According to the World Health Organization, stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. You can experience stress at any age. When you are a baby, you can feel stress from not being able to feed, change, or move yourself. When you are a child, you can feel stress from school work and making friends. As a teenager, you can feel stress as you come up to life decisions that need to be made. As an adult, those life decisions continue to have to be made on top of having kids, relationships, work, and many other things. Stress is something most people deal with in life.
I personally have dealt with stress on all levels. Before I joined the military, I was in college full time along with having a full time job. I was always stressed about money and time management. During the military, there are constant stressors that I had to endure everyday. Add the stressors from normal life and an abusive relationship and that is me. I am not saying my stress is worse than anyone else's, I am saying for me as a person it was and still is a lot. Now, being a disabled vet, a mom, and not having much money, I continue to feel these stressors on the daily. So, how do I try to manage my stress while continuing to live life? I have put together 10 ways I cope with stress that are healthy. They do not include substances or reckless activities.
Sleep. One of the most important things you can do when you are stressed is to get enough sleep. Most people recommend at least 8 hours a night. Depending on who you are, 8 hours may be too little or too much. I do not recommend over sleeping or staying in bed as this could lead to depression in my experience. I personally try to go to bed at a decent time at night when I am stressed as it allows me to get the rest I need to try to reset my brain for the next day.
Working out. When I say work out, this could mean the gym, go for a walk, or even something as simple as jumping on the trampoline with your kiddos. Getting your body moving is a simple way to not only relieve stress but also relieve tension in things like your shoulders. I personally carry my stress in my shoulders and I can be in lots of pain during a stressful day until I hit the gym. All the frustration is let out during my sessions.
Painting/other forms of art. I am a big advocater of the arts. I personally love to paint abstract pieces. When you use your creative mind, it tends to put your mind on other things versus what you are stressed about. It also gives the ability to clear your mind as you put focus on something else. I paint when I am having terrible mental health days. I am able to focus on color schemes, line work, and precision because I fully indulge myself into my art. Other forms of art can be drawing, coloring, clay work, making music, anything that involves creativity.
Listen to music. If you know me personally, you know I am a HUGE music person. I always need music to focus. Whether it is homework, art, work, or in the car, I rely on music to help me focus. I am the type of person where I find music is my safe space. I am not going to sit here and tell you that I listen to slow tempo music or soft music because I do not. I listen to my favorite band, Hollywood Undead, and jam out. To me, that is my safe space. Try using your favorite music or artist as a safe space when you are stressed.
Breathing Squares. Breathing squares is a technique I learned in therapy and have my boyfriend help me with when I am stressed out to the point of tears. Imagine you are looking at a square. Across the top, breath in counting to four as you look left to right. Then moving from there look from top to bottom on the right side counting to four holding in your breath. Repeat this for the bottom of the square and the left side of the square. You want to solely focus on breathing while doing this. Counting in your head helps clear your mind.
Find a hobby. I have started the blog not only to share my story but also as a form of stress relief at the end of the night. You'll notice I post all of my blogs at night. I choose to write at night and get things off my mind before I go to bed. This is my personal hobby. A hobby should be something you enjoy doing, not something that will add to your stress.
Take a break in sunlight. The sun has great qualities other than lighting the earth. The sun provides vitamin D which is essential in everyones lives. I have found if I am in the house or at work for too long that I start to feel stir crazy and stress over the small things. I take breaks every so often to just step outside and stand in the sun. This with the breathing squares makes a great way to relax.
Take a warm bath or shower. These are not the baths or showers where you wash yourself ad clean up for the day. These are strictly just for relaxing. I like to run a warm bath and use epsom salt with essential oils and just sit. Sometimes I listen to low fi music, sometimes I light candles and turn the lights off, and sometimes I just keep the lights off and sit in the little bit of light coming from my window. Either way, these allow you to immerse yourself into something warm and allow the water to wash off your stress.
Hang out with positive people. I have found that there are people who will always be in or around drama and people who could honestly give two shits about drama. The ones who do not care for it are the ones you should hang out with. Being around positivity allows you to also see things in a positive light. Speaking from experience, you want those people around you during the difficult times.
Be mindful of stressors. This is a big one I try to do on a regular basis. Some things you cannot avoid unfortunely. If you think it will stress you out, you should avoid it. Those toxic friends, cancel plans. A busy store on a Saturday with way to many people, go a different time. There are ways to avoid things that will stress you out more.
I hope with these tips I am able to at least help someone with stress but also allow them to see the things I do to help with stress. I am not perfect with how I handle things, but I am trying and thats all that matters. I hope you understand that this will pass and you will be able to handle it one day. If today is not the day, then try again tomorrow.
