Five ways to reduce stress

This archived article was written by: James Justice

In today’s society, stress is becoming an epidemic. Stress causes our bodies to respond with a mental, emotional or physical response. Some of these responses include headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression and anxiety. A recent survey of doctors said that 75 to 90 percent of all doctor’s visits are stress related. Stress is a normal part of life, being so, we need to learn how to correctly cope with it. These are my five all-time favorite ways of dealing with stress and the ways that I use them for the best therapeutic effect.
Jam 30 tiny marshmallows up your nose and try to sneeze them out. I know this one sounds silly, but it really works. When you start jamming marshmallows up your nose your problems don’t seem so massive. Honestly, you now have 30 tiny marshmallows up your nose which distracts you from the things that stress you out and how you chose to get them out is up to your discretion. You may sneeze or my personal favorite, pick, either way they’re coming out.
When someone says, “have a nice day,” tell them you have other plans. You need to be a little “bitchy” to get this one to come off right. But, the surprise on the other person’s face is priceless. You’ll have the gratification of knowing that person will remember you. It’s not always in a positive light, but they will remember you.
Find out what a frog in a blender really looks like. It’s a frog… in a blender… Can I get a hell yeah? Just thinking about this makes me feel better.
Leaf through a National Geographic and draw underwear on all the natives. Immorality in National Geographic is running rampant. I’m just joking with everyone. I like to draw / color and it’s easier to draw when there already is a picture and you’re just coloring it in. Drawing and coloring has been proven to lower stress and is now used extensively in counseling. Hey, now that we’re all grown, there are no rules, meaning you may color outside the lines if you want.
Tell someone to “blow it out your mule,” let them figure it out. Disclaimer, only do this if the person is your friend. This is meant as a joke. Laughter has been shown to lower heart rate, release endorphins and make you open to new ideas and thoughts about your situation, which in turn, reduces stress.
We’re all students, which means we don’t have any available free time. When a problem comes up, it seems we don’t have time to deal with it, which is one of the main causes of stress. Some of the things that really help me are singing, smiling, setting goals, meditation, helping others and knowing that what I’m currently going through is only temporary. There’s a saying that I heard once that I truly try to live by, “if there’s a problem in your life and you can’t do anything about it, why stress. If there’s a problem in your life and you can fix it, why stress.”