
If you’re nursing serious stress, there are a million and one options out there to get your mind off your worries and onto something chilled—whether it’s yoga, sailing, skiing or African drum lessons! But which ones really work? Natural therapists are taking note the ‘big 4’ below. Each is backed by research and aims to convert your headspace into a zone of a calm.
Bibliotherapy
For motivated types, there’s evidence that reading a self-help book that’s tailored to your current life situation can significantly soothe your stress levels. Here, reading becomes a healing therapy. This works best if there’s something specific bothering you—such as an unrealistic fear or chronic shyness.
Personally, I’ve suffered from anxiety in the past and found that reading specifically about the symptoms of anxiety (which is essentially what bibliotherapy is all about), reduced my symptoms. I was empowered with knowledge as to what I was going through and how to cope—which in itself served to cut my stress in half.
Dance therapy
Moving is one the most best ways to beat low mood, but dance offers so much more than just physical exercise. In stress study reviews, dance therapy is a clear winner.
Dance gets you listening to music, socialising, participating as part of a group, and learning something new—so you’re working out multiple parts of the brain while you get your groove on. I can’t think of a more fun way to stamp out stress than this one!
Music therapy
If physical pain is causing you stress (according to one study, back pain is among the three most common reasons patients see general practitioners), then music could ease your issue—particularly in the lead up to medical intervention, such as an operation.
A randomised control trial of 180 patients examined the stress-reducing powers of music before day surgery. It found that patient-preferred music lowered stress levels.
Knitting
A group of girls from my work recently started a lunchtime knitting group and I thought they were a little, well, mad. It seems the joke was on me. One study that probed 38 women with stress disorders reported that 74 per cent of participants had reduced fears and clearer minds, 74 per cent said that knitting had a calming and therapeutic effect, and 54 per cent said that the activity provided satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment.
If knitting isn’t for you, painting or pottery may produce similar, stress-melting effects, researchers hypothesise.
References available on request