Stress is inevitable, right? At least that is what I keep telling myself 🤷‍♀️ Actually, if you start researching it, some articles will tell you that some stress is even good.  That sounds crazy – I know!  I mean, how could the thing that makes your head run around in circles which keeps you from doing anything all day long and then keeps you up at night be even remotely good???  If you resonate with that even a little: you are too stressed!

I hear you already: “Kristin, we are in the middle of a freaking pandemic so who exactly is NOT ‘too stressed‘?”  I’d have to say I agree with you! Everyone is stressed to the MAX and it is impacting not only our health, but our relationships, our performance….basically, our whole lives. 

So, how do we turn it around?  Well, I am going to give you 5 of the best ways I know to relieve stress.  I wish I could wave a magic wand and help you all be less stressed, but my wand broke and now you are stuck with just my brilliant advice (just kidding 🤣 ).  Here goes nothing: 

  1. GO TO THERAPY!  I had to hit you with the big one first.  Having a scheduled time when you can see a therapist that can help you with your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is sooo helpful to reduce your stress.  Understanding what is going on in your brain and why or what you are stressing over is the first step to actually feeling less stressed.  If you need some help on how to find a good therapist, you can read my blog about it. 

  2. Deep Breathing.  Slowing your breath helps your brain slow your body down.  Taking a few deep breaths actually helps your brain think you are already calm (pretty neat, 🤯).  Need some help figuring out how to incorporate breathing exercises into your day? I have made it super easy: 4 Quick and Easy Options to Incorporate Deep Breathing into your Day.

  3. Journaling. If you already followed my advice and found a therapist, I would bet they are encouraging you to journal.  Everyone is different, but journaling is such a powerful tool, that you can’t really skip it.  Writing down what is stressing you out or just writing to get to what is stressing you out is so helpful in freeing up some headspace and reducing your stress .  You guessed it: I already wrote a blog about journaling and I provided one whole month of journal prompts to get you started. 

  4. SLEEP!!  That’s right – you gotta sleep to let your brain 🧠 recharge.  You can’t function on little to no sleep.  But, it’s not lost on me that when you are stressed, it can be tough to fall asleep.  So, here are some ways to help you get to sleep. 

  5. Self-care.  I know, who the heck has time to do self-care when my to-do list doesn’t get completed.  I used to roll my eyes at people who talked about self-care (so stop doing it now, if you are doing it! 😉) but now, I truly realize how important it is. Self-care doesn’t have to be an extravagant spa day or tropical vacation. I mean, it absolutely can, but I am willing to bet you are stressed because you are busy, maybe struggling to make ends meet and have too many people counting on you to take a whole day (or week) to relax. If so, you go girl 👏 If not, think about taking a bubble bath, watching a tv show you enjoy, talking a walk, going to bed early, calling a friend, ordering food so you don’t have to cook or finding something else that provides some calm in your day.

Stress can have some serious ramifications if you don’t work now on relieving it. You don’t have to live a life full of stress. I am here to help and would love the opportunity to work with you.