Stressful Times Call For Stress Relief Practices

Trying to get meaningful stress relief can be difficult because of our lifestyles. We are all in a hurry to jam as much as we possibly can into each and every day. It is difficult to just sit back, relax a little bit, and allow life’s ills to pass by for just a little while. Before you know it, you’re burn out, frazzled and wondering where all the gray hairs came from. Here are a few tips, a couple written elsewhere on the blog, others maybe new to the site, that should help nearly anyone get some stress relief when they really need it. Hint: staying on top of stress and stopping its momentum before it builds too much is probably a good idea, so get started.

Stress Buster #1

Find a ten minute block and get in some sort of exercise. Whether this is something mellow like Tai Chi

Image via Wikipedia Courtesy Photocapy

, or a short yoga routine, or you get out and get a brisk walk around the block, fit this in. Each day, every day, get a little bit of exercise. A dose of endorphins, increase in oxygen, and a few moments away from whatever tasks are weighing on your mind and taking your time can do wonders for your state of being. So, don’t short change this. It is easy to just say that you’ll put it off, but you will feel so much better if you stick to it and fit in your daily workout.
Of course, strenuous exercise can be a little much as well, so be careful. Excessively strenuous workouts can lead to both physical and mental burnout as well, so find your happy medium during the really stressful times. The folks reading this with underlying health issues that may prevent harder exercise should practice greater degrees of caution as well.
Also, there have been some news stories citing some study that is impossible to find stating that three ten minute exercise sessions per day are as good as a thirty minute shot at once. Take it for what it’s worth, but it is food for thought.

Stress Buster #2

Use the breathing technique, which really can’t be mentioned enough in my opinion, from the very first post on the site, or some other form of meditation. Do it on a regular basis and feel how centered and focused you are. Everyone has stress, and all of us deal with it differently. A great way to detach and come back more organized is with regular meditation sessions. There are a lot of guided meditation products and materials you can find online as well. It may be worth investing a little money to get back a significant amount of sanity.

Stress Buster #3

This is easily the most fun of the stress busters, but also one that should be mentioned to the adults only: have great sex. ‘Nuff said.

Stress Buster #4

Find a hobby and stick to it so you can get a little bit of time away where nobody can bother you. It is even better if you can incorporate exercise with your hobby as well. Not everyone loves exercise though, so just do what you think is fun.
Here is where a lot of people get hung up though: they think that a hobby has to be an active thing. That they’ve got to spend time carving wood for model ships or something like that, which would fit the description, but isn’t the best example. Your hobby can be going to a coffee shop once or twice per week to read and have a cup of coffee, tea, a pastry or just hang out and enjoy the ambiance. The point is that it’s personal and something easy to dedicate to. If things fall through every once in a while and your hobby falls off a little, it’s no biggie, just get back to it and have some fun now and then.

Stress Buster #5

Learn to roll with the punches. You hear this saying all the time, but one of the problems that a lot of people have when they get really stressed out, and I do this more than most, is that they hang on every little thing. It is not a great thing to be sitting there at a traffic light and start to get a little anxious about the pedestrians strolling through the crosswalk when the light has just turned green. Not to insinuate that anyone reading this would punch the gas, far from it. Those things are irritating though because they show a lack of common courtesy. Over time, those little spikes in blood pressure born out of minor frustrations add up.
So, relax, do a little timed breathing or something, and identify when a battle should be fought, or an action should incite a response of any magnitude. Nobody is saying that getting upset is bad, but getting upset over everything certainly isn’t good.

Stay in the moment as much as you can. Dwelling on the past, or stressing about the future makes stress a constant thing. The only things we can do is try and focus on what we are doing now, stay as organized as possible, and keep things in perspective. This is easier said than done, and sounds more than a little “new agey”, but it is true. The longer we focus on issues that are out of our control, like the past, the sooner we will find ourselves facing burnout overwhelmed with stress and anxiety.
This is a skill though, and is something to be developed. One way to develop this is by…. meditation or finding a hobby. Crazy, isn’t it?
We all get caught up in a cycle of stress and anxiety from time to time. Things add up, we get faced with tragedy, loss and little things that add up to a big letdown. It happens to everyone at some point. That is why it is so important to stay ahead of the game and keep yourself, as much as possible, in a positive physical and mental state.
Ignore the pointless and stupid stuff in your life as much as possible, maybe work in a few of these stress busters, and see how much stress relief you can get in a short amount of time.

(note: photo courtesy through Wikipedia by way of Photocapy. Please contact should this not be proper attribution)

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