We all possess the power to decrease the effects of stress in our lives in an instant. Once we learn to identify our stress and the way our body responds to stress we can develop our personalized plan for decreasing stress in stressful situations.
The best way to relieve stress is through our senses. Our five senses often hold the key to quick stress relief.
1. Sight
If you are a visual person, stimulated by the things you can see or visualize, you may want to engage this sense as a method of relieving stress. You can practice mindfulness and be completely aware of all the sights and colors that surround you. If you are unable to find soothing or relaxing images, use your imagination and visualize something that brings you calmness and peace.
2. Hearing
If sounds such as music, soft tones, or sounds of nature bring you quick relief, experiment with different sounds to find what soothes you the most. With the current technology, there are tons of apps that provide relaxing music and tones for free. If you find yourself in a situation in which you can’t turn up the music or place your headphones on, try humming your own little tune.
3. Smell
Smells and scents can be very calming. Aromatherapy is a great method for stress relief. You can visit an aromatherapist or begin a search on your own. There are tons of great websites that provide information regarding what scents are good for specific emotions.
4. Taste
There is nothing like a hot cup of tea, or a cold glass of water, or a nice piece of chocolate. At least those are my favorites. Whatever you enjoy, savor the flavor. We often inhale our food in a rush and neglect actually spending time to connect with layers of flavor and textures. I really enjoy food, so often when I’m stressed I turn to a hot cup of relaxing tea. When I’m not in the mood for tea, I’ll go for something I don’t treat myself to very often and become mindful of everything about it. It’s a great distraction and I get to eat in the process. For me it’s a win/win.
5. Touch
Some people are very tactile and find that touching or feeling different textures provide stress relief. This can include playing with stress relief balls or other toys, petting an animal, getting a massage, taking a hot bath, or holding an object that you find comfort in.
When trying out ways to manage stress in a quick manner, start small by testing the waters with small stressors. Try not to wait until you are at a 10 to try to quickly get back to a 1. If you try a stress relief technique and it doesn’t work, try something else. Eventually you will begin to learn what works for you in particular situations, but it takes a little experimenting at first. Don’t allow your search for quick stress relief to bring about more stress because that is not the intent. When we learn to handle one small stressor effectively, we are more likely to be able to handle the big stressors when they come.
Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/07/23/quick-stress-relief-tips-through-your-5-senses/