DEALING WITH STRESS

5-minute stress busters

These 15 mental makeovers will help you find your happy—fast.

1. Try a moment of mindfulness. Practice this form of meditation, in which you focus on the present moment during everyday routines. Before starting your day, turn off your phone and make a cup of green tea. Use all your senses: Feel the warmth in your hand, the steam on your nose, the liquid in your throat. You can do the same while preparing dinner: Take notice of the sounds of your knife cutting vegetables, the feel of the knife in your hand, the rhythm of the slicing, the vibrations of the cutting board, and the scent of the vegetables releasing their juices.

2. Escape into a book. Research has found that silent reading slows your heart rate and reduces muscle tension within six minutes.

3. Get outdoors.

Minute 1 Find a spot where you connect with nature—a patch of grass in the backyard or a quiet window to look outside.

Minutes 2–3 Observe and focus on the natural world around you until something catches your eye. Take deep, calming breaths.

Minutes 4–5 Think about how that one element of nature reflects something about you and say or write down your conclusion. It doesn’t have to be profound: “The cardinal is red and that’s my favorite color” can do the trick.

4. Snag some exercise endorphins. Even brief bursts of exercise can help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, research has found. Try this quick routine a couple times a day or when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

ACTIVITY	TIME
Warmup: March in place	60 seconds
Squats	30 seconds
Lunges	30 seconds
Plank	30 seconds
Squats	30 seconds
Lunges	30 seconds
Plank	30 seconds
Stretch	60 seconds

5. Open your ears to music therapy.

To Calm Down Play the nature-inspired music of your choice, suggests Judi Bar, yoga program manager at the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute. Don headphones, close your eyes, and, if you can swing it, lie down and cover your eyes with a rice-filled eye pillow warmed a bit in the microwave. “To fully immerse yourself in the music,” Bar says, “focus on listening to individual notes or a nature sound in the background for three to five minutes.”

To Rev Up Borrow your kid’s or grandkid’s toy drum. (No one’s looking!) “Drumming can release endorphins—those natural feel-good chemicals,” says Allison Gemmel Laframboise, a yoga and drumming teacher at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. To get started, drum to the rhythm of a spoken phrase, like “I eat peaches. I eat peaches. I eat peaches.” Then lose the phrase and focus on the sound and feel of the pattern.

6. Turn off your phone. Or put it on silent mode. Those emails can wait. Just be present in your physical space for a few minutes.

7. Take a whiff. Try inhaling the scent of calming essential oils such as frankincense and lavender for a few seconds to fend off anxieties.

8. Wet your wrists. Place your forearms under cold running water for 60 seconds while breathing deeply. Your wrists have a large number of small blood vessels, and the cold water helps cool and calm you, according to Julie Rosenzweig, Ph.D., a psychotherapist in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

9. Play with your pet. It’s virtually impossible to stay stressed when you’re rubbing your dog’s belly or dangling string in front of your cat.

10. Get a good laugh. Whether it’s shared with a friend or in reaction to a funny video, mirthful laughter increases circulation, decreases hypertension, stimulates the immune system, stops the release of stress hormones, and increases feel-good hormones, research shows.

11. Color yourself calm. Filling in a pattern can ease anxiety more than drawing on a blank page, so get a geometric coloring book, says Donna Betts, Ph.D., president of the American Art Therapy Association.

12. Call a friend. Talking to someone who will listen, like a close friend or family member, can help you unpack any problems you might be facing.

13. Do someone else a favor. Becoming a problem solver instead of being a problem sufferer can help put your stress into perspective. It might also encourage that someone else to lend a hand if you ever get caught in a tight spot.

14. Take it to the bedroom. Research shows that the endorphin release that comes from sex calms the body long after the deed is done. And let’s be frank: partner optional.

15. Just leave. Don’t be afraid to physically remove yourself from a situation that feels stressful. Let the overcrowded bus or elevator leave without you.