Many people use medications to treat their workplace stress and anxiety. However, there are ways you can lower stress naturally. Learning these natural coping mechanisms and integrating them into your daily life can greatly alleviate the stress you feel at work.

How you react to events can make a big difference in whether your work time is enjoyable or miserable. A positive attitude can go a long way toward lowering stress, but there are also other techniques you can use to feel more relaxed  as well.

Physical Ways to Treat Job Stress

When you want to handle your job challenges better, getting physical can really help out.

Try these activities:

  1. Hit the gym either before or after your workday.
  2. Go for a walk on your lunch hour – you’ll burn off some worry and see new things.
  3. Squeeze a stress ball or rub a worry stone to give yourself something to focus on.
  4. Take a long, hot shower or bath when you get home and let it wash your cares away.
  5. Take a moment to take some slow, deep breaths whenever you feel stressed. The extra oxygen will relax your muscles and give you greater clarity in your thoughts.

What alleviates your job stress might be different than what works for someone else. Experiment with different techniques to determine what works best for you. Once you see what works, you can use it regularly to keep your job stress to a manageable level.

Practice with more than one technique so you always have a variety of stress-relieving choices, regardless of the situation.

Mental Ways to Handle Job Stress

You don’t always have to do something physical in order to let go of stress. Mental and emotional options can work, too.

Consider using these mental stress-relievers:

  1. Read a lighthearted and enjoyable book.
  2. Watch a movie that makes you smile and laugh.
  3. Talk with a loved one about a happy time you shared. Reminiscing can be very good for you.
  4. Pray or meditate about your concerns and how to deal with them.
  5. Recite positive affirmations to yourself each day, before and after work.

Staying positive about any challenges that you’re facing at work is a great help in times of worry and anxiety. While you may not be able to change the circumstances that you’re involved in, you can change how you choose to react to them. When you consciously choose to display positive reactions, you empower yourself to move forward in your life.

Sometimes, medications for stress-related conditions like anxiety and high blood pressure become necessary. However, you may be able to avoid needing these if you use healthy techniques to manage issues at work.

By practicing stress-relieving activities, you may not need medication at all, or may be able to reduce your dependence on it. Of course, if you’re already on medication, it’s important to talk to your doctor before making any changes to your prescribed regimen.

Finally, taking action to move forward toward your goals and dreams will also help lower your stress levels. When you have strong goals and something to work for, you can focus on thinking positively instead of ruminating about stressful situations at your job.