Having a few regular stress management techniques that you can apply daily when you are stressed can be a life saver! I know I had a few favorite and quick ways to get my mind and body into a less stressful place that I used every day nearly when I worked in a high stress position at a newspaper.
Here are my 3 rituals for stress relief management I hope you find useful too.
1. Stress Journal
Writing has always been a hobby of mine and the written word is something I have a love for. I used this to my advantage by keeping a stress diary.
I wrote down what stressed me at the end of a day, how it made me feel both physically and emotionally as well as how i reacted in response. It is amazing how much insight you can gain from writing this stuff down and also from rereading it a few days later or a few weeks later even. It forces you to re-evaluate the stress factors and your own reactions to it which helps you take ownership of the stress rather than feeling out of control.
Make writing in this diary a ritual every day.
2. Diet Changes
Every day I had a ritual that would involve looking critically at what I ate. I had a diet of fast food and alcohol and I smoked at one point which my dietitian friend said was not only unhealthy but also added to stress physically.
I would make at least one change for the better every day and would add it to my stress diary. Quitting that extra spoonful of sugar in my coffee one day and keepiong it gone. Reducing my smoking by a cigarette a day until I finally quit and many other things that led me to a better diet and lifestyle.
My fitness and health levels raised and I was able to cope with stress a lot better too.
3. Deep Breathing
It is amazing just how much stress relief you get from taking a 5 minute break to meditate and breath deeply.
Depending on how stressful your life might be and how busy you are make sure to put aside 5-10 minutes every few hours if needed whether you are stressed or not to just close your eyes and relax while breathing slowly and deeply. This can be followed by more advanced meditation techniques but to begin with this is a helpful ritual that becomes a part of your stress management routine.
I used to just sit in a bathroom stall sometimes if I had no other place to go and do this and while the surroundings were hardly optimal you had never seen a greater transformation than me going into a bathroom and out than if you saw Clark Kent change to superman in a phone booth!
These methods allowed me to mange my stress levels but I did not completely fix my stress and how I handled stress until I read a guide called Conquering Stress which I highly recommend.
