Natural Ways to Relieve Stress

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of stress in your life, then it might be time for you 
to take a step back and look at your lifestyle. In many cases, finding remedies for stress 
is about how you live your life.

In the following sections, you will learn that things like diet, exercise, daily habits, herbs, 
and essential oils can all be effective at relieving your stress naturally. Keep reading if 
you want to find out how you can get rid of your stress for good.

1. Eat a Healthy Diet

If you want to relieve your stress levels in a more natural way, it all starts with your 
lifestyle choices. Believe it or not, just changing you diet can make a big difference in 
how stressed out you feel. It is good to eat healthy year-round for general health and 
wellness, but if you are experiencing a higher amount of stress during the holidays, at 
least try to stick to some of the healthy eating rules listed below.

The following tips will help you eat a healthy diet that helps tremendously with your 
stress levels:

Load Up on the Nutrients

A really easy way to make sure you are eating a healthy diet that helps to reduce stress 
is not by focusing on specific food groups, but just making sure you have plenty of 
vitamins and minerals with your foods. This is going to ensure a well-balanced meal 
every time, and give you the nutrients that are important for reducing stress. Here are 
some you want to look for:

Protein – The first nutrient that is great to have with your healthy diet for stress relief is 
protein. The protein helps give you essential amino acids that are wonderful for brain 
function, therefore helping you manage your stress as well.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids – While you want to be careful to avoid saturated fats, healthy 
fats are not only acceptable, but recommended. This is when you look for omega-3 fatty 
acids, such as what you get in tuna, salmon, and many nuts including walnuts and 
almonds. These fats are great for stabilizing your mood, which can help with stress.

B Vitamins – Among the different vitamins you should have with your diet, you really 
want to make sure you have plenty of B vitamins. These provide more energy and can 
help reduce stress naturally. You will get B vitamins in foods like poultry, wild-caught 
fish, leafy greens, and eggs.

Calcium – Calcium is a great nutrient to have with your new stress-free diet, which 
helps with some of the side effects of stress, such as headaches and tense muscles. 
Get calcium from yogurt, cruciferous veggies, nuts, and beans.

Reduce Your Sugar Content

There are also some foods that can do damage to your diet, and increase stress. One 
food is a category, which is anything with added sugars. This isn’t natural sugars like 
what you find in fruits, but added and artificial sugars, such as what you find in fruit 
juice, baked goods, and sweet treats.

Be Careful with Caffeine

Unfortunately, you may need to reduce how m ouch caffeine you consume each day. 
Caffeine is not only bad for people with a lot of anxiety, but it can also add to your stress 
levels. This is because caffeine often keeps you a little too alert, keeping you from 
getting a good night’s sleep. Insomnia is a common precursor to stress, as it keeps you 
from being able to handle your stress effectively. You don’t need to give up all caffeine, 
but cut back on the coffee if you can.

2. Get Regular Exercise

For some, getting into a stable health routine can prove to be extremely challenging 
when trying to balance family, work, and life’s other obligations. If you are thinking 
ahead though, getting a regular exercise schedule down and sticking to it can be one of 
the greatest things you can do to ensure that you will live a long healthy life as each 
year passes. Here are some ways getting more exercise can help relieve your stress. 

You Lower Your Chance of Sudden Death

Of course, this sounds quite grim, but researchers have discovered that adult men lower 
their chances of death by a wide margin just from taking up some sort of exercise 
routine. This can include very easy exercises like walking, slow jogging, and swimming, 
so that says a lot about the importance of being physically active. Try to schedule time 
for your work out at least twice a week to get decent results. If you’re not accustomed to 
working out at all, start off small and gradually work your way into more intense 
workouts. You have to walk before you can ruin. 

You Will Have More Energy 

Do you ever just feel sluggish? If you live a pretty sedentary lifestyle, then this might be 
due to not having enough energy in general. You buddy will only make energy available 
when it knows that it’s possible for it to need energy reserves. That’s why people who 
are used to being inactive have a very hard time getting back in shape. The body isn’t 
used to burning fats, and instead focuses on storing them. It will take some time, and 
possibly some dietary changes, but change is just a few steps away. 

Retain Bone Density 

A major part of growing healthy bones is having your weight put on them. When you 
aren’t on your feet a lot, your bones will actually lose important nutrients because they 
aren’t needing to be strengthened on a constant basis. This is really bad, because that 
means that bones will become brittle and break more easily over time. Getting exercise 
puts a positive stress on your bones, signaling them to get those fresh supplies of 
calcium that your body has stored from healthy meals. Remember that what you eat 
today could be your bones years from now, so it’s important to make the right choices. 

3. Use Essential Oils

If you know more than 20 people, there’s a pretty good chance that someone you know 
is really into essential oils. These old-world oils have seen use for over 2000 years, and 
in that time, science has learned some of the marvelous secrets of these ancient 
concentrates that have helped to improve the lives of millions through history. Today, 
you can look up information on essential oils with ease. This next few paragraphs will be 
geared towards exploring a few reasons to use essential oils. 

They Are Anti-inflammatory

A lot of the discomfort and painful itching that people experience during skin irritations 
and rashes are just different forms of inflammation. This type of irritation can occur in a 
variety of ways, but most commonly through allergic reaction. Plants and animals 
sometimes give off oils or dander that are irritating to the skin, so the skin can 
sometimes become rough, red and raised. Diluting an essential oil like basil oil in some 
coconut oil can help to soothe the irritation so that your skin can heal more easily. Oils 
can also be ingested to calm inflammation internally as in the case of IBS and other 
diseases that cause this type of inflammation. 

They Can Help You Relax

Some people use essential oils for aromatherapy. This is when an oil is placed in an 
area where it can be amplified, like a diffuser. There, essential oils are added and 
heated so that their fragrance is distributed through the air. People nearby can breathe 
thee odors in through their nose and relax, often with music, and achieve peace. 
Lavender oil is known for its beautiful smell, so lavender is typically mixed with other oils 
to achieve new scents that people can enjoy. Studies have shown that these scents can 
improve mood, memory, and general cognitive performance during periods of use. In 
some cases, it is also used for PTSD. 

They Can Help with Digestion

Essential oils like Basil oil and Oregano oil are excellent at making the gut a more 
hospitable place for the helpful bacteria that live in the intestines and stomach. These 
microorganisms help to perform all sorts of important tasks like help you to digest food 
and send messages to other parts of the body. Oils like these can also kill harmful 
bacteria that enter the body through food and other forms of contact. When ingested, 
the oils can act as a discriminant poison for certain types of bacteria, making your gut a 
happier place. 

4. Try Healing Herbs

Herbs have been a major part of natural medicine for thousands of years. In recent 
times, new information has been released regarding the effectiveness of herbs to help 
the body. Science has finally been able to unlock many of the secrets that ancient 
health practitioners have known since early recorded history. If this is the first time that 
you’re hearing about the ability to use herbs to achieve health, then you’ll be delighted 
to read about which herbs you can try in the following section. 

Parsley

You’ve probably gotten used to seeing parsley end up on the table or getting thrown off 
the side of the plate, but parsley was once an important part of every meal. During the 
turn of the last century, parsley was added to plates as a courtesy to help people with 
digestion. It only fell out of popularity with the introduction of antacids and similar 
products, until younger people no longer knew the purpose of this green plant on their 
plate. In recent years however, pushback from consumers looking for more natural 
options have returned to natural methods used by their grandparents. 

Lavender 

Lavender is a fragrant, and versatile plant with many healing properties. Lavender is 
mild, and can be used in a variety of ways to help calm inflammation and other ill effects 
that come from sickness. Lavender is used with respiratory infections, and can help you 
to get a better night's rest. It also has a strong impact on the small intestines, and helps 
to clear up skin. When you eat it, it can also help to reduce inflammation in the bowels. 

Chamomile

This herb is another great herb for inflammation and allergies. This plant can be used in 
tea to help calm the person drinking it, and help them to get better rest. It works well to 
reduce the size of tumors in the body, and can be used to help stop muscle spasms. 
Many of the benefits are more apparent when the chamomile is used in its concentrated 
form, chamomile oil. 

Basil 

Basil oil is well known for being anti-inflammatory, as well as a powerful antifungal. This 
is important for keeping the body's natural balance of gut flora. If the other bacteria 
become too numerous, serious illnesses can develop, and cause a lot of pain and 
discomfort. Basil oil kills dangerous bacterial colonies and leaves the good bacteria that 
help the body to function. 

5. Journal for Stress Relief

If you’ve never tried sitting down and writing out your innermost thoughts, then you 
haven’t yet experienced journaling. You might be surprised to find that journaling has a 
lot of heavily documented benefits that can go a long way to making a range of personal 
improvements. Scientists have been studying the effect that journaling has on the 
human mind, and experts are saying that journaling has more benefits that are far 
reaching than you would expect. 

Have an Outlet 

What sort of expression do you do? Self-expression is a huge part of mental health. 
Nearly everyone knows what it’s like to experience some form of frustration, and having 
a way to vent this frustration is essential to how you experience happiness. Without an 
outlet, feelings can easily become buried, and if unchecked can manifest in some kind 
of emotional outburst. Therefore, having an outlet is of utmost importance. When those 
pent-up feelings are out on paper, they’re less likely to become a save-point for 
negative emotions. 

Exercise Creativity 

When you write in a journal, you have an opportunity to get to the root of how you feel 
about things around you and in your everyday life. You can easily say, “I saw a man” 
but when you write down how you felt when you saw the man, you are getting much 
closer to the root of what the man represents, and how you are affected. With every 
word, new thoughts and ideas may begin to take shape. You may find yourself looking 
to expand your vocabulary, or getting caught up in writing to the point that you write 
longer than you have planned. Get lost in it. You won’t regret that time. 

You Can Process Experiences Safely

One of the best things about writing a journal is that it allows you to have an exact fresh 
accounting of events that happen to or around you. Now that you have become 
expressive, you can use that to write down your initial reactions to stimuli. How does 
that stack against how you feel now? You may find that some of your view change over 
time. 

Can Help Organize Your Thinking
This is one of the hidden blessings of write. As you write, your mind will begin to learn 
how to prioritize certain pieces of information to make your statements more cohesive. 
This means that your thoughts and ideas will even become more enjoyable to read!


6. Mindfulness Meditation

Over the last 20 years, massive achievement has been made in the world of mental 
health regarding mindfulness. Currently, mindfulness is one of the most reliable sources 
of mental healing, with prescription drugs being the more mainstream approach on the 
spectrum. Doctors have documented measurable successes and progress in patients 
attended those types of programs. What exactly can mindfulness do for you? If you’re 
curious about the role that mindfulness plays, this next few paragraphs will be 
discussing a few of the reason why mindfulness meditation is good for you. 

Keeps Your Stress Low

Simply put, mindfulness meditation can be used to help you reduce stress. Even just the 
simple act of going through your day and recounting positive moments can help put you 
into a peaceful frame of mind. AS you sit there, relaxed and free from physical stress, 
you open yourself up to the possibility that more of your life can be that way. These 
moments to reflect on where you are, and how truly free you really are can be the 
beginning of an entirely new way of looking at the world that leads you to a more 
successful path.  

Centers You During Troubling Events

When shocking and upsetting things happen, it can be easy to get caught up in the 
chaos that follows any major event, but there’s a wisdom in working towards controlling 
your feeling and managing your stress in a more collected way. Mindfulness meditation 
can help you to center your thoughts during trying times and give you the poise that you 
need to get through those tough times. If you are trying to function while frazzled, you 
are always more likely to make mistakes and overlook important facts about the 
situation. 

It Aids Recovery 

When you mind is under a lot of stress, your physical body can end up feeling run down 
and weak. If you’ve sustained a lot of physical trauma, your mind needs to be in a 
healthier state. Studies have proven that people with a more upbeat outlook after a 
serious injury tend to heal more completely. Stress can produce toxins that make it 
more difficult for your body to heal itself. 

Improves Academic Prowess 

When your mind is calmer, it functions on a higher level. Meditation can help you to 
organize your thoughts in a more productive way, and being happier and less stressed 
out recall information with greater accuracy. That why you sometimes do better on a 
test you study very hard for, in that you remember better because you were more 
confident, not just because you read it more times. 

7. Try Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient technique that goes back thousands of years. It was used to 
handle everything from anxiety to pain. Holistic health practitioners who have been 
trained to perform acupuncture insert very thin needles at very specific points to gain 
access to desired effects, usually at the request of the person having the procedure 
done. When acupuncture is performed, you can expect there to be little or no pain 
during the sessions. Whatever the case,  
what can acupuncture really do, and what can you use it for? The next article will be 
exploring why you should try acupuncture. 

It Can Help with Insomnia 

Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night? It turns out that a large portion of people 
are restless at night. This can be caused by anything from mild discomforts that they 
experience to major distractions, but it usually boils down to stress, or a lack of 
adequate activity in a day. Going in to get acupuncture can help make sleeplessness a 
thing of the past. In fact, a lot of people fall asleep on the table because they are so 
relaxed!

Helps Manage Chronic Pain

One of the main reasons why acupuncture was created was as a way to deal with pain. 
Acupuncture interacts directly with nerves under the surface of your skin. When these 
points have needles in them, they usually cease to send or reduce the pain information 
that is sent to the brain, thus reducing the amount of pain that you experience.  

Reduce Headaches

Today, acupuncture is growing in popularity once again as a treatment for chronic pain 
that stems from migraines and fibromyalgia. People who suffer from these disorders 
know that they can be treated and gain some relief from not only pain, but from having 
to spend so much time under the influence of heavy narcotic drugs. Having an 
alternative can provide a small amount of freedom from people suffering through these 
conditions.  

Prevent Cognitive Decay

As people get older, it can be hard to continue the level of use that is needed to keep 
areas of the body in shape and functioning at a high level of performance. The same 
thing can be said of the mind. People who use their mind less as they grow older 
become vulnerable to cognitive decay. The mind gets weaker just like muscles if left 
without exercise. Getting acupuncture helps provide stimulation for the mind. 


8. Participate in Relaxing Activities

In this modern age, the daily lives of people have become ruled by technology. The 
majority of human on the planet have accepted that phones, computers, television, and 
radio fill the air with sounds and information that travels at the speed of light to be 
consumed by anyone willing to absorb it. What can a person do to find rest and 
relaxation in these noisy, busy times? If you read the next few paragraphs, you might 
find yourself inspired to get involved in some of these relaxing activities. 

Drink Some Tea 

This might not sound all that exciting, but taking the time to truly appreciate a cup of tea 
is a luxury that is rare today. Really enjoy it though. This isn’t talking about hastily 
dumping tea into Styrofoam to put in your car and take sips in between street lights and 
freeway traffic. This is about really sitting and enjoying that tea. Tasting its flavor and 
truly connecting with the experience. Find a calm spot in your home to have tea and 
give yourself some time. 

Exercise 

Working out is easily one of the best uses of time that a person can do. This can be said 
because keeping your body at a high operating level is great for you both physically and 
mentally. When you work out, you also relieve a ton of stress, and you can sleep more 
easily once you’ve working off some of the day’s pent up energies. 

Meditate

Talk time you focus on things, and reflect. You might be really surprised to find that a lot 
of answers come to you over time. The brain is excellent at solving problems in the back 
of your mind while you handle the day's work. Let that part of your mind do its job, but 
first, you have to learn how to get out of the way. 

Write in A Journal 

Writing can be one of the most therapeutic things that you can do. Writing allows you to 
become more well versed in organizing thoughts, and it gives you a fully honest 
snapshot of where your mind was at the time of the writing. The major difference about 
journal writing, is that you will want to focus on how things make you feel so that you 
can gain a better understanding of how you felt about those things versus how you feel 
currently. 

9. Take Supplements

Among many of the most important discoveries of the last 100 years, not many can 
boast the same life changing innovations as the invention of the supplement. 
Fortification of foods has all but eradicated some of the short-term deficiency diseases 
like rickets and scurvy. Even though these improvements have changed the quality of 
life for tons of people for nearly 60 years, some people still don’t feel that 
supplementation is a necessary thing for living a healthy life, so the following section is 
just a few paragraphs discussing why you should take supplements. 

Some Foods Don’t Have Much Nutrition

What was the last good that you ate? With the rise of processed foods in the last few 
decades, people have become increasingly dependent on food that is made in factories. 
The only serious issue with these kinds of foods, is that they rarely contain the 
ingredients and nutrition that can keep you healthy. Without fiber, vitamins, and 
minerals, you are essentially eating an approximation of food, so supplementation 
becomes necessary. Not everyone has the time or resources to make their own 
balanced meals either, so naturally that is the next best solution. 

You Might Be Close to Deficiency 

Take a look at your hands. Look closely at your fingernails. If you see little peeling bits 
of skin around your nails, then that means that you are relatively vitamin deficient. 
Studies have been done on short term deficiency, but none have been done on the 
effects of long term deficiency. This is likely because long term deficiency is assumed to 
result in death, which can easily become an outcome in some cases. For example, if 
you don’t have enough of the right vitamins, you could become vulnerable to cancers, 
and poorly repaired organs.    

Fortification Doesn’t Cover It All

Even though you might be eating food that boasts fortification of vitamin C or D, the 
body requires balanced amounts of all of the vitamins and minerals. Not just a few. 
Taking supplements can ensure that you are getting all of what you need, especially 
when it comes to replacing cells in vital organs. This reduces the chance for strain on 
your system, as well, as the possibility of organ failures. 

You’ll Age Better 

When you have all of the vitamins and minerals, not only will your body work better, but 
you’ll even age better. When you don’t have enough nutrients, the body can become 
tired looking and weak very quickly. If you take some time to give your body all of what it 
needs, then you can keep it running for years to come. 

10. Consider Lifestyle Changes

Do you feel stagnant? When was the last time that you felt truly excited about doing 
something?

Do you feel like there are obstacles that are holding back from reaching your full 
potential? Sometimes it’s hard to get back on track. People are also facing higher levels 
of stress than seen in previous generations. Sometimes the best cure for facing issues 
is to counteract the bad with doing something nice for yourself. It’s possible to make 
small adjustments to your life that raise the quality a few notches. If this sounds 
interesting, you should consider some lifestyle changes. 

Get More Rest 

It’s easy to get caught in a bad cycle of staying up late. A lot of people do it, but the toll 
that it takes on your body over time is immeasurable. Being sure to get the proper 
amount of rest can be life changing on its own. While this aspect is due to habit and 
general lifestyle, there are tons of little habits that you can work on. For example, 
practice going to bed at a good time of the night, and when you need to wake up, stop 
relying on your snooze button, because you can make yourself more tired if you’re 
waking up several times in a row. 

Avoid Your Stress Triggers

Everyone has certain things, people, or situations that can cause stress. If you are 
keeping a journal, you will notice the days when your stress seems to be higher. 
Regardless of what it is, the first important thing to do is figure out what your triggers 
are, then work on avoiding them the best you can. This might mean avoiding certain 
people, waking up early so you’re not constantly getting to work late, or reducing your 
caffeine and alcohol consumption.

Think Positively

Do you find that you tend to assume the worst or constantly have negative thoughts in 
your mind? Believe it or not, this can be reversed with practice. Try to focus more on 
positive things, instead of letting those negative emotions consume you. It is just a 
matter of looking on the bright side. Don’t ignore negative things that happen, but learn 
to accept them and move on.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice used when you think more in the present, instead of worrying 
about the past or the future. You really focus on what is going on right now in this 
moment, avoid judgment of others, and learn to forgive yourself.
