To Make Mental Health Better, Experts Advise Doing This Activity For Stress Control

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JAKARTA - Stress is the body's response to challenges or demands. Everyone can experience stress and the trigger can come from various events, ranging from small daily problems as well as major changes in life, such as divorce or job loss.

Stress is unavoidable. However, you can find ways to control stress healthily so that it can increase the chances of recovering from stress. Some ways to relieve stress that can be practiced, reports Psychcentral, Tuesday, January 3, among others;

Deep breathing, or breathing diaphragm, is a common and effective stress reliever technique. This type of breathing requires you to use the diaphragm to take a deep breath. This allows your lungs to fully function, which doesn't happen when you breathe normally. Your stomach, not your chest, will expand to involve your diaphragm.

According to a study, the breathing of the diaphragm has a positive effect in suppressing the stress hormone by triggering a relaxation response. Deep breathing is also associated with lowering blood pressure and heart rate, which is associated with stress levels.

Mindfulness and meditation are stress reliever methods that are also effective in improving sleep quality, lowering blood pressure, and lowering heart rate. There are many types of meditation, but the simplest form is to sit comfortably, close your eyes, and focus your attention on your breath. Then gently get rid of thoughts that disturb the cause of stress.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) involves relaxing all muscles in your body. A study conducted in 2015 found that muscle relaxation is able to reduce anxiety symptoms. You can start by taking a few breaths. Then, practice tightening and loosening each muscle group, starting from forehead and moving down to your toe.

After each muscle has been tightened for 5 seconds, try to release it completely, stop for a moment to pay attention to how the muscle group feels. At the end of this exercise, you will feel the physical tension eases.

In fact, exercising regularly is important for both mental and physical health. This can have a positive effect and help reduce anxiety symptoms. Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) recommends doing physical activity per week for adults for at least 30 minutes per day. If it's difficult to do, you can start with a routine walking every morning around the home environment.