While many of us look forward to the long, balmy days of summertime, the warmer months are not without their seasonal stresses and strains.
Mental health experts offer some surprisingly simple summer stress relief tips to help you keep your cool throughout the warmer months.Could being among trees reduce stress?
Take time for yourself
5. Make time for meditation
‘During the summer months we can get hot and bothered really quickly and, even with the longer days, it's often hard to find the time to connect properly to how we're actually feeling at any particular moment,’ says James Langton, Editor of Less-Stress London (@LessStressLDN).
There's strong evidence showing that meditation can reduce mental stress – and it doesn't need to take up too much time during your busy day.
‘A short five or ten-minute quiet meditation moment, where we close our eyes and connect to how we are feeling emotionally, can be really useful to help us gain perspective about what is really important, and what can take care of itself for now,’ James explains.
Whatever your plans for the months ahead, don't let the stress leave your summer in the shade. Whether you're jetting off or enjoying a staycation, find time to check in with yourself and the world.
[1] Mental Health Foundation, How to look after your mental health using exercise, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-using-exercise
[2] Kolettis TM, 2003. Winter swimming: healthy or hazardous?. Evidence and hypotheses. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14592803