We all get stressed from time to time – it’s a natural part of life. Every stressful situation causes blood pressure to rise temporarily. However, lasting stress leads to long-term high-blood pressure that causes a myriad of health issues, including heart attack, stroke, and dementia. As such, it’s imperative to find ways in which to alleviate your stress levels to lower blood pressure. You can talk to a doctor and take the following ideas into account when managing your stress levels.
- Simplify your Schedule
With the increased demands from family, friends, and jobs, it’s pretty easy to feel rushed and pressured to complete your daily tasks. The build-up of this pressure daily creates frustration, thus increasing your stress levels and leading to high blood pressure. As such, it would be in your best interest to simplify your schedule.
Ideally, look for activities that take up much of your time but are entirely unnecessary. Schedule less time or eliminate these activities. You may also prioritize the most necessary tasks and activities to ensure that you handle them in time. If your actions are job-related, hire a personal assistant and let them take care of the minor functions of your business.
- Exercise Regularly
Exercise is the most efficient natural stress buster. Being physically active will take your mind off things and has been shown to improve resilience to acute stress. As such, you will be left with a healthy mental state to handle some of your challenging tasks, which will decrease your stress levels. Regular exercise will also help in losing weight, which is the most significant contributor to high blood pressure. However, exercising doesn’t mean that you should run a marathon; instead, find simple activities like yoga, aerobics, dancing, jogging, and swimming. You may also take short trips on your bike.
- Become one with Nature
Stepping out of your house or office and heading to a park or forest works magic in reducing your stress levels. The fresh air and sounds of nature will help your body and mind relax. Being in nature will also clear your head, which will help you think better and improve creativity. In turn, you will find tasks that you thought were difficult easy to handle. Ideally, take a small hike into a local park or forest, relax on a riverbank or laze about somewhere quiet.
- Medication if Recommended by your Doctor
For some people, making lifestyle changes are enough to alleviate their stress levels, but some need medication. If you are in the latter category, you may rely on drugs, therapy, or a combination of the two. For this idea, however, you must seek the services of a competent doctor to help you find an efficient treatment plan. The plan is critical because some stress medications lead to high blood pressure over time.
- Get Enough Sleep at Night and Take a Siesta
Sleep is an efficient stress reducer. As such, you need to sleep continuously for six to eight hours a day, failure to do so has been linked to an increased risk of hypertension. You may also take a siesta during the day to calm your mind. Doing so will ease your mind and restore your body, which will enable you to wake up feeling relaxed and with a clear head. Sleep also regulates blood flow and mood. In turn, you will have the energy and mental capacity to solve problems and make sound decisions.
For people whose sleep is affected by stress, it’s advisable to relax before sleep, take a long shower, read a comic book, watch a funny movie, or listen to relaxing music. You may also have sex. These activities will calm your mind and allow it to welcome sleep.
Stress is a daily aspect of life, but it needs to be managed. It leads to increased blood pressure, which leads to a myriad of life-altering health issues. You can control your stress levels by taking medication recommended by a doctor, exercise more, lowering your stressors, getting enough sleep, and getting in touch with nature.
