Reduce and relieve stress in as little as two minutes with these great calming tricks from www.ivillage.com
1. Sprinkle Fresh Nutmeg
In India, they’ve long used nutmeg to shake off funky moods. Studies there show that inhaling nutmeg’s aromatic oils can kick-start the brain’s production of relaxing, stress-soothing alpha waves almost instantly.
Eating nutmeg can give you an even more impressive boost. According to Stanford University researchers, adding a quarter teaspoon to your daily diet could help you feel calmer and less easily rattled in as little as two weeks.
2. Walk Through a Door
Ever find that once you start thinking about something that’s really bugging you, it’s hard to shake off the stress and switch to happy thoughts? Try getting up and stomping through a few doorways! A recent study at Indiana’s University of Notre Dame suggests that this simple trick can help you put an end to worrisome thoughts.
According to the study authors, passing through doorways signals your brain’s frontal lobe to file away what it’s been stewing about and start fresh — and being able to file away the unpleasant thoughts can help dampen your production of the stress hormone cortisol in as little as five minutes.
2. Window Shop
Whether you wander around the mall, flip through catalogues or surf websites at home, pretend shopping helps 76 percent of women de-stress within 20 minutes. The bright, upbeat images, the restful break from your usual routine and the feeling of indulgence that comes from “virtual shopping” triggers an uptick in feel-good beta waves in the brain, say University of Miami researchers.
Bonus: According to Ohio State University researchers, women who love window shopping — but keep their credit cards tucked away most days – are half as likely to struggle with severe stress overloads. The reason? They get the relaxing indulgence of shopping for pricey items without actually being saddled with extra debt.
So based on these findings all we have to do is walk through our front door out of our house and go an have a browse in a few shop windows in order to feell more relaxed – throw in a nutmeg latte and we will be feeling fabulous!
For more great tips and hints on healthy living visit www.ivillage.com