Recently, I made myself literally sick with stress because I lost my debit card and since I’m pretty organized and every possession of mine has a designated spot, I was stressing like crazy that my debit card was gone forever. I was stressed it would fall into the wrong hands and stressed that I’d have to change all my online payment methods if I had to get a new one. There are so many ways to relieve stress, but in that moment, I was most definitely not implementing ANY of them.
I’m an incredibly stress-prone person, so I’ve spent some time figuring out how to navigate that, and I want to share with you so you can feel calm, cool, and collected even after losing your debit card (or whatever else stresses you out).
I want for you to learn ways to relieve stress with intention by implementing your go-to strategy which will allow you to feel at ease even in this stress-inducing world.
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Your Body and Stress
Remember how I said that I made myself sick with stress? I actually managed to stress myself out so much that I gave myself a major headache, an upset stomach, and a racing heart. My muscles were crazy tense and my body ached.
That’s the thing about stress- it can manifest itself physically in your body so easily if you let it. Stress causes undue pressure on your body and suppresses your immune system, leaving you more susceptible to getting a cold or worse!
When you’re in a stressful situation, your body often goes into a fight or flight stage. Here, your body adjusts the level of cortisol (stress hormone) released, and too much cortisol, from chronic stress, can cause trouble digesting and blood pressure issues.
Okay, enough sciencey stuff, but it’s important to know that stressing out often can have a real impact on not only your body but your mind too! Long-lasting stress can lead to anxiety and depression, if not addressed. You get the picture, too much stress = bad for your physical body and your mental health!
And, I’m guessing you’re here to be doing just the opposite! You want to do things that are GOOD for your body and mind. You want to DEstress.
Causes of Stress
Before we get to the real good stuff, the practical ways to relieve stress, I want you to uncover where your stress comes from so that you can pick a strategy to destress that makes sense and will truly work for you!
It’s pretty simple, really.
Your stress can come from within or from outside of you, meaning stress can be internal or external.
Internal stress
This is stress you basically create inside your own head, and you may be thinking, “do I ever create my own stress?!” Well, usually, you don’t even realize you’re doing it. This kind of stress could look like this: you psych yourself out because you think you’re not talented or skilled enough to (fill in the blank), or you worry ahead of time about something you can’t control.
Here’s a real-life example where I have experienced internal stress:
I was a part of a 5-day live training took place at the same time as my afternoon commute and I had a particularly busy week and was making some stops after work that I needed to use the GPS on my phone for. Now, I realized I couldn’t listen to the live event’s audio and have the navigation tell me where to go simultaneously, so I was tooootally stressing out because I was missing a chunk of this live training (even though I knew they sent a replay right after the event was over each day)!
Realistically, there was nothing to stress about since I could listen to the recording later, but I let myself get worked up and stressed that I’d get too far behind or I’d miss out on a prize if I won the giveaway at the end. There was nothing inherently stressful about that situation, but I created something to be stressed about, and this, my friend, is that pesky internal stress I was talking about.
External stress
This comes from circumstances in your life and could look like this: you have a big project coming up that will determine something big for your future, or a family member is sick or suffering, or you don’t know if you will have enough money to pay your rent next month.
When you can identify your specific stressors, and you might have multiple, you can pick a way to relieve stress for each stressor. You can actually target one thing that’s stressing you out with a specific destressing strategy!
Ways to Relieve Stress
Okay, now to the juicy stuff! Below are a bunch of activities, tips, and strategies you can try out to target and get rid of the stress in your life that is holding you back.
I dove deeper into a few, then listed out a buuunch more for ya!
If your stress is internal, try one of these:
1. Gain perspective on the situation to bring some clarity to exactly what you are feeling.
Check out this post for all the deets on that.
2. Journal about it using a guided exercise or free-write.
Putting your thoughts onto paper solidifies the abstract and brings some clarity, and the process of writing in a journal (or just a piece of paper) can be life-giving. You may choose to write an entry about things you’re grateful for, things you’re proud of, a dream or goal you have, your specific stressor, or let your mind wander and jot down everything that’s in your brain (my favorite way to journal, I love a good thought dump)!
If your stress is external, try one of these:
3. Create space between you and the stressor.
Removing yourself from the environment or people that are causing your stress will work wonders for your state of mind, and sometimes a little physical space can provide the space your mind needs to return to a calm, steady state.
I bet you didn’t know the extent to which stress messes with your mind: When your emotions are high, you are unable to act logically because the emotional part of your brain (the limbic system) acts before the logical part of your brain (the prefrontal cortex). This is called emotional hijacking and you can combat it by creating space to return to a place where you aren’t acting off emotion but from a place of reason.
4. Make a list of things that are inside and outside your control, and focus your attention on the things on the first list.
When a specific situation is causing you undue stress, it’s easy to hone in on all the factors involved, but the truth is, you only have control of SOME of them. That’s right, you’re not all-powerful, unfortunately, and worrying about all the things will only make you more stressed, so do yourself a favor and get a piece of paper and draw a vertical line down the middle. Label one side “things I can control” and the other side “things I can’t control.”
When you’re done writing both sides of the list, rip it down the middle and throw the list titled “things I can’t control” RIGHT IN THE TRASH. You’ve just reduced your stress load by like half. You’re welcome! Now just focus on changing or working on the things on your list that you have control over.
Or try any of these ways to relieve stress!
Any of these are excellent for either internal or external stress:
5. Open a voice memo on your phone and talk it out with yourself.
6. Lay flat and relax every muscle intentionally, starting at your feet and working your way up your body.
This is what I use when I really need to relax. There’s something about the subtle sway of a hammock that melts my stress away. I swear by hammocks for stress relief and lay in mine for a few minutes just about every day!
7. Get outside and move your body (take a walk, exercise, or just sit in the sun- or shade!)
8. Smile for 30 seconds- it’s proven to improve your mood.
9. Listen to your favorite song (or playlist) at any volume (as loud as you want!).
10. Listen to music and dance like crazy!
11. Stare out a window for a few minutes and soak up nature.
12. Call a loved one to chat.
13. Engage in a new thought pattern, a healthier, happy pattern that’s focused on the positive.
14. Do a quick yoga flow or stretch routine.
15. Do an eye or face mask.
16. Spend some time with your pet.
17. Take a nap OR just close your eyes for even 5 minutes even if you don’t sleep.
18. Drink a BIG glass of water.
19. Journal and even start a routine where you write a quick entry every day.
20. Spend a minute or two breathing intentionally and deeply. A nice way to start is to breathe in for 4 counts, hold, and out for 4 counts, and this will engage your parasympathetic nervous system to relieve stress.
21. Pray about it.
22. Focus on all of your senses. Ask yourself, in that moment, what do you see, smell, hear, taste, and feel. This is called grounding. Cycle through your senses as many times as you need.
23. Get practical- do one small task (more on how here) that will relieve stress in a small way.
24. Make a list of priorities and organize them in order of importance.
25. Make an action plan that will help you relieve stress.
26. Do the opposite- if you’re hustling around doing all the things, take a break! And if you’re procrastinating and not working on what you need to, take action and do something small to get the ball rolling.
27. Exercise in any way that feels good to you– in your living room, at the gym, or in the park.
28. Engage in an activity that brings you joy! (For me, that’s baking.)
29. Create something, whether you’re artsy or not. Get your creative juices flowing.
30. Take a hot shower or bath, and maybe add in some essential oils to up the stress relief.
(For ideas on how to increase your energy, click here!)
Side Note:
Finding one way to relieve stress that actually works for you and brings you a sense of calm, THEN implementing that strategy CONSISTENTLY will allow you to work toward personal development and give you the power you need to work through the next daunting thing life throws at you.
Plus, the more you implement a stress-relieving strategy, the more it becomes second nature and natural for you, and that’s the goal, right?! To automatically deploy that strategy without having to think about it, so that next time, stress doesn’t sneak up on you and rob you of health or happiness.
Let’s Bring it Home
I’m so excited for you to grab on to one (or more!) of these ways to relieve stress and apply it in your life so you can avoid the troublesome physical and mental toll stress can take. You now know exactly where your stress comes from and can target it accordingly, so you can feel calm, cool, and collected even as the next wave of life rolls in.
P.S. I found my debit card underneath a Jeep in the parking lot of my favorite Mexican restaurant. I must have dropped it when I was picking up takeout. Needless to say, I proudly dusted off my knees after crouching down and reaching halfway under a car in the dark to grab it.
Now, two things:
1. Pick one of these ways to relieve stress, and actually implement it consistently when you feel stressed in the future. That’s the way toward personal growth!
2. I’d love for you to share the link to this article with someone you know who is a little (or a lot) stressed out. They’ll love you for it!
And follow me on Pinterest for more encouragement!