How to Deal with Stress in a Healthy Manner

We all have those weeks, you know what I’m talking about – those weeks where the internet stops working and the kids get into a fight just as tech support finally answers, those weeks where your husband brings home stress from work or plans just keep falling apart no matter how hard you try and hold them together. Stress never seems to come in a manageable amount, when life decides to stress you out it likes to pile it on until even the smallest inconvenience seems to hard to bare.

When you are stressed out it is easy to look at life and ask ‘why me?’, to feels as though everything is going wrong but it’s important to understand that although it feels like it, your not the only one suffering.   Odds are your family is suffering too, let’s face it, very few of us are at the top of our game when stressed out and there’s a good reason for the old adage ‘When mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy’.

Learning to deal with stress is something that should be more important in our society but is commonly just seen as common sense that we all know how to do instinctively. If this were true we would see fewer people turning to unhealthy methods of dealing with stressful situations and self-medication.

Of course, since we are all individual people what works for some people won’t necessarily work for everyone and it will be up to you to ultimately come up with the stress relieving routine that works best for you. Thankfully there are some commonly accepted methods that are a good place to start.

Take A Break

For some stressful situations, it’s best to just walk away for a little while. Even if there is a deadline that you have to deal with taking a five-minute break to walk around and refocus can be far more productive in the long run than sitting and stewing about the problem that is bothering you. It’s even better if you can manage to get some fresh air during your break, multiple studies have shown that getting outside can boost the chemicals in your body which are responsible for making you feel good.

Take care of something

Many studies have shown that just petting an animal can help lower blood pressure and de-stress people, and as an avid animal lover, I can honestly say that hugging the dog or brushing a horse can certainly take my mind off of my current troubles. But! Did you know that surrounding yourself with plants can have a similar effect? If you can’t have a pet or your most stressful place to just happens to be the office at work consider investing in a plant (Succulents have been pretty popular lately). As an added bonus the daily routine of taking care of your pet or your plant not only gives you an excuse to step away now and then but following daily routines have been shown to help lower stress in and of themselves.

Distract Yourself

If you are one of those people who just can’t let go of a problem.  Someone who lays in bed at night with all the day’s troubles constantly running through your mind. You might need more of a distraction. Some people are sufficiently distracted by a good book or TV Show, others require a more hands-on activity. Consider taking up a creative hobby something that allows you to express yourself and lets you get away from life for a little while to do something you enjoy. Painting, writing, quilling, knitting, woodworking, baking  – there are endless possibilities that fit all budgets and creative skill levels. A little bit of time working on something we enjoy can do wonders for our stress and temperaments.

Pamper Yourself

For some people, a bit of time making yourself feel nice is all they need to de-stress, take a bubble bath with some Aromatherapy candles or bath bombs. Wash your hair with that shampoo you love the smell of. Do your nails or put on your favorite fluffy sweater. Taking care of yourself often falls by the wayside in stressful times. Most of us just feel worse when we let ourselves go. Stepping away for a while to take care of yourself is worth it. When you return in a better mood your family will probably think it was worth it too.

Exercise

I know, everyone always harps on exercising as the go-to feel-good method. There’s a reason for this, exercising really does make you feel better. You don’t have to go to the gym. Just take a walk or go for a bike ride. Maybe combine a few of these methods. Walk to dog or head to the nearest park to admire the flowers.

Organize

It’s often the little things that tip us over the edge. You have a bad day but it’s deciding what to make for supper that finally get to you. If you get rid of those stressors before anything bad happens they won’t add to your bad day later. Consider Meal Planning and budgeting so that you don’t have to worry about those sorts of problems when you have other things on your mind. Setting out clothes the night before for your kids and pre-packing lunches can make or break a busy morning. Do anything you can to make tomorrow easier. That way if tomorrow turns out to be terrible…it will be just a little bit less terrible.