to help you enjoy the journey to a healthy lifestyle.
Ready to become as calm as a millpond? Begin your stress-free journey with Karviva! You may find a Karviva store near you for easy access to our products or shop from our online store for convenience.
