Ten Five Healthy Ways to Cope With Stress
A relaxed face is a pretty face, right? Sure, yeah. But that’s easier said than done for a lot of us.
It’s August—a time when people go to the beach, sleep in, and show up late to work—but if my horoscope is any indication (and it usually is), this is not going to be a quiet month for me. With that in mind, I thought it would be nice to share five of my 10 favorite ways to reduce stress naturally and healthily, and I really hope you guys share yours in the comments, too.
(I’ll do another five soon, but I’m too stressed to write them all out now.)
1. Breeeeeeeeeeathe. Blah, blah, blah—but it’s true. When you slow down your breath, your nervous system gets a signal that it’s OK to relax, which then tells the rest of your body to take it down a thousand. Then, as if by magic, your mind quiets down. We all know this is true, and I think it’s just one of those things we need to hear over and over again until it clicks and we start doing it when we need it most.
2. Use the quiet moments to plan for the, um, noisier one. I know I have a hectic month ahead of me, so I’ve been trying to take the calm periods after work and on the weekend to recharge my batteries so that when the sh*t hits the fan, as it inevitably will, I’m better able to deal (or duck, as the case may be). You probably all have different ways of doing this. For me lately it’s been spending time with people who make me feel good and who I love, meditating, hanging out in nature (even when that “nature” is a litter-strewn public park) and—eeks!—making collages. I’ve been making art! The nice thing about collages is at the end, you have a thing. You made it! With your hands! Very calming, somehow.
3. Use aromatherapy. Last week I had a wonderful session with Hope Gillerman (which I will write more about soon) and she taught me about her incredibly concentrated and wonderful line of organic aromatherapy. Her collection has been a cult hit for some time, and I was delighted to finally learn about it. I gravitated naturally to the stress remedy, which smelled nothing like the little janky bottle of lavender I keep by my bed at home. I have found her blends to be incredibly effective at taking the edge off. Alexandra and I also like Hope’s tension remedy, which we find less sedating than the stress one; perfect for when you need to focus on the go but you don’t want to lose your mind.
4. Also, use flower essences. Flower essences are going to have to get their own post, too, because they’re special and widely misunderstood, but the gist is: Certain flowers contain certain properties that, when grown organically and distilled by people who know what they’re doing, can impart certain qualities to the person who ingests them. What I find especially interesting about them is that they are working on root causes. Lavender is great when you’re actually freaking out, and I’ve been using Lotus Wei flower essences to target the deeper things that make peace of mind more challenging. I learned about this just a few weeks ago, when I had a wonderful lunch with Katie Hess of Lotus Wei and Lisa Reinhardt of Wei of Chocolate. Meeting women like this is what makes my job (“job”) worthwhile, no question. I especially like Pure Energy and Infinite Love in chocolate and mist and elixir form. You can go to their sites and see which ones might work best for you, too.
5. Be a little irresponsible (but don’t hurt anyone, and don’t get arrested). This one’s as important as the others, in my opinion. Yes, it’s great to be Buddha on the mountain when things are hard, but sometimes what you really need is to take life a little less seriously and have FUN. Maybe you could lie around in bed with a bodysuit on, a bottle of something brown, and some records? I don’t know. I just liked the picture. I look at it and I think, “That looks awesome.” And very, very relaxing.
What are your favorite ways to beat stress? And have you tried the ones listed here? Your answers will help us, too, so share!
Image via
Exercise! A scientifically proven stress reliever and depression easer.
Baking!
Gardening!
And I’m not going to lie, when times are tough, say a particularly scary doctor’s visit sits at the end of my morning, I will take half a Xanax. It doesn’t happen often, but for those of us with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, aromatherapy and deep breathing can only do so much. It is far worse, too, in my opinion, to keep yourself from prescription drugs just because you want to keep things clean and natural. I try to remind myself of all the stress hormones and toxins my body is swirling around when I can’t do anything to calm myself down.
Also, there are new studies on the benefits of talking on stress levels.
Not surprisingly I agree with my sister Siobhan on all of these! That stress remedy from Hope has been a godsend to me these past weeks…
Number 2 on this list is SO important and it’s the one I’m really bad at it too. I tend to use my down time to obsess over what I need to do and get organized. That has its merits, because it reduces stress, but then I have no down time. Gotta work on that BIG TIME. Number 5 I’m a little better at. :)
Not to be predictable….but definitely sex. And cooking, pickling, gardening, yoga-ing.
Ya know what relaxes me like NO other…riding in a car with my arm hanging out the window, listening to a mixed CD my best friend made for me. Also going on an easy late-night bike ride…
Right now I’m at the end of my dissertation, job hunting, new apartment hunting, dealing with visa applications, and planning an event for a non-profit, so stress is no stranger to me! What’s been helping a lot lately (besides ice cream) is giving myself little rewards. Last night I went to the movies with a friend, but I’ll spend the rest of the week hard at work. Giving myself little, scheduled breaks from “real life,” like two hours to laugh at a movie, a walk through the park, coffee with friends, etc, where I ban myself from stressing out has been so, so good. That probably falls into Number 5 up there. Also, breathing and as close to a full night’s sleep as I can get!
Doing something creative helps me. Forcing myself to sit down and crochet, knit, scrapbook etc… It’s necessary for my mental health. I also, love doing something for someone else. For instance, I work as a nanny, so emptying the dishwasher for my boss makes me feel great because it’s a nice gesture. She doesn’t expect it. Lastly, a good jam session to some Dave Matthews Band always helps me de-stress.
Mine overlap a lot with this post, here they are not necessarily in order of importance as that varies:
1. Daily exercise, mainly yoga, add in biking and running as much as possible. I think the breathing thing combines with this in a very significant way.
2. Eating well, including daily chocolate
3. Aromatherapy/flower essences – started this a few weeks ago, LOVE Lotus Wei (especially Inspired Action and Pure Energy)
4. Experimenting with DIY body care products – as with artwork, there’s a fun product at the end and it incorporates aromatherapy
5. Experimenting with making jewelry, again the cool product at the end
6. Wearing clothing/jewelry that surrounds me with an energy I want to absorb and project
7. Listening to music, radio shows and podcasts that I love or make me laugh (is anyone else here a Stephanie Miller fan??)
Funny this post comes up now, as I am just sitting here with a cup of chamomile. I have a funeral to go to tonight & was feeling anxious and irritable. I’m almost done with the tea and I feel so much better. When I was having some very bad anxiety last year, I was drinking about 6 cups of chamomile per day. It really worked to help me calm down.
I live in a beach town & the best thing is going out early in the morning and waiting for the dolphins to swim by to eat their breakfasts.
Helping other people. There’s nothing like seeing how bad it could be, and helping people have a little light in their life, to snap you into gratitude > appreciation > less stress because you know, you aren’t that bad off. Besides, helping people is just plain nice. Even though it can add stress if you let it get you down, you just have to take it as a gift ( the abiliity to help people ) and have fun with it. Play bingo with the elderly, go downtown and give a homeless man lunch and hear his story, spend time w/ a kid through big brother’s big sisters, build a house with habitat for humanity.
My biggest stress relief? Disc golf. Playing with animals!!!! Nothing helps like puppy, or kitty, or ferret, or w/e inncocent pet you are so lucky to “own,” loves.
Have a fun make-up day and take some photos of who you are, for you, to keep, just to make you smile.
You only live this life once!
@Christina Waiting for dolphins should officially top this list. :) I agree about chamomile though, I’m a big fan. Siobhan can’t even drink it without actually falling asleep! I wish that were the case for me but it definitely calms my nerves.
My biggest relaxers are yoga (which I don’t do enough), baking or cooking (totally chills me out, until it’s time to do the dishes!), and checking out kickstarter.com. My husband totally laughs at me over the kickstarter thing, but it helps me to mellow out seeing all these people with creative goals and dreams, I guess it sorta gives me hope since tons of strangers come together to help out in each others dreams. So maybe that falls in line with Reese’s response about helping people. I also like making soaps (melt and pour), since it is a creative project that is accomplished quickly, so there is almost instant gratification.
This is going to be a controversial one, but cleaning can be a major stress buster. A messy, cluttered space stresses me out in ways that I don’t notice. When life starts getting to me, stopping, turning on some sing-along music, and tidying a room is very relaxing. The real reason cleaning helps? It gives you a sense of control and the satisfaction of accomplishment when you see a clean room.
Anyone out there with kids can appreciate this one… at the end of a long day, I curl up on the couch with my youngest son (he is 20 months) and I feed him a bottle of water while he gazes up at me with this sweet face. Then when he finishes, he rolls over and nuzzles his face into my neck and falls asleep. Nothing forces you to stop and relax more than rocking a baby to sleep. And if I remember correctly, it has been clinically shown to slow your respiration and heart rate as well as decrease cortisol levels.
Ever since you posted about flower essences here, I am so excited to try them. I completely agree with your assessment that Lotus Wei’s remedies are trying to get to the root of the problem. Based on the titles of the elixirs alone, I was drawn to “Inspired Action” since I am always trying to find ways of focusing my energy and working harder. But, then the flowers I picked all led me to “Infinite Love” and I realized that even though I would not have selected Infinite Love based on the title alone, what it purports to remedy are all root causes for a lot of the stress in my life! I just put in my first Lotus Wei order and can’t wait to give these a try. At the very least, they’ve allowed me to recognize more about myself and what I need to attend to.
As for ways of relieving stress…a nice bicycle ride, a cup of tea, a soothing bath, and a nap can’t be beat :)
Love this post – love that photo – love everyone’s comments!
So nice to hear what others do …
If I have a couple hours, the Korean bathhouse is so nurturing … herbal steam, mugwort bath, charcoal room, sweating out all the toxins, salt room, fresh strawberry juice, spicy soup, warm jade floors and soft blankets for taking a nap, a little silence … doing nothing, just being.
If I don’t have the luxury of time, then tiny breaks outside, under a tree, near plants, under the sky, feet on the ground …
And
- appreciating my doggies
- dark chocolate moment
- yummy hot tea
- fruit break
- making a special drink with flower essences
- diffusing essential oils in the room & music
- climbing trees, rolling around in grass is quite nice too …
anything that reminds me of the preciousness of life.
I love everyone’s ideas, especially the kickstarter one!!!!
great article! i never lived a stress free life before. i live with my two annoying parents who don’t know when to shut up and stop nagging every second. growing up, my home has always been a negative environment and still is today. Stress free, leave the house for several hours then I have to come back “home” to the stressful environment. I am stuck, what am I suppose to do?
I have Bach remedies for stress it says take it when you need it and I have. I used it for anxiety I ended up having anxiety after taking it. Not sure why I had anxiety after taking the Bach remedy, can someone explain that to me? I got interested in flower essence to deal with emotions someone suggest I could really use it on my emotions.
@Marquis,
I hear you–it is really difficult when your home is your source of stress. Definitely try out our Quiet Mind formula. It will make a huge difference in terms of anxiety–I would say within a week or so you’ll feel a pretty significant difference. I had someone tell me the exact same thing you’re saying here. I would also suggest using Infinite Love … you can mist it around the house–no one even had to know what it’s for … and it will curb the nagging. ; ) And feel free to contact me anytime. Take care.