5 Alternative & Natural Approaches to Experiencing Less Stress

You’d be hard pressed to find pretty much even one busy adult these days who won’t readily volunteer the fact that stress is taking a toll on them. The fact is that our sources of stress tend to be unavoidable if you’re going to fulfill all of the responsibilities you have in your life, but it’s not that you have to simply resign yourself to all of the mental and physical debilitation that comes with stress.


You can be proactive in minimizing the extent to which all of it ‘gets to you’, as they say, and in this blog post we’re going to discuss 5 alternative and natural approaches to experiencing less stress. Be assured that they won’t be particularly difficult to incorporate them into your life, and that many different people from all walks of life have found them effective.

And having them be effective is important, without question. Excess stress can lead to high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, anxiety and depression. We’ll go ahead and assume you want no part of that, so let’s move right along to our tips for managing stress.

  1. Slow and Deep Breathing

Try slow and deep breathing and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how effective it is at destressing you when you’re overwhelmed with pressure. Deep breathing infuses more oxygen into the body, and that extra oxygen delivers a calming effect for your mind and body. We recommend doing 10 to 20 minutes of slow, deep breathing daily to prevent stress. Try following these steps:

  • Sit or lie down in a peaceful location, solitude is preferable
  • Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose, while counting to five
  • Next, hold your breath for another count to 5, before exhaling for 5
  • Go ahead and repeat these steps 5 or 6 times as needed until you feel relief
  1. Drinking Green Tea

One of the most valuable constituents in green tea is L-Theanine, a wonderful amino acid that induces the brain to generate greater numbers of alpha brain waves. These waves then create a reduction in stress levels and also encourage relaxation. Improved focus and greater mental alertness are further benefits.

To go into greater detail about how it reduces stress, L-Theanine plays an essential role in the development of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). It is one of the 4 primary brain neurotransmitters and the one most key to making you perfectly stimulated and relaxed at the same time, not too much of either. That’s essential for dealing with stress and minimizing its effects on you.

Here’s how to make a cup of green tea:

  • Put 2 teaspoons of green tea leaves into a mug of hot water
  • Cover the cup and steep the beverage for 5 minutes
  • Strain and then add fresh lemon juice and / or raw honey for sweetening (if you like)
  • You’re good to drink 2 to 3 cups of green tea a day if you’re extremely stressed

Both L-Theanine and GABA can also be ingested supplementally, and found online from a quality retailer.

  1. Epsom Salt Bath

One particularly detrimental effect of stress is that it causes low magnesium levels in the body while also bumping up adrenaline levels – not a good mix if you’re under stress. We offer this recommendation because Epsom salt is especially high in magnesium, and magnesium is championed as the ultimate relaxation mineral.

More specifically in relation to stress, magnesium increases the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, and serotonin goes a long way to creating an optimal balanced mood. Soaking up Epsom salts into your skin brings in added magnesium and it goes straight to work reducing stress, promote relaxation, and ease anxiety as well as making you less irritable, enjoying better sleep, and even correcting abnormal heart rates.

Here’s how to prepare an Epsom salt bath:

  • Mix 1 cup of Epsom salts with a few drops of a select aromatic essential oil and then add that to a hot bath
  • Stir in your mix thoroughly so that the salt granules dissolve into the water
  • Enjoy sitting in your hot Epsom salts bath for 20 minutes
  • Schedule one of these 2 or 3 times a week
  1. Chamomile tea

Do you enjoy drinking hot beverages? Chamomile tea is a good choice when you’re overly stressed. Chamomile’s calming and soothing nature provides a nice sedative effect on the central nervous system. It relaxes your muscles, eases anxiety, and you’ll have deeper and more restful sleep. Sleeping well goes a long way in making your mind and body much more resilient in the face of stress.

Here’s how to prepare chamomile tea:

  • Add 2 teaspoons of dried chamomile to a cup of hot water
  • Cover the mug and allow the tea steep for 10 minutes
  • Strain the tea, and then add raw honey if you’d like it to be a little sweeter
  • You can also add some fresh chamomile flowers or essential oils for enhanced soothing
  1. Massage

Most people will have experienced how massage is also a great stress reliever. It can open blocked energy channels and allow stress to be eliminated naturally through them, and focusing your massage on specific body locations like your hands, feet, back, or head aids in relaxing tense muscles, improving circulation, and suppressing anxiety. Incorporating sesame, coconut or olive oil can enhance the experience and effectiveness.

Here’s how to give yourself a nice self-massage:

  • Warm your massage oil slightly, but don’t overdo it
  • Now apply it to massage your forehead, back, shoulders, and neck
  • Then move on to massaging the bottom of your feet
  • Take a warm bath for at least 20 minutes
  • Go through this process as many times each day as necessary to reduce stress

We’ve just scratched the surface of the wide variety of approaches for dealing with stress effectively, but these ones are particularly easy for nearly anyone to implement for themselves. We’ll conclude by saying that it’s not only you who will benefit from being less stressed, as it will likely make you a much more pleasant person to be around for your partner, friends, and family members.

Let it slide, be as happy as possible, and enjoy life to the fullest!

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