Stop stress headaches at the source with these unexpected tips.
If you’ve done the deep breathing, the meditation, the bubble bath soak, but you’re still stressed out it might be time to try some more out-of-the box approaches to relieve your stress, a very common headache trigger.
Put a Plant in Your Office
“It does seem that plants in the environment, at least for some people, create an atmosphere of calm,” explains therapist Chantal Marie Gagnon, Ph.D. In fact, in one small study, participants who performed timed stressful computer work in a room with plants had lower rises in blood pressure than those who worked in a room without plants.1 Those with plants were also more productive, with a 12% quicker reaction time on the test. This was a small study, and more research is needed, but the preliminary findings are encouraging for those with a green thumb.
Pucker Up
In one study, researchers asked married and cohabitating couples to do one simple thing: kiss more often.2 After six weeks, the couples who had kissed more felt less stress, had better total cholesterol levels and were happier in their pairings compared to those couples who weren’t instructed to lock lips more often. The study was small (52 people) and many of the results were self-reported, but the findings are similar to other studies. Gagnon explains physical touch can decrease the stress hormone cortisol.
