No matter how well you plan or how good your life tends to be, there will invariably be times when you’re just stressed out of your mind.

Whether relationship difficulties strike, you encounter obstacles in your career or are struggling with your health, you can quickly become overwhelmed in a way that completely undermines your overall well-being.

However, there are smart things you can do to counteract stress and calm yourself down. Here are ten of the most effective techniques…

1. Push Your Palms Together

Experts say that pushing your palms together for about 7-8 seconds can instantaneously help to reduce stress levels by anchoring your body in space.

This easy technique taps into your body’s proprioception system, and is very grounding. Hold for longer (up to 10-15 seconds) if you’re feeling especially strung out.

2. Imagine Blowing Bubbles

Most of us can remember using a bubble wand to blow bubbles in childhood—what a fun and relaxing activity! You can use a similar technique to adjust your breathing in a way that reduces stress.

Put your dominant hand over your heart, and the other over your stomach, then inhale for a count of five (through your nose). Hold your breath for five seconds, then breathe out for a count of five—doing so through pursed lips, as though you’re being careful to avoid popping an emerging bubble.

3. Massage Your Hands

This is a wonderful way to combat stress, as it’s not only powerful but also discreet—you can do it anywhere, whether you’re in the middle of a crowd, sitting on a plane or working in the office.

Just use the thumb of one of your hands to press into various spots on the palm of your other hand—you’ll immediately feel soothed. Consider swapping over to the other hand when you’re done (and if you have some nice hand cream to use during the massage, so much the better).

What is causing your stress? 

While there are some great tips for quick stress relief in this article, it is crucial to know what is making you stressed in the first place. If you don’t, you won’t be able to permanently eliminate stress from your life.

So here is an extra exercise for you – inspect your mind. Literally, think about your thoughts. This is called introspection, inspection within. Only when you understand the cause, that you will really be able to help yourself.

Yes, it may be scary to think about this. And you may be avoiding some negative thoughts on purpose (like The Law Of Attraction sometimes teaches you to do), but keeping all of your fears and emotions bottled up is unhealthy, to say the least. You go on, do this right now, take the quiz, then grab a pen and paper and write down what is worrying you. This is the first step to getting better.

P.S. To untangle your emotions faster make sure that you: a) challenging your thoughts, b) spotting patterns and c) breaking things down into smaller pieces. It won’t be easy at first, but keep going – good habits take effort but they are hard to break too!

Read the other half of the article on The Law of Attraction’s Blog here: http://bit.ly/2fsEuVH