Reduce Stress and Improve Mental Well-Being Naturally

Many of us experience stress in our daily lives, which can impact our health in different ways. Stress can affect us in the moment and chronic stress can affect our long-term health and even how we age. Focusing on our mental well-being can seem like a daunting task. Discover these easy and natural ways to reduce stress and support our mental well-being.

Exercise for Stress Relief

Exercise is good for our physical and mental health. Exercise can help with focus and memory, as well as our mood. Studies have shown that exercise promotes a sense of well-being. Those who exercise regularly experience fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.

How much exercise should you get? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise five days a week. Don’t have time to commit to all that movement? Any little bit of activity can count.

Try “exercise snacks” – short bursts of exercise throughout the day. Just five to 10 minutes of activity throughout the day can add up to the same benefits as doing a solid 30 minutes. How about a walk after lunch? Or what about an extra lap or two around the grocery store? Why not take the stairs instead of the elevator?

Get outside - time in nature is good for our health, including our immune system and our mood. Taking that walk outside will give you mood-boosting exercise, plus the benefit of some time outdoors.

Any form of physical activity can increase your heart rate and improve your stress levels. Ever feel good after doing yard work? You feel happy that the work is completed and will notice that your mood is good. Did you know that there’s bacteria in the dirt that release substances that act just like anti-depressant medicines? Mother Nature wants us to feel happy and can help us feel good!

Boost Your Mood with Food

When feeling stressed, many of us tend to want to reach for a bag of chips or a bowl of ice cream. Unfortunately, this junk food won’t help our mood; it can actually make it worse! Foods high in sugar, fat and salt change chemicals in our brain. These foods can increase the release of cortisol, aka the “stress hormone,” which can make us feel even more stressed.

Many foods that we know to be good for our overall health can also help our mood. Whole grains like brown rice and whole grain bread help boost serotonin levels. Serotonin is a chemical in our body that makes us feel happy.

Leafy green veggies, nuts, seeds and dark chocolate all contain magnesium. Magnesium can calm our nervous system to help us feel relaxed. It can also help with muscle tension, which can happen when we’re stressed. How about switching out that cup of coffee for a cup of tea? Green and white tea contain L-theanine, which can also help with promoting a feeling of calm.

Quality Sleep for Well-Being

When we’re feeling anxious or depressed it can affect sleep quality as well as the ability to fall asleep. Sleep hygiene is important to help both our physical and mental well-being. If we’re not sleeping well this can cause us to feel more anxious or depressed. How do we get out of this loop of anxiety, depression and lack of sleep? Avoid things that wake up your brain before bed (like the bright screen on your phone or watching TV) to calm down to prepare for sleep. Trying to go to sleep at the same time every night can also help with falling asleep. 

Health experts suggest a solid six to seven hours or more a night of quality sleep to keep our brains healthy. Several stages of sleep happen each night that our brains, and our bodies, need. Deep and REM sleep stages help us feel rested and function well.

How do you know if you’re getting quality sleep? If you own a fitness tracker you can wear this at night. Most trackers can record your sleep and give you a report in the morning of how you slept. If you’re not getting quality sleep, talk to your health care provider. They may want to you to do a sleep study to have an accurate look at your sleep quality. This can also help determine if you have any health conditions, such as sleep apnea or insomnia, that could be affecting your sleep.

Guide Your Mood with Guided Imagery

Guided imagery and meditation practices can help to calm our mind and help with focus. Both guided imagery and meditation offer many health benefits. What are they and how are they different from one another?

Guided imagery utilizes someone’s voice or your own imagination to guide you through visualizing a calming scene or image. This could be listening to someone in a soft voice help you imagine a beach. You could imagine hearing the waves crashing and feeling the warm sun and breeze. Or you could sit or lay comfortably and imagine a happy memory and try to see, feel and sense the details of that memory. Meditation involves sitting quietly, or with soft music, and focusing on your breathing to help calm your body and mind.

Both techniques are great and can help you find calm in your busy, day-to-day life. You can search in your local area for meditation classes or a professional that can help with guided imagery. Or try an app on your smart device to listen to guided imagery and soothing meditation music.

Seek a Professional When Needed

If you’re dealing with chronic stress and anxiety, consider talking to a professional. Long-term stress is harmful to our mental and physical health. A professional can recognize any mental health conditions and give you more tools to manage stress.

References:

Anderson E, Shivakumar G. Effects of exercise and physical activity on anxiety. Front Psychiatry. 2013 Apr 23;4:27.

https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html

https://www.brownhealth.org/be-well/snacking-exercise-how-small-bursts-energy-help-your-heart

Andersen L, Corazon SSS, Stigsdotter UKK. Nature Exposure and Its Effects on Immune System Functioning: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 3;18(4):1416.

“Identification of an immune-responsive mesolimbocortical serotonergic system: Potential role in regulation of emotional behavior.” C.A. Lowry, et. al. Neuroscience. Online 28 March 2007.

Ejtahed HS, et. al. Association between junk food consumption and mental health problems in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Jun 12;24(1):438.

nutritionsolutions.ca

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/sleep-stress.html

https://www.everydayhealth.com/integrative-health/potential-health-benefits-of-guided-imagery-meditation/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858