Just Relax!
We all get stressed, it's just a fact of life honestly. There is good stress and there is bad stress, and today i'm definitely talking about the bad kind of strees. You know, the kind that causes you headaches and anxiety? Yeah well I have some ways to help your try and breathe through the struggles that you may be going through.
Image Credit: Ariana Coleman
1. Breathe
Okay take a deep breathe with me..breathe in...and now let it out. Continue to take these deep breathes until you feel calmed down from any anxiousness that you have. I know that this is probably the simplest thing one could do, but you would be amazed by how much it works. Now when you are taking these deep yoga breathes, don't do anything else...at all. Do nothing else. If you are trying to breathe and calm yourself down, but you keep on trying to get stuff done, then this won't help you. Sit down, lay down, do nothing and just breathe.
2. Let off some steam
Dance and (more recently) running have become ways for me to release some of the stress that builds up throughout the day. Maybe you have your own physical activities that help you, like swimming, boxing, yoga. If anything, find something that will let you destress. (Another good way to let off steam is crying. No seriously! Sometimes you just need to hop in the shower and have a nice hard cry. It works)
3. Get out
This kind of goes with number 2 and number 4. Please get out of your apartment, house, dorm, whatever. If you are stressed out inside of your bedroom, and you've done everything you can to calm yourself down...that probs means that you need to get out of your room and go somewhere else. Go take a walk or get coffee (or whatever floats your boat). This way whenever you come back to your place, you won't feel so confined and anxious.
4. Hang out
This goes with number 3. Sometimes you just need your friends to lighten the mood because sometimes being left alone to stress and be anxious over every little detail is detrimental. Surround yourself with people who love you, odds are they also are wanting to hang out and forget about their stress too. For example, my friends and I currently have Bachelor Mondays. We all just go to my apartment and watch The Bachelor and do homework. Even if we are doing homework that may be perceived as "stressful," it's less of a big deal since we are all together (and we are dying laughing of second hand embarrassment while watching The Bachelor).
5. Put it all into perspective
Now I for sure have a problem doing this. I always make a big deal out of the freaking smallest details and am all-in-all to hard on myself. But hey, we need to just take a moment and put it all in perspective. Is that bad quiz grade really gonna kill you? Is it realistic to do 20 things in one day, or are you just causing yourself some unnecessary stress? Sometimes you just need to take it one minute at a time and whatever gets done that day is what needed to get done.
so yes life is stressful, that's just a given! But take control of your stress and don't let it take over your life and ruin your joy.
