Effective tips to manage stress: From journaling to meditation

Keeping up with our mental and physical health can become a challenge at times. When it comes to balancing work, family, and personal commitments, sometimes life can get overwhelming. However, there are some tools and mechanisms that we can use when we start feeling like things are not going our way.

One of the most important tips includes documenting our unconformities on paper. “Journaling to document your feelings and emotions can help to rationalize and improve moods, while keeping a daily or weekly to-do list can be an effective way of maintaining clarity on a busy lifestyle by tracking daily actions and being more productive as a result,” Jo Webber, herbal education lead at Pukka Herbs says.

She explains that many of us are very visually minded, “and creating vision boards for any long-term goals or life planning can be a handy tool to enable clearer sight on long-term thinking and reflection.”

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It’s important to know when to take a break, as it improves our productivity and helps our mind relax. “Try either setting reminders on your smartphone or, at work, block out regular 10-minute slots in your schedule.” Connecting with nature is also important, and if you can take a break to go on a walk or spend time outdoors, you are more likely to be more clear headed to face what life throws at you.

Meditation also provides mental rest, and it is advised “to have at least five to 20 minutes to experience an effect.” You can also add herbal teas into your diet, such as peppermint or chamomile tea, as it is proven to have complementary benefits “on many different aspects of the body - from support of the immune system to mood.”