As I mentioned previously this week, I have been feeling extra stressed out lately. Lots of anxiety and stress has been building up in my life, for a number of reasons, and it’s literally all-encompassing sometimes. It’s awful, truth be told. I’m feeling relief and freedom from that stress, but I know so many can relate and suffer from stress on a daily basis. And it SUCKS. So I took to my Instagram and asked all of YOU for your ways to cope with stress. And let me tell you, the responses were pure GOLD. So here they are, all compiled into a neat little post for anyone to turn to in their darker moments, me included. Because we are stronger than our stress. We are able to rise above. We’ve GOT THIS! Amen hallelujah. Now let’s get into some stress relievers…
First, my personal stress relievers:
Go for a drive and blast my favorite music.
WORSHIP.
Get on my knees and pray and remember who’s I am and that He is my peace.
Exercise. Endorphins are magic!
Have a glass of wine. Or two. ;)
Take a nice long bath or hot shower, do a face mask, paint my nails.
Read a book.
Journal and write all of my feelings out.
TALK to someone I love, usually it’s Zack. :)
Okay, now for the responses, from real women…
I read Psalms. Those prayers worked for David, they can work for me.
Light a candle (always shocked on simplicity of this!), walk, bath/hot tub sesh, singing alone in my car (or not alone lol), pedicure, breathing exercises, little sayings my husband & I have come up with reminding us not to stress. & HUGS are pure gold.
Take time for you. I like going on walks and listening to Podcasts.
Is “drink wine” an appropriate response to that question?..
I clean!
Pray! It gives me peace knowing God has a plan even if I can’t see it yet.
Watch Gilmore girls and a glass of wine!
Pray. Put on worship music and pray some more. There’s breakthrough in worship. It can do wonders especially in hard situations. I recommend Kim Walker and Jesus Culture. Kim Walker has a gift and will bring you to your knees in the presence of the lord in the best way possible.
I pray and then work it out on my stationary bike! My husband works out of state and MY family lives in another state so most of the time it’s just me and the kids so once they sleep I hit my knees and then exercise!
Go for a long walk at night by myself after it’s cooled off, headphones in, blasting my favorite music (usually not something kid-appropriate!)
Essential oils and a good sweat!
Have sex.
Pray! Stress and fear are lies from the devil. The only way to combat those lies are to shove the Word in his face. “Be anxious for nothing!” “Be still and know that I am God.”
Meditation!! There’s a neutrality meditation that is super helpful for me with neutralizing feelings of stress.
Ahh nap and avoid all the things. But for real, worship music and just crying it out. Also essential oils (lavender) help me sometimes as well as journaling.
Give yourself Grace. Whatever you feel, feel it and don’t let anybody tell you but it is right or wrong and find your people! I have recently forced myself to take a night that is completely just self-care like nothing fancy just a bath and cut my toenails cut my fingernails do my cuticles do a mask and read a book nothing fancy… And a glass of wine or whatever tickles your fancy poured next to that bath has been a must! But honestly let yourself feel!
Essential oils were such a game changer for my stress and anxiety!!!!
Memorize Psalm 23! Stop, take some seep breaths and recite it to yourself and meditate on the TRUTH. I do this at bedtime if I’m feeling overwhelmed or can’t get my mind to slow down.
Pray darling! Give yourself a spa day! Lean into Jesus! My daughter has severe medical issues and during her low times, I can become extremely anxious and on edge. I always give myself some time to read my Bible or even a book I love and just decompress. It can be hard to walk away and can sometimes feel selfish but you can’t pour from an empty cup.
I go to Orange Theory which helps a lot but my very favorite thing is taking candlelit bubble baths with a glass of wine after the kids are in bed and I’ll listen to Frank Sinatra.
How do I cope with stress? I stop and say “what can I do right now to love my family?” If that means laundry, grocery run, cleaning toilets… I do it. If it means self care. I do it. And I pray over and over again. I read Oswald Chambers. I stop and say that the God of the Universe is more powerful than this bill, this insurance repeal, this next step that seems so huge is nothing compared to my God. Jesus did not die on the cross to leave you guys drowning in despair.
Yoga, diffuse essential oils, meditation, reading. Sometimes simply focusing on deep breathing helps! Also an Epsom salt bath with “I am” positive affirmations????
Allllll the wine.
Well I have high anxiety but I know for me talking to someone about it helps me feel better. If I try to sit with whatever I’m stressing over it just seems to fester. So talking to a friend, my mom, and THEN my hubby (he doesn’t handle my freak outs well) seems to help.
Barre3 Class or a good long run. I also eat pasta haha.
Exercise if I’m feeling ambitious (boxing class really gets those frustrations out), but mostly drink wine and watch a chick flick. To just vegg it out.
Alone time to think.
Even if it’s just me taking a book to Starbucks for a little bit, I have to clear my head and not be mom for a few.
xo
So many great suggestions! My biggest challenge is taking the time. I mostly grt stressed when I don’t have time to finish the things I set out to do and so taking extra time to relieve this stress actually causes more stress. It’s a vicious circle. But I’m learning to accept this and enjoy my stress relievers guilt free.
It really is tough!! I feel you. I’m glad you’re learning to enjoy the stress relievers- it’s so so important! :) Gotta fill that cup, girl!
xo
Thanks for sharing these tips, they are very useful for dealing with stressful situations.
Eme
http://www.peoniesandpassionfruit.com
So glad you could find them useful! :)
xo
Que bonito viaje hicieron, me gusta mucho tu estilo de vida, se me hace muy natural con mucho amor y sin apariencias
saludos soy fan de tu blog
Ruby