Health and Beauty Articles for Women

Stress reduction and other benefits of tai chi

Like other practices that bring mind and body together, tai chi can reduce stress. During tai chi, you focus on movement and breathing. This combination creates a state of relaxation and calm. Stress, anxiety and tension should melt away as you focus on the present, and the effects may last well after you stop your tai chi session.

Tai chi may also help your overall health, although it’s not a substitute for traditional medical care. Tai chi is generally safe for people of all ages and levels of fitness. Older adults may especially find tai chi appealing because the movements are low impact and put minimal stress on muscles and joints. Tai chi may also be helpful if you have arthritis or are recovering from an injury.

Despite its ancient history, tai chi has been studied scientifically only in recent years. And that research is suggesting that tai chi may offer numerous other benefits beyond stress reduction, including:

• Reducing anxiety and depression
• Improving balance and coordination
• Reducing the number of falls
• Improving sleep quality, such as staying asleep longer at night and feeling more alert during the day
• Slowing bone loss in women after menopause
• Lowering blood pressure
• Improving cardiovascular fitness
• Relieving chronic pain
• Improving everyday physical functioning

Putting tai chi into practice

To reap the greatest stress reduction benefits from tai chi, consider practicing it regularly. Many people find it helpful to practice tai chi in the same place and at the same time every day to develop a routine. But if your schedule is erratic, do tai chi whenever you have a few minutes.

You can even draw on the soothing concepts of tai chi without performing the actual movements if you get stuck in stressful situations — a traffic jam or a work conflict, for instance.

Increasing your ability to cope

For those cases in which the source of your stress can’t be avoided or altered, try to adjust your ability to tolerate it.

Accept
Sometimes we have no choice but to accept things the way they are. For those times try to:

• Talk with someone. You may not be able to change a frustrating situation, but that doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t legitimate. Phone a friend or schedule a coffee break. You will feel better after talking it out.
• Forgive. It takes energy to be angry. Forgiving may take practice, but by doing so, you will free yourself from burning more negative energy. Why stew in your anger when you could shrug and move on?
• Smile. It may improve your mood. Even if you have to fake it, smiles are contagious. Before long, you’re likely to see your smile sincerely reflected back at you.
• Practice positive self-talk. It’s easy to lose objectivity when you’re stressed. One negative thought can lead to another, and soon you’ve created a mental avalanche. Be positive. Instead of thinking, “I am horrible with money and will never be able to control my finances,” try this: “I made a mistake with my money, but I am resilient. I’ll get through it.”
• Learn from your mistakes. There is value in recognizing a “teachable moment.” You can’t change the fact that procrastination hurt your performance, but you can register the regret to make sure you allot more time in the future.
• See stress as an opportunity. Sure you’re tense, but thanks to stress, you get up early Saturday morning perfecting Monday’s presentation. The rest of the day lies ahead, unencumbered.

Adapt
The perception that you can’t cope is actually one of the greatest stressors. That’s why adapting — which often involves changing your standards or expectations — can be most helpful in dealing with stress.

• Adjust your standards. Do you really need to vacuum and dust twice a week? Would macaroni and cheese be an unthinkable substitute for homemade lasagna? Redefine success and perfection, and you may operate with a little less guilt and frustration.
• Practice thought-stopping. Stop gloomy thoughts immediately. Refuse to replay a stressful situation as negative, and it may cease to be so.
• Reframe. Try looking at your situation from a new reference point. Instead of feeling frustrated that you’re home with a sick child, look at it as an opportunity to bond, relax and finish a load of laundry.
• Adopt a mantra. Create a saying such as “I can handle this,” and mentally repeat it in tough situations.
• Create an assets column. Imagine all of the things that bring you joy in life — vacation, children, pets. Then call on that list when you’re stressed. It will put things into perspective and serve as a reminder of life’s joys.
• Use humor and imagination. Create ridiculous scenarios in your head. Allow yourself to see an atrocious day as comical. Laugh at the lunacy of it all.
• Look at the big picture. Ask yourself, “Will this matter in a year? In five years?” The answer is usually no. Realizing this makes a stressful situation seem less overwhelming.

How does exercise reduce stress?

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your steps every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

• It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps to bump up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner’s high, a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
• It’s meditation in movement. After a fast-paced game of racquetball or several laps in the pool, you’ll often find that you’ve forgotten the day’s dilemmas and irritations and concentrated only on your body’s movements. As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do.
• It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. This can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.