- Breathe. Take long, deep breaths and slow your thoughts down. Go for a yoga class or watch a meditation video on YouTube. Taking a few big, deep breaths really make a difference.
- Try not to blow things out of proportion. I'm guilty of this. I tend to always imagine worse case scenarios and make myself even more agitated than I should be. Unless you're in a life threatening situation, it's going to be okay. The stress you feel will pass. The bad day you have will pass. Those clouds will roll away.
- Treat yo’self! Need a massage to knead out all that tension? Go for it. It's probably cheaper than therapy. Get flowers for yourself. Sign up for a trial class of something ridiculous that you're slightly embarrassed about. Just do something that makes you happy!
- Think of five good things you have going on. And, no matter how bad you think you have it going, you definitely have five good things around you. Having a hard time thinking of them? Family that supports you? Great friends? Cute partner? Speak an extra language? Have skills others don't have? Do you have the ability to make people feel good? Do you have particularly good hair? Whatever the reason is, no matter how silly or shallow you might think it is, embrace it. And think of it over and over again. You're not as crap as you think you are. Also, if you're reading this it means you have the Internet, which means you most likely have a roof over your head and you never have to worry about when your next meal is coming. And that, that right there, is better than what a lot of people have in the world today.
- Constructively think of how you can make your situation better. Should you be working harder or smarter? Should you be nicer to your partner? Examine what you can do you yourself first. Should you clean up more around the house? What could you do to make a situation better? A lot of times, we know the answer to it, we probably just don't want to act on it.
- If things are just really hopeless, well, you always have a choice to get out of a bad situation. Exercise that power and take that choice. Change jobs if you need to. Quit your relationship. Move out of your house if you can't stand your housemates. Just be warned : change is uncomfortable and won't be easy at first. But it'll be worth it, and you can be proud of yourself for being brave enough. Never be stuck out of fear.
- Carve out space for yourself. You need time to think and breathe and recharge. Stop packing your day full of stuff. If you're running from one end to another all the time, of course you're going to be a complete stress ball. Schedule a day where you do absolutely nothing. You need it!
- This is a little obvious, but stay far, far away from people who exacerbate your stress. Toxic people are called toxic for a reason. Don't let them pollute your space!
- Do stuff that you enjoyed as a kid. Take a trip down memory lane. Liked running around? Go to a park. Liked drawing? Pick up your pen. It can feel so great to go back to something you used to enjoy as a child and reexamine that.
- Be kind to yourself. Above all, don't be harsh to yourself. Be gentle and give yourself self love (I don't mean the obscene kind). Just be nice to yourself, because you damn well deserve it.
See published article here.
