how do you get rid of stress?

[luckyhelen]

What tips could you give someone who has lots of stress? What's your favorite way to relieve stress?

[Rayd1978]

Well, first step would be to find the sources of stress and try to get rid of them.   Sledgehammers work nicely, but aren't always an option.
For general stress I'll often just take and nap or listen to music.  Simple, but effective.
I also find video games work for me.   Specifically resource management games where I'm building a city or in charge of a fortress or something like that.   The actual management of the game is more stress, but the accomplishment of beating a level or hitting a goal goes a long way to making me feel better.

[Duma]

It all depends on what you like. Do you like hanging out with people than that could relieve you. Does crowded places give you a lot of stress then that's not a good idea. If you like reading, watching tv, listening to music, being creative, gaming etc, do one of those things. Anything that makes you feel good will help you get rid of the stress at that moment. Even crying and telling what's bothering you/how you're feeling to someone you trust might be helpful! But, like Rayd said: Find out what's causing it and if you can, do something about it!

If deadlines are causing you stress, make sure you work on your project each day so you don't feel pressured at the end. If you're done like a few days before the deadline you won't feel stressed at all. Just create a schedule and keep to it! Make sure you add breaks in your schedule too or you will not be able to hold on to it.

I used to write poems or hang out in desolated areas with lots of nature (places where I couldn't hear or see any other human being) or I'd go and cuddle the pets. Anything to avoid other people as those were my pressure points. Now, I'm more in control of myself and my life and I will start gaming, watch tv or go online to chat when I need a break.

It all comes down to what you like, just find a hobby if you don't really have one and do that.

[Kute]

Stress I think has a lot to do with how you choose to see things. Some peoples idea of busy is someone elses idea of lazy. The most important thing I've learned for helping with stress is time management. Idk about you but I am a full time student and still use the same methods I used back when I was a part time student with a full time job and a weekend job. 1. Exercise/meditation/ stretching.  It releases a lot of tension and your body will start to crave the feeling you get from it. 2. Better eating habits. I didn't have time to cook so I would throw a bunch of veggies, meat, and broth into a crock pot and let it do the cooking for me over night.  3.  have a to do list. I have my reminders app with 8 weeks worth of things I need to check off daily to keep me on track, and also to remind me where ever I am of what I need to focus on next. I also spend the first couple hours of my morning with Neo and doing dailies. I know that once thats out of the way I can focus on the important things instead of being distracted or wanting to head towards the unimportant. 4. Cut out what is causing  you to be stressed for time or over things. I just deleted my instagram app because I waste time on it, and for what? Nothing valuable.  That time could be spent reading a few extra pages of my textbooks. 

These might not work for everyone, and i'm not stress free. But they help me a lot. 

Last I just want to add that think of what stress does to you, what sort of bad habits or vices have developed over stress?  Sometimes we are so very automated that we dont recognize them. See if you can point out some of those vices and turn them into virtues by creating some new good habits in your life. 

[LekkerLekker89]

I'm big on holistics. I like to unwind with a good cup of tea and a few drops of peppermint and lavender in the diffuser.  Chamomile, peppermint, and linden is one of my favorite tea blends, valerian for extra stressful nights. Quality is important, I try to stay away from pre-packaged teas and tend to create my own blends. 

[babayaga67]

I like to grab my portable CD player (yes, I still use physical CDs) and grab a good book. I then go outside and look for a good tree, climb my self up in there and lounge on a good branch for several hours. I don't always take a book. I find being up high in a tree to be extremely relaxing.

 

This method might not work if you have a fear of hights...

I also recently threw away my cell phone. I can not describe how much better I feel without that thing on me. I have a land line at home for emergencies, but I leave it on mute. I check the answering machine once every couple of days and use e-mail for communications. If it is an external emergency (family member in the hospital or something like that) people can contact my husband and he will pass along a message.

Neopets is the only "social media" type of thing that I do. I just got rid of as much negative stuff as humanly possible.

[gypsyknees]

Oh boy I have had so much stress lately, this is very relevant haha.
Exercise - Joining a gym this year has been the best decision for a long time. It's a nice quiet one not a big chain, and I go at off-peak times.
Today I wrote out what major things have been causing me stress were
(things like putting off phone calls due to anxiety, or cleaning that needed doing)
and tried to tackle a few of them to lessen the burden. It definitely helped.
Going to the cinema alone helps sometimes!

I am a master procrastinator for deadlines and things that make me anxious, eventually taking a step, however small, towards those things feels so much better than the short term relief of not doing them. 

Also when your mind is going a million miles an hour, focus on trying to calm your physical body. Whether that's with a bath, a nap, exercise, a comedy, anything to try to relax your body and send the message that your adrenal system can calm down. 
 

[Kute]

16 hours ago, LekkerLekker89 said:

I'm big on holistics. I like to unwind with a good cup of tea and a few drops of peppermint and lavender in the diffuser.  Chamomile, peppermint, and linden is one of my favorite tea blends, valerian for extra stressful nights. Quality is important, I try to stay away from pre-packaged teas and tend to create my own blends. 

I also think this is very important in helping to create a relaxing mood. I have a diffuser as well and an entire drawer filled with teas. I've never created my blends though. That actually sounds really nice. Where do you get your ingredients?  Being natural as much as possible is really important to well being.  My mom is really into eastern medicine and healing through food and she is a western nurse so I learn a lot from her about healing. 

[LekkerLekker89]

I like to grow my own! Local farmer's market doesn't offer too much around here

[charelan]

I would echo what the others said: exercise! For me I find the more vigorous the better... I love jiu jitsu - trying to choke/ break another human (or conversely trying not to be destroyed by someone) is surprisingly refreshing lol. I also really enjoy running - I just put on some music with an appropriate tempo and shut my brain off altogether. Pilates is another good one if you prefer something a little less intense. 

When I am stressed (ok, to be fair, also when I am not stressed) I really prefer to be alone. But that doesn't include my dogs - I find spending time snuggling and petting them always makes me feel better. The company of animals is very soothing. 

Spending time in nature helps a lot, too. It's not always possible with the weather, but if I can be somewhere quiet and pretty I can usually re-centre myself.

[teprometo]

Long-term, finding a therapist you trust and whose style works for you will do more to improve your mental health & ability to deal with stress than anything else, so long as you're committed to the process and doing your homework between sessions. I went to therapy because other people told me to a few times, and that never helped, but as soon as I decided I needed some help on my own, it started me down a path that has made me a much more resilient person.

But that's a long process! So for the short term, adding in mindfulness around time management. Scheduling in your self-care and leisure time makes it feel a lot more intentional and restorative. What I mean by that is, if you're a student and have a big paper due, you may find yourself doing leisure activities as a form of procrastination, which will just stress you out more. There's a big functional difference between scrolling social media for an hour when you "should be" researching vs. having 60 minutes set aside on your calendar for a face mask and an episode of your favorite show.

I spend a lot of time in the gym, but until recently, nutrition has been a huge question mark for me because I don't like cooking and just feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the idea of having to feed myself. Then I discovered minimal-cooking meal prep, which has changed my life. If you're in a situation where you have to prepare your own meals, I'd recommend trying it out. Start small by just making lunches or dinners for the week. On Sundays, I set aside 2-3 hours and get breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ready for the entire week so I don't have to spend ANY time worrying about food until Saturday. I hadn't realized what a stressor that was for me until I got out ahead of it.

Journaling is good, as is just letting yourself have a nice cry in the shower. The main thing, though, is being kind to yourself. If you have a habit of negative self-talk, replace all of that with love and encouragement so that "Why am I so lazy?" becomes "We've got a lot going on right now, but let's get a little work done on this project," etc. Just try to be on your own team.

[WhiteWolf]

I have a couple ways to deal with stress. One way is to go outside, and let out a good scream.  It's simple but it's effective. Another way for me to deal with stress is playing my favorite fighting game. Nothing beats taking your aggression out on your opponent in a good fight!

[sunny098]

As someone who's been dealing with anxiety my whole life, clinical depression for around a decade, and have OCD and PTSD. My best advice is probably exercise like crazy until you get so tired, you can just lie down and fall asleep. Other than my meds, that helps me the most.

The other thing is try to think of the positives. Being a photographer, I've been dealing with vision difficulties since last year, and it has hit me hard. I probably wouldn't survived this long if I just focused on the bad. Best thing you can do is think of the positives and go tackle your challenges (like what is stressing you out). For me, it is making compromises and doing the best that I can. Like there are probably some photos I can't take (like night photography), and the rest has slowed down considerably, but at least I can still do it, and I'm trying my best and I guess that is the best anyone can do.

[vampirexseven]

i like to take super super hot showers and just sit in the tub while the water runs over me. i imagine the water droplets are little bits of stress or anxiety that are flowing down the drain while the shower runs.

[Singledwish123]

I try to do one creative thing per day, whether it's cooking, crafting (embroidery, cross stitch, crochet), coloring, writing, or playing bass guitar. I find that it relaxes me and makes me feel much more accomplished then I might even doing all of my schoolwork and work.

 

On 5/20/2020 at 7:32 AM, vampirexseven said:

i like to take super super hot showers and just sit in the tub while the water runs over me. i imagine the water droplets are little bits of stress or anxiety that are flowing down the drain while the shower runs.

When nothing else works, I also like a good, hot shower, but I'll wear my clothes in. It indulges the dramatic side of me that likes to pretend I'm a movie character, but the sensation of the wet, heavy clothes clinging to my skin is also so calming and soothing. I otherwise try to stimulate all the senses (e.g. light a candle, play loud music, put on lotion, eat something comforting).

 

On 3/31/2019 at 4:33 PM, teprometo said:

Long-term, finding a therapist you trust and whose style works for you will do more to improve your mental health & ability to deal with stress than anything else, so long as you're committed to the process and doing your homework between sessions. I went to therapy because other people told me to a few times, and that never helped, but as soon as I decided I needed some help on my own, it started me down a path that has made me a much more resilient person.

But that's a long process! So for the short term, adding in mindfulness around time management. Scheduling in your self-care and leisure time makes it feel a lot more intentional and restorative. What I mean by that is, if you're a student and have a big paper due, you may find yourself doing leisure activities as a form of procrastination, which will just stress you out more. There's a big functional difference between scrolling social media for an hour when you "should be" researching vs. having 60 minutes set aside on your calendar for a face mask and an episode of your favorite show.

I spend a lot of time in the gym, but until recently, nutrition has been a huge question mark for me because I don't like cooking and just feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the idea of having to feed myself. Then I discovered minimal-cooking meal prep, which has changed my life. If you're in a situation where you have to prepare your own meals, I'd recommend trying it out. Start small by just making lunches or dinners for the week. On Sundays, I set aside 2-3 hours and get breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ready for the entire week so I don't have to spend ANY time worrying about food until Saturday. I hadn't realized what a stressor that was for me until I got out ahead of it.

Journaling is good, as is just letting yourself have a nice cry in the shower. The main thing, though, is being kind to yourself. If you have a habit of negative self-talk, replace all of that with love and encouragement so that "Why am I so lazy?" becomes "We've got a lot going on right now, but let's get a little work done on this project," etc. Just try to be on your own team.

Such good advice! There is no shortcut to getting better. Getting a therapist, showing up, and working hard is the only way. Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom first, to feel like there's nothing left to lose, to try, though. "Just try to be on your own team" is perfect. You can't get better if you're your biggest enemy.

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[vampirexseven]

On 5/24/2020 at 8:17 PM, Singledwish123 said:

When nothing else works, I also like a good, hot shower, but I'll wear my clothes in. It indulges the dramatic side of me that likes to pretend I'm a movie character, but the sensation of the wet, heavy clothes clinging to my skin is also so calming and soothing. I otherwise try to stimulate all the senses (e.g. light a candle, play loud music, put on lotion, eat something comforting).

oohh i've heard that taking a shower with clothes on can be soothing! i'm always worried that getting out of wet clothes is going to be the worst experience ever. XD loud music sometimes works too~ i'll tend to sit in a super dark room with white noise playing to try to "reset" myself.

[John33]

Massage therapy is used to help manage a health condition or enhance wellness. It involves manipulating the soft tissues of the body. Massage has been practiced in most cultures, both Eastern and Western, throughout human history, and was one of the earliest tools that people used to try to relieve pain.

[paul80]

I used to be stressed many times because of work. That made me extremely tired. I had a lot of negative emotions and thoughts that kept coming to me. I was from a healthy 92kg person to only 68kg. My body was like a dead body, mentally sluggish. I used to find a lot of ways to reduce stress by taking antidepressants, going to bed early, doing easy exercise, but nothing changed. Seeing me like that, my girlfriend was very worried and asked all over the forums. Someone told me to listen to relaxing music combined with yoga and meditation. My girlfriend said that I could give it a try. Miraculously, I felt like I was immersed in music. My soul was cleansed, all worries disappeared. I didn’t expect the way to deal with stress was so simple. I’m not sure if this will work for everyone, but hopefully, someone who is stressed can give it a try to clear their mind.

[winstonlukasio]

It's best to try to avoid it and understand that it's just a life lesson. but after i get stressed i need to be alone and rethink what i did wrong to prevent it next time
 

[Yaroslav Fadeev]

I like to do yoga and meditation

[luckyhelen]

so many useful tips! Thanks guys. I like outdoor acitvities like hiking and camping, they help me to relax