Whether you are just a little down in the dumps, or really stressing out over a difficult situation, you need to reduce those stress levels, or it could affect your health. These 12 strategies are so delightful, you may want to try several at once!
1. Talk to a Girlfriend
There is nothing quite like having a close friend to confide in. Sometimes just talking the problem out can help you see it from a new angle, or come up with a solution, or see the funny side of it. Sometimes the friend has some really good advice. But even if these things don’t happen, just talking about it with an empathetic friend relieves some of the stress like a valve on a pressure cooker, and you find the strength to keep going. Certainly it is great to talk over problems with your husband if he is a good listener. It’s just that men tend to try to solve the problem rather than empathize, so sometimes a girlfriend can be a huge help.
2. Look at Green
It has been clinically proven that looking at the green in nature reduces stress levels. So pack up the kids in the car and go to a nearby park and walk or bike some nature trails. Take a picnic lunch so you can soak in even more of nature’s beauty around you. If the kids are in school, invite a girlfriend to join you--that way you are doing two stress reducers at once, and since you don’t have the kids around, you avoid at least one stress for a bit!
If you want to learn more about the clinical trials, you can see if CNN still has the segment on their website done by their resident neurosurgeon, Sanjay Gupta, during the last half of March, 2011.
4. Eat Chocolate
Eating chocolate releases more endorphins than kissing! So why not do both for a double dose? Apparently women get an extra boost from chocolate that men don’t get. So I admit, this is only a small temporary fix, but we can use every little bit we can get, right? Besides, chocolate has health benefits, too, so we can indulge without guilt!
3. Laughter is Good Medicine--Literally!
There was a scientific study that had half of the participants watch a comedy and the other half watch a tragedy. They tested the participant’s blood before and after the movie. The people who watched the comedy, increased their antibodies, whereas the people who watched the tragedy got a reduction. So rent a comedy and lift your spirits and your antibodies! If your family is like ours, the kids will remember funny lines from the movies, and quote them at the most hilarious times--and everyone gets to laugh again.
For a quick dose of laughter (that is, quick if you don’t get addicted) try some of these websites.
The first squirrel was taking a nap on the branch, and the second squirrel wanted to join him. But there wasn’t room, so she crawled over him, to nap in front, but that wasn’t satisfactory, either, so she climbed back to the other side and lay sideways as if to say, “I just want to be with you!”
5. Look at Photos of Loved Ones
You don’t need scientific proof (although there is some) to know how many happy memories come bubbling up when you look at photos of the ones you love. You get all kinds of warm fuzzies as you look at the photos and are reminded of how adorable your children were, and laugh again at their silly antics. You can take it one more step, and after you have looked at the photos, give the people a call. Whether it is your parents, siblings, or your own children, call them and tell them how much you love and appreciate them--that way you pass on the good feelings. Just think how much love and joy could be generated if everyone did this!
6. Go Away for a Weekend
Once a year, I have gone to a two-day ladies’ retreat, and abandoned my husband and children. Of course I miss them while I am gone, but I discovered how my soul is refreshed by talking to other women and leaving the daily drudgery behind. When I get home again, I am so delighted to be home, and feel that my heart can burst with love for each one of them, no matter how mad I may have been before I left! All of a sudden their silly antics are funny again! Being a mom is a rewarding job, but it is also probably one of the hardest jobs there is. So it is good to take a short break from it now and then just to renew your spirit so you can go back at it with renewed energy. In over 20 years, the only time I missed a ladies’ retreat was the year my baby was too young to wean, but too big to take along with me. It was that important to my emotional well being.
Getting away for a couple of days doesn’t have to involve a ladies’ retreat. It’s even better to go away with your husband and rekindle your romantic life. All that kissing and caressing should substantially increase your endorphins, too! Spending alone time with just the two of you keeps the loving bond between you strong, even when difficulties put a strain on the relationship--it pulls you together instead of apart. Even if you spend the whole time talking and thinking about your children, you will be surprised at how much more you love your children after you have taken a short break away from them. So if your mother or your sister can’t keep your kids, entice a good friend to do it by offering to reciprocate when she needs the favor.
7. Exercise
Even if this strategy doesn’t seem so delightful at first blush, if you give it a good, honest try, you will find that your disposition improves so much that you will get hooked! People have been known to recover from depression as well as lower their cholesterol, just from exercising. Even if it is just walking a mile or two for several days a week, you will be surprised at how much better you feel, and how much more energy you have. So don’t skip this strategy just because it seems hard. Persevere, and you will reap the benefits.
8. Help Another Human Being
There is nothing like the feeling you get when you have helped another human being. It is like an emotional high! It definitely takes effort, and there is a personal cost involved, if nothing but time. But it is so worth it! Here are just a few ideas to get you dreaming and planning about the possibilities.
help elderly people with yard work or meals
help homeless in soup kitchens or food banks
help children or adults learn to read
help international families figure out the ropes of living in America
befriend underprivileged children through a brother/sister program
10. Forgive
No amount of exercise or looking at green is going to heal your heart of the pain you feel, if you are angry about something somebody did to you. If you won’t forgive that person, it will destroy YOUR life, not the person who did you wrong. There is no stronger poison that will rob you of your joy, than holding a grudge. Forgiveness is the medicine that can restore your joy, and rid you of that debilitating bitterness.
There was a time when I was so angry with my husband for not making me feel loved, that I found a way to blame him, no matter how nice he tried to be. That was an awful place for both of us to be! I finally wrote down all the things that I was mad about--all those things that he had NOT done for me (that’s pretty bad that it was not even something he had done!) then ripped the paper up. Every time my brain started reviewing the list of injuries, I forced myself to come up with 5 good things about him. It took time, but our relationship was healed. Now our friendship could not be closer!
9. Dig For Gold
When difficulties come crashing into our lives and cause havoc, it is easy to get so fixated on the hardness of it all, that we forget to look around at the good things that are happening. If we can force ourselves to go looking for these good things, it can change our whole disposition. One author calls this “digging for gold.” This author (sorry I don’t remember his name,) had advised a man to do this after he lost his job. The man couldn’t imagine anything good coming from losing his job. Yet, when he began considering, he came up with a long list, including getting to spend more time with his children. This exercise changed his whole disposition! Then he found a job that was even better than the one he lost. I read this book when my children were young, and tried to encourage them to do this. Now that my daughter is grown, she has honed her skill to an art (she puts me to shame!) Any time she feels bad, she forces herself to come up with 5 good things that she is glad about. She is one of the most cheerful people I know (and it is not because she never has any problems!) She also told me about this book and website--I haven’t read it yet, but it sounds like a great example of what I have tried to explain here.
book: One Thousand Blessings
11. Eat Soy Products
If you are menopausal, or even pre or post menopausal, you know that your emotions have gone haywire as much as your internal thermostat, thanks to your declining levels of estrogen. Soy beans and soy products can help ease these because of the estrogen-like effect they have. (This effect is so strong that one expert warned against feeding large quantities of soy products to pubescent boys!) So try eating some soy products, and see if you don’t feel better. Substituting soy milk for milk (or substitute some of the liquid ingredients with soft tofu) to biscuits, muffins, or pancakes to make them light and fluffy. Add tofu to smoothies, or make dip with tofu instead of mayonnaise. Toss thawed soybeans into salads and soups. Or buy frozen products--the “chicken” nuggets and “sausage” patties are pretty good.
12. Talk to God
God wants to help you--he is just waiting for you to ask for help. You don’t need any special words, or even an introduction from someone. If you start talking to him, he will listen. The great thing is, he won’t just listen; he will actually help! When problems seem insurmountable, he shows you a way to overcome it. It is SO comforting to know that even if we are not smart enough to figure it all out, he is. When the doctor was telling me that my daughter’s asthma was caused by dust, God helped me figure out it was actually a corn allergy! He used a friend to introduce me to a book that helps you pinpoint the allergens that are giving you problems (Is This Your Child?). That is just one example from the many, many ways he has helped me. So every time I face a problem that I keep worrying about, I can relax, because I know he is going to show me what to do. Now that is the ultimate stress releaser!!
Life Tips > 12 Ways to Reduce Stress
Life Tips > 12 Ways to Reduce Stress
