Meditation is an incredibly effective method to reduce stress. It relieves tension in the mind and calms the body.
Meditation is a skill like any other activity we do. It takes practice to do it correctly, and it is almost never done perfectly. Meditation involves sitting in a relaxed position, closing your eyes, and trying to clear your mind. Clearing your mind and not focusing on all the tension in our lives can help melt our physical and emotional stress away. Meditating can leave you feeling refreshed, more relaxed, happier, and more ready to face the stressful triggers in your life. You may focus on a sound (typically people think of oooumm"). This may also include your breathing, counting, peaceful music, like waterfalls, or nothing at all.
The goal of meditation is to resist thinking about your life, to just clear out our thoughts and relax our bodies. However, it can be difficult to completely clear the mind for a set period of time. Meditating takes practice. Meditating on a schedule is the most beneficial way to improve this skill. Consistently meditating is more beneficial towards relieving stress and relaxing than long periods of meditating. Although long sessions tend to bring greater benefits, most people find that if they meditate for too long, their mind wanders off and resists focus. It can be intimidating to create that "perfect" practice. It's almost impossible to prevent your mind from wandering off anyway. If you are just trying meditation for the first time, just try it for a few minutes at first. Work your way into longer sessions and practices just like you would any other activity.
Our body reacts to stress with the "fight or flight" response. It excites the body and all of this normal functions to produce a quick reaction to stress. Meditation reacts in the opposite way. It triggers the body's relaxation response, restoring it to a calm state. Being calm in a stressful situation can prevent the body from causing damage. It can allow our minds to think more clearly about the situation and produce reasonable solutions.
While I do not regularly meditate, I have done it a few times, and it always seems to calm me down. I have actually done it with my weights class a few times after a hard work out. We lay down on the mat, close our eyes, and focus on our breathing. The teacher counts as we inhale and exhale. This helps us slow our heart rate and bring our body back to its regular state.
Weekly challenge: Try meditating whenever you experience stress. Find a comfortable place to sit. Notice your breaths. Breathe slowly in and out. Try to clear your mind of all the situations that are stressing you out. If you notice your thoughts wandering off, know that its okay. It's normal. Just shake thinks out and try to redirect your attention on the calming sound or rhythm. Possibly try counting "in, one, two, out, three, four." You can also change it up and hold your breath after inhaling and exhaling.