A simple exercise to relieve stress right away
Introduction
Would you like to learn the quickest, simplest way to reduce stress in a short time—without first having to meditate for 20 minutes or do a mindfulness or exercise routine? Stress often arises in situations such as work, when a 20-minute meditation simply is not an option. There is, however, a simple exercise that can help you deal with acute stress.
This article explains an easy exercise you can use at any time to help you calm down.
Contents
- Video: An easy exercise for immediate stress relief
- Reduce stress simply and immediately
- How breathing affects stress reduction
- Breathing correctly to manage stress
- An easy exercise to reduce stress at work immediately
- Feel less stress in the long term
- Avoid pure caffeine
Video: An easy exercise for immediate stress relief
1. Reduce stress simply and immediately
The following technique does not rely on external aids such as supplements; it comes 100% from within you.
The technique is scientifically proven and based on the body's physiology!
According to Andrew Hubermann, breathing is the quickest way to reduce the stress you feel in acute situations such as work.
2. How breathing affects stress reduction
The interesting thing about breathing is that we do it all the time.
It usually happens unconsciously, and our breathing also changes unconsciously when we are under stress.
If we want to influence our nervous system through our breathing, we need to take active control of a process that normally happens unconsciously. Many people are unaware that breathing also affects heart rate.
When we breathe in, the space around the heart expands. The heart therefore expands slightly too, giving the blood inside it more room and slowing its circulation.
Our body registers this slower-moving blood in the heart and sends a signal to the brain. The brain then signals the heart to pump harder to keep the system running.
In a stressful situation, that is exactly what we do not want: a harder-working heart can make us feel even more stressed.
Simply breathing in does not automatically cause more stress; the issue is breathing in for longer, and especially more intensely, than you breathe out.
3. Breathe correctly to manage stress
To counter stress quickly, control your breathing so that your in-breath is shorter than your out-breath. At that point, the opposite happens to the heart.
It has less room, blood pressure rises, and the brain causes the heart to beat more slowly.
So, if you want to wind down fairly quickly, breathe out more slowly and forcefully than you breathe in. This rapidly and efficiently reduces stress by relaxing the heart.
What is exciting about this technique is that it works in real time. You do not need to take a ten-minute break; you can even do it while working or giving a presentation on stage.
4. An easy exercise to reduce stress at work immediately
For an extra boost, alongside the sustained long exhale mentioned above, you can use an even more effective exercise to reduce stress.
Imagine you are at work and suddenly find yourself in an extremely stressful situation.
In that case, you can do the following exercise to reduce your stress level:
- Breathe in twice (once deeply, then once briefly until your lungs have no room left).
- Then breathe out for as long as you can.
Even though this technique may feel as if the in-breath is stronger than the out-breath, something interesting is happening in the body.
Our lungs are made up of many tiny sacs. When we are stressed, too much CO2 causes these sacs to collapse.
The small final in-breath gives the sacs room again.
As a result, your blood is cleared of much more CO2, very efficiently, than it would be with normal breathing.
That is exactly why this technique is so effective: you can reduce even a high stress level within seconds.
5. Feel less stress in the long term
This does not mean that techniques such as meditation are ineffective for managing stress.
On the contrary, they can be particularly effective in the long term.
But if you need a quick way to manage stress in the moment, this physiological approach—breathing in quickly and breathing out slowly—is the best option.
6. Avoid pure caffeine
One factor many people overlook, but which can cause considerable stress, is caffeine.
In particular, synthetic caffeine powder, such as that found in supplements, nootropics, energy drinks and even caffeinated organic drinks, is far from helpful.
When consuming caffeine, make sure you never have more than 300–400 mg a day and use caffeine only from natural sources. You can only do this by preparing tea, coffee or guayusa yourself.
Unfortunately, coffee in particular contains caffeine that is almost freely available, which has a similarly counterproductive effect to caffeine in energy drinks. One plant that both wakes you up and reduces stress is guayusa tea.
Find out how to switch from coffee—or give it up altogether—in favour of healthy guayusa tea in my article ‘How to drink less coffee: tips for giving it up’.