Stressed Out? Here Are 10 Happy Tips to Cope With Stress

Dietician Kavita Devgan gives tips on how you can overhaul your diet to eat foods that help cut stress to size.

Stress relief tips

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“The exhaustion of day to day living bothers me… I don’t like my shamming, huffing and aggressive moving on – each day; Sometimes I get so tired that I don’t like the day at all - it permeates my being, and I don’t like myself at all too…!”

As you read these lines from the diary of a 27-year-old girl trying to carry on with the business of living in today’s trying times, are you are thinking, ‘hey, I could have written these?’

If yes, then you are probably echoing the thoughts of million other people reading this story today too.

Don’t we all know what it feels like when life's demands seem to get on top of us?

Yes, stress is an epidemic today!

But it’s time we stopped leading lives of quiet desperation. Stop living one day and the next and letting stress bury us under its weight.

Life is not a dress rehearsal; it is the only one you've got.

So it’s time to do a reality check to see how many unnecessary stressors you have ‘willingly adopted’ in your life consciously or unconsciously.

And also completely overhaul your diet to eat foods that help cut stress to size.

Eat Foods That Make You Happy

Get a shot of happiness with fruits like banana, apple, and figs

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Bananas rank as a feel-good food due to its high levels of tryptophan and tyrosine, both precursors to “happy” neurotransmitters – serotonin and dopamine!

Plus, it’s rich in potassium – a mineral vital for nerve functions, and also contains natural sugars that are quickly released into the bloodstream, making one feel energetic.

Bananas have the right kinds of carbohydrates (that release instant energy into the body, just when you need it – that’s why you see top-level athletes munching on bananas during competitions).

Apples derive almost all of their natural sweetness from fructose, a simple sugar that’s broken down slowly, especially when combined with the fruit’s hefty dose of fibre.

This keeps blood sugar levels stable and your mood buoyant, and stress side effects ta bay.

Figs are an excellent source of potassium and fibre, figs are a good source of Vitamin B6 as well, which is responsible for producing mood-boosting serotonin, so snack on these.

Tea contains the amino acid thiamine that's having massive mind-relaxing properties.

Tea has both anti-inflammatory and calming properties.

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Plus it is packed with anti-oxidants that are known to cut inflammation in the body (even that cause by stress).

Don’t Skip Breakfast

Breakfast-eaters report maintaining a better mood and more energy through the day.

Don't skip breakfast. Period.

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Breakfast foods that give energy and happiness both are,

• Wholegrain cereals or bread

• Oatmeal

• Banana

• Oranges

• Low-fat dairy products

• Low-fat cheese, paneer, egg white

Focus on Selenium

The link between low levels of selenium in the brain with increased anxiety, depression and fatigue is clear.

Get your daily dose by eating tuna fish, sunflower seeds, wholegrain cereals, wheat germ, eggs and dairy.

Pick Happiness Over Hunger

Diets don't always have to be cruel and restrictive.

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To create your own 'happy diet'.

• Satisfy your taste buds, keep them on your side – it’s important!

• You cannot sustain a tasteless diet. And diets only work – obviously - if you can sustain them.

• Stop yo-yoing between eating dutifully (how much steamed cauliflower can you chomp?), on the run (hardly realizing what you're swallowing), or rebelliously (devouring two plates of gulab jamuns to make up for a soup only meal). Eat happily!

Practice 'Unreasonable Smile’

Fake it till you make it, baby!

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Practice this simple exercise taken from a model of progressive relaxation aimed at introducing a sense of an inner smile.

Unreasonable smile is the capacity to smile for no reason at all, where you are supposed to imagine that your ears are smiling, that the neck is smiling and the lungs are smiling, then the kidneys, and the bladder and the bowels, the knees and feet – the whole lot really.

This works well in stressful times as there’s science behind it - smiling makes us feel relaxed and happy as it tilts the neurochemical balance toward calm.

Get in the Zone

Make time for activities that absorb you completely. This will help slow your brain waves, still the internal chatter and relax and calm you on a regular basis.

It could be painting, bird-watching, cooking, hiking, writing, blogging, gardening, photography, or just walking.

Cry Baby Cry

A good cry enhances oxygen delivery to the cells and stimulates release of specific neurochemicals in the brain that promote relaxation.

Deep Breathe

Inhale. Exhale.

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Deep breathing can help counter the fight-or-flight reaction.

So any time you feel stressed - whether you're seething in a traffic jam, worrying about a deadline, or replaying in your mind that fight with your spouse, do deep breathing to relax on the inside (even if you are running like crazy on the outside).

Sound Therapy

Deep relaxation is a benefit of sound therapy. Soothing sounds help to re-tune the brain to cope with stress better, and also create a healing environment for the body and mind.

In the book Healing with the Voice James D'Angelo describes the concepts behind sound healing, and outlines how to use sounds to increase energy flow, reduce stress and create inner harmony.

Brass or crystal Tibetan-style bowls are used to produce the unearthly singing sounds which aid relaxation in sound therapy, also known as chakra balancing.

Soothing sounds help to re-tune the brain to cope with stress better.

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Laughter Therapy

‘Have a good chuckle four times a day for the next two weeks – and don't come back until you've finished the full course of treatment!’

This is what the humour therapists advise, and believers say it works.

That because laughter increase endorphin levels – the natural 'feel-good' chemicals in the body; cleans old air from the lungs and allow fresh air to replace it and leave us with an 'afterglow' in which we relax muscle-tension.