Five destressing tips
27 Sep 2010

Five brand new ways to stress less

2 mins to read
Rosie Brogan combs the latest books to find the newest and niftiest stress-less tips.


A simple test to see if you’re stressed? “Take a survey of your own body. Can you drop your shoulders?” ask Stephanie McClellan and Beth Hamilton, authors of So Stressed. “If you can, you are holding more tension in your muscles than you should be.”

If you dropped your shoulders significantly (like me!) you could do with the below tips. And you’re not alone. Results of a Newspoll Omnibus Survey commissioned by Lifeline Australia reveal that 91 per cent of Australians feel stress in at least one important area of their lives.

While it may not be possible to erase stress from your life entirely, the new science of positive psychology has some top ideas that are proven to lift your mood. There’s a lot of fantastic literature out on this topic, so I prowled my favourite titles for the best de-stressing ideas. Test a new one out each week, then sit back and watch as calm enters stage right:

#1 Take a ‘thank you’ walk

Professor Tim Sharp, author of 100 Ways to Happiness: “Try to take a ‘thank you’ walk every morning or evening… While you’re walking, running, riding or doing whatever form of exercise you most enjoy, talk to yourself (quietly and peacefully in the back of your mind) about all the things in your life for which you’re thankful.”

# 2 Cut down on greed

Author of The Happy Economist, Ross Gittins: “Be less wedded to long working hours to make the money to buy the stuff to keep up with your neighbours. Be less greedy about stuff, but also about things to do… Why do we feel so pushed for time even at the weekend? Because we have so many options, such a wide choice of things to do. Trying to fit in too many of them is a form of greed—which leaves us feeling unsatisfied and unrefreshed.”

#3 Eat a nutritious cereal for breakfast

Author of The Breakfast Book, Sue Radd, comments on a study from Cardiff University: “Remarkably, daily breakfast cereal consumption was linked with reduced cortisol levels… Carbohydrates from cereal boost the levels of a ‘happy’ hormone in the brain called serotonin… a powerful substance for improving our appetite, capacity to sleep well and our overall sense of wellbeing.”

#4 Use your nose

Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: “Breathing in through your nose to a count of three and out through your mouth to a count of six prompts a significant feeling of relaxation in as few as thirty to sixty seconds.”

# 5 Clean and simplify your environment

Siimon Reynolds, author of Why People Fail: “This is one of my favourite stress relievers. When I feel overloaded mentally, I clean up my desk area, my car and my home. I throw out whatever I can, and put the rest in neat piles or in storage… What a difference this quick clean makes to my mind. I definitely feel more relaxed and in charge.”

References available on request



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