5 Ways To Relax

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported at least 1 in 10 people (over 800 million people) suffer from some sort of mental illness. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic alone, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, according to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization.

Being in a relaxed state of mind will reduce mental illness. We need to find ways to relax.

Here's 5 ways:

1) Meditate & Pray

Meditation & Prayer can give you a sense of calm, peace, and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. The first thing to do in the morning is to get into a quiet space and focus on getting to a relaxed state of mind. Picking up a religion to meditate or pray has shown very positive results on mental health and psychology.

2)Hot Bath & Long Hot Showers

At the end of the day, take a long hot shower or bath. Studies have found that immersion bathing (preferred over showers) improves both physical and emotional aspects of quality of life, with significant improvement in general and mental health and lower scores for stress, tension-anxiety, anger-hostility, and depression-dejection.

3)Physical Exercise

Moving around and getting your muscles working can help lower your overall stress levels and improve your quality of life, both mentally and physically. Exercising regularly can have a positive effect on your mood by relieving the tension, anxiety, anger, and mild depression that often go hand-in-hand with stress. It can improve the quality of your sleep, which can be negatively impacted by stress, depression, and anxiety. It can also help boost your confidence levels.

4) Diet

You can handle stress better when you are as healthy as possible, so eating nutritiously is a good defense against stress.

• Avoid or limit caffeine.

• Avoid Alcohol

• Avoid skipping meals or eating quickly. Use mealtime to relax, eat healthily, enjoy your meal, and reflect on your day.

• Avoid eating to relieve stress. Some people turn to food to comfort themselves when they are under stress.

5)Listen to relaxing music

A 2020 overview research shared by PsychCentral finds results of music and stress suggests listening to music can:

• lower our heart rate and cortisol levels

• release endorphins and improve our sense of well-being

• distract us, reducing physical and emotional stress levels

• reduce stress-related symptoms, whether used in a clinical environment or in daily life

Soak in a hot bath while listening to this calming instrumental track.

Hope you can put these 5 ways into practice today!

Credit & Sources: PsychCentral.com, Everydayhealth.com, https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health, https://www.healthdata.org/