There is no better time to stop and ask ourselves the question “Am I doing ok?”

Unfortunately stress is something we all experience whether it's in our personal or work lives. It's important to take control of your stress levels and adopt some simple techniques to perform in your own home.

With a diploma in Stress Management, we asked Spa Director, Lina Lotto for her top 3 tips on de-stressing at home:

Breathe 

It’s the single most effective thing you can do to calm the nervous system, fortify your stress response and give your mind and body the rest you know it deserves. And you may be thinking that you breathe naturally, but actually many of us don’t. Just watch a young child breathe – it’s almost always into their belly.

Most of us have faced stressful situations or we live daily with low level stress. This can make us habitual shallow breathers, or we can over breathe, both symptoms of stress. These types of breathing deprive our bodies of the oxygen it needs to function optimally, either by not taking enough in or by upsetting the delicate O2 / CO2 balance that we require to use oxygen effectively.

Just 10 minutes of slow, deep, gentle breathing at the end of a busy day can make a world of difference to your response to stress.

 

Stretch

Even just for 10 minutes at the end of day. It’s good for everyone and especially for people doing repetitive work or sitting at desks all day. Over time, if we sit in the same position or use certain muscles in a repetitive way we shorten one muscle group and elongate the other.

Our muscles are designed to work together in perfect parity to maintain posture and give us strength to perform tasks. When muscle groups become imbalanced it is important to restore equilibrium.

Yoga is superb at doing this as it both strengthens and stretches the muscles and you can focus on the whole body or specific areas where relief is most needed. As a SenSpa member you can access our yoga classes free of charge. Alternatively I can highly recommend Barbara Benagh’s superb yoga DVD for beginners called Yoga for Stress Relief.

 

Soak

The bathroom is one of the few refuges in the home where you can lock the door and have time to yourself; this is especially true in a busy household. Run a warm bath but not too hot as it is too stimulating and may prevent you from sleeping (37 – 39 degrees is ideal). Put a couple of handfuls of our Himalayan Bath Salts and soak. Warm water is comforting, nurturing, cleansing and relaxing. There’s nothing like it to soak away the stresses of the day.

TRY MINDFUL BATHING

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To unwind, de-stress and recharge why not purchase a gift voucher for a much-needed spa day? Leave all your cares at the threshold when you enter our tranquil spa, hidden in the depths of the New Forest.

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