10 Relaxation Hacks That Help You Stay Calm

You’ve read about how yoga and meditation can help you de-stress. But this is real life. Not many of us have time to do asanas and meditation every day. (If you do, kudos to you…keep it up!)

This is where this Betterful Blog comes in. We wanted to offer some real-world relaxation hacks that can help you stay calm in a stress-inducing world. Try them and let us know if they work for you!

1. Pop up a beautiful picture of nature on your screen. Stressed at work? Simply google “beautiful nature pictures,” choose one and make it your entire screen. Or select a nature picture for your screensaver. Then just sit back and gaze at the pic for a minute or so — without doing anything else. If your mind wanders to what you need to do, just gently bring it back to the picture in front of you.

Research shows that the simple act of looking at inspiring pictures of nature can calm you. Keep in mind that if you can get out into nature, too, that helps. Being in nature helps to boost relaxation by calming the mind, reducing heart rate, and lowering levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

2. Listen to bilateral music on your headphones. Never heard of bilateral music? Just search it up on Spotify. It’s a thing. Bilateral means the music alternates between your left ear and right ear instead of being heard in both ears at the same time. Research shows that listening to bilateral music may help to reduce anxiety.

Keep in mind that for some, this switching of sounds between ears could make you feel uncomfortable or even dizzy. Try it with your eyes closed while you’re lying down or sitting still. If it’s still not for you, soft music of any kind can help you feel more relaxed.

3. Have a cup of yogurt. It’s common to get the munchies when you’re stressed, so if you can keep a stash of yogurt you love on hand, that may be the best snacking option. One reason: yogurt is full of protein. For the body to handle stress, you need an adequate amount of protein — along with the amino acids that make up protein.

Another reason: yogurt contains healthy bacteria or probiotics, which are good for the gut. Stress can wreak havoc on the gut, depleting essential healthy bacteria.

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Yogurt is also a good source of B vitamins. It’s these vitamins that can get depleted when you’re under stress.

Another good source of B vitamins, NBPure’s Stress Away supplements. A review of research in the journal Nutrients showed that B vitamin supplementation may help stress and may improve mood.

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4. Drink a cup of ashwagandha tea. Just the ritual of making a cup of tea to drink can help to calm the mind. But several studies also point to the benefits of ashwagandha for stress relief. The key though is to make drinking this tea a habit; the longer you use ashwagandha, the better the benefits.

Another option is to take a daily multivitamin with ashwagandha in it like NBPure’s Multi Guard+. You can still drink your tea when you get stressed, but taking a daily multivitamin can ensure you’re getting the nutrients your body and mind need, while getting a daily dose of ashwagandha, too. And if you need a dose of ashwagandha, along with other relaxation-boosting botanicals try Power Down.

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5. Doodle! Yep, just grab a sheet of paper and sketch away. Doodling and coloring is actually a form of mindfulness and meditation. This is provided you’re focused on doodling or coloring and not trying to multitask doing other things too. If you are mindfully coloring, you’re reaping the stress-relieving benefits of doodling and coloring.

6. Massage the upper part of your ear. This upper “shell” of the ear contains a stress pressure point called the “heavenly gate” pressure point. Simply rotate your finger, with gentle pressure, in a circular motion in this area for at least 2 minutes.

7. Stop what you’re doing and just breathe. If you can close your eyes while doing this, it’s even better. Try to take deep breaths in, hold for a few seconds, and then take a long slow breath out.

You’ve probably heard about the benefits of deep breathing for stress. A few minutes — or even just 30 seconds — of deep breathing can help calm the mind. Do this several times a day, and you’re already ahead. Too hard to focus? Try the free Breath Ball app. You breathe to the rhythm of an expanding and deflating “breath ball”.

8. Get out for a walk. Just being in the fresh air can help you relax, as can any form of exercise. But walking in nature, around green spaces, can reap even more calming benefits. If you do walk, keep your phone on airplane mode if you can. You’ll reap more stress-relieving benefits if you’re not talking, listening, or scrolling.

And the longer you walk, the calmer you’ll be during — and after — the walk. One study found that after walking for an hour, there was reduced activity in the amygdala. This is the area of the brain that fires up the body’s stress response.

9. Take a break from the news. So much of the news can be stressful. In fact, experts say that watching the news activates the sympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the nervous system that releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

If you can, turn off the news in the evening so you can relax before sleeping. And if you want to take it a step further, power down all your devices a few hours before bed. This will help calm your mind and prepare you for a restful sleep.

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10. Visualize something beautiful. Create a picture in your mind of something beautiful. If you can do this with your eyes closed, it’s even better. Then imagine what this beautiful scene feels like. What does it taste like? What does it sound like?

Using all your senses with visualization has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. One study found that 30 minutes of visualization had the same stress-relieving benefits as a 15-minute massage. We know that 30 minutes is a lot, so if you can just do 5 minutes or even 2 minutes, you’ll still feel calmer afterward.

Next time you’re feeling stressed, know that there are simple things you can do to help. Just putting into practice one or two of these hacks can help you feel better.