I’m on a mission for myself to constantly improve or optimize the 5 building blocks of health in my life. I’ve got a pretty good grasp of my nutrition, my supplementation, my sleep and reducing my toxin exposure but managing stress will most likely be a life long practice for myself.
So I posted a poll on my Facebook & Instagram asking people if they needed more tips on managing stress or getting better sleep and stress won by a landslide. As always, I love exploring things by looking at their definitions first. Ok so what does stress as a noun mean?
Ok so we take number 2 for our purposes. Stress can be a mental state or an emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. So pretty much anything can cause us stress. We are all such different human beings that adverse or demanding circumstances are completely personal and will be different for anyone. One thing might cause someone stress while for someone else (based on their upbringing or mindset) it might not even cause them to bat an eye. I think this definition allows us to just know that what we perceive as stress, is stress and we don’t have to diminish it or dismiss it if we feel stress.
Ok so what about stress as a verb?
So for me, I stress when I have deadlines placed on me at work. I stress about the lack of control in the situation and wanting to do a good job.
I find it stressful when I have friends who are in pain and hurting. I care about their well-being and want to help or fix the situation.
So these are just a few examples of how I choose to stress, because of the way that I am. We could discuss why or how I shouldn’t allow those things to create stress in my life but that’s probably a whole other blog post.
For now, and for me. When I recognize what causes me stress or how you choose to be stressed I can then choose how to adapt to different situations or use tools and tactics to mitigate the amount of stress I allow to bother me.
So here are 10 ways I manage stress or de-stress or reduce my stress. Whatever language floats your boat.
10 Ways to Manage Stress
- Epsom salt baths
I like to have these 3 – 4 times a week. I use about a cup of Epsom salts and my go to essential oils that I’ll add to the salt before chucking in the water are Marjoram & Siberian Fir or Lavender & Frankincense.
- Meditation
I start pretty much every single morning with meditation. I usually just grab my phone, open the Insight Timer app and press play as I have it set for a 5 minute meditation which is the minimum time I need to get grounded before letting the day control me.
- Diffusing Essential Oils
I will pop specific essential oils into my home office diffuser (where I start my day) or the diffuser at my office or our bedroom diffuser (at the end of the day) depending on what’s going on and if I need to feel uplifted or to chill out. Here are 2 of my favourite diffuser blend recipes for relaxing at the end of the day.
- Deep Breaths
Over the years I’ve done everything from post it notes on my computer monitor to phone alarms to remind me to breath throughtout the day. But not just any kind of breathing. True deep breaths. Did you know that 6 deep breaths has the power to regulate your brain waves?
- Orgasms
Enough said.
- Yoga
Whenever I find myself spinning in overwhelm I just find myself on my mat. Whether it’s in class or my own practice, connecting with my breath and movement always brings me peace.
- Workout or Run
The happy hormones always bring me out of a funk and it’s always the perfect time to sit with your thoughts without letting them run away from you. I always find solutions or new ways of looking at perceived problems when sweating.
- Pet the Puppies
I’m hoping you’re a pet person. If not, this won’t apply to you. But if I ever need to centre myself, curling up beside our dogs always calms me down. Their unconditional love and attention and calmness when sleeping immediately calms me down.
- Go for a walk outside
Nature walks, grounding and just being outside is getting popular again. Thank the heavens! Being outside, smelling clean air, sun or wind on your face can change a cloudly mood for me almost instantly.
- Journal
I’ve shared this tip a few times on my social media but the moment I feel like a situation or thought is out of control I sit and write down all the things that are horrible about the situation on the left hand side of the page. I then write down all the positive aspects or things I’m grateful for about the situation to reframe my thoughts from purely negative to ones of gratitude. When I do that I can usually see a solution in the situation or realize I’m just present or future worrying.
Do you have any ways to manage stress that I missed in the list? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
I’d also love if you could pin the below image to Pinterest to help others find this information!
