If you’ve been feeling like you’ve wanted to explode in frustration lately, this might just be the article that you need to turn that frown upside down (no, really). Do know, though, that it probably isn’t even your fault.

You can finally let that block off your chest now and breathe easy. Stress comes from a number of things, some that you can control, and some that you can’t – it’s simply how you react to it that makes all the difference. And although it’s impossible to be happy all the time, there are some things that you can do to change the way you feel. There are ways to eliminate stress and at least, keep you feeling good (if not great) throughout the day.

1. Be Healthy, Be Fit.

One of the easiest ways you can start turning your life around and reducing stress from it is by eating healthy, supplemented by regular exercise. There have been quite a few studies online regarding the ways in which food can affect your mood and your overall stress levels.

This falls into two categories;

A. You’re just hungry. Most people, in the midst of a lot of pressure tend to forget about their own hunger levels and start to delve into problems associated with eating too little. This causes a bit of a problem, as people get lost in an endless cycle of: stress * not eating * stress * not eating * stress.

B. Some of the food you’re eating is affecting your mood. We recommend you to do a little research on the topic, as there are actually quite a few types of foods out there that affect your overall mood, elevating happiness, and sometimes making you what the children call a Mr. Grumpy-Pants.

The other factor here is being fit, involving going to the gym. We won’t go into too much detail, but exercising releases mood elevating hormones and endorphins that usually give you an overall better feeling after even in just as little as 20 minutes of exercise. As many people say, use your negative energy in a productive way in the gym for positive results. In fact, some studies suggest that people who exercise are generally happier people. Beat that.

2. Smile.

You’ve probably heard the saying “A smile can hide a thousand words” before. Although it isn’t exactly words that you’re hiding, it can put on a show, fooling people of the feelings you keep inside. Yes, it isn’t good to vent – stresswise. However, it isn’t simply about putting on a mask and hiding your feelings. You wouldn’t have to become a cold person to do this.

However, there is some surprisingly convincing research out there suggesting that simply smiling when you’re in all grumpy can actually cause you to experience a positive mood. Apparently, your brain cannot discern whether your smile is genuine or fake, causing it to release hormones in your body that would normally be released were you in a jolly mood. The research also warns, though, that trying too hard, though, might be counterproductive, and might actually backfire in your plans to de-stress. This means that the saying “fake it ‘til you make it” might just hold true.

3. Do Not Distort Your Perspective.

Often a lot of people think that a bad morning inevitably means that you are going to have a bad day. However, this isn’t always necessarily true – unless, of course you’ve been having an unfortunately really bad run of bad coincidences.

Most often, what happens is that our bad mood affects our perspective on the whole day, that some of the little things that we start doing – a few behavioral cues – are a bit influenced by that single event that happened in the beginning of your morning. It probably was something as trivial as having to change your blue shirt after spilling coffee on it too.

However, although we won’t be able to completely eliminate this sort of thing, we should always try to reevaluate ourselves throughout the day, and see what kind of positive spin you can make out of the events that happened. Maybe blue isn’t really your color – a yellow one makes you stand out better. Keep positive, it isn’t going to be all bad.

4. Take a Breather.

Although this might be one of the most clichéd and most obvious things you can do when extremely stressed out, some experts say that many people actually forget to breathe, and hold their breath, during stressful situations. When you don’t breathe, not enough oxygen gets to the brain, and as a result, your pulse and blood pressure slightly rises, setting off a chain reaction that leads in you being even more stressed out.

However, remembering to breathe is not the only way that you can reduce stress. There are quite a few studies that have been conducted on meditation as well, in which, by focusing on your breathing, you’ll be able to clear your mind of all outside stimuli, and which results in an overall better mood afterwards. In addition, some newer studies have actually linked meditation to brain enhancing effects and mental benefits. You might want to do a little research on this, as well, but meditation is supposedly an amazing stress killer.

5. Prevent Further Stress.

This might not occur as often as you’d think, but most of the bad moods that we’ve gotten as a result of stress is usually not simply an isolated incident. Many times, it’s a gradual buildup and accumulation of minor stressors. You may not realize it, but if you took the time to really break down the causes of your stresses, you might be able to see a pattern begin to emerge. Maybe it’s the same thing that’s setting your bad mood off. If not, maybe it’s the same sort of thing. Whether or not it’s one or the other, finding a pattern where stress is caused is one of the best steps that you can take to overcome stress, and finally rid it from your life.

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”
William S. Burroughs

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