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How to Get Rid of Stress at Home

November 6, 2018

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Are you feeling stressed? You probably are, and you are most certainly not alone in this. A lot of people today feel stressed over work, money, and life in general, as tomorrows get more and more uncertain. This is why different methods of stress-relief are becoming more and more popular, as people need a way to unwind and relax. But the last thing you need is to leave your house to go relax, so let’s take a look at some ways you can relax and unwind in your own home.

Cooking

We need to first make a clear difference between cooking and preparing meals. Preparing meals for yourself or your family can be a source of stress if you don’t have the time or funds to make a good meal. However, cooking is a completely different story. It is something that you do from the heart, and that engages all of your senses. Perhaps the best example is baking: combining the ingredients, getting your hands dirty in the dough, and then letting it rise before kneading it again. Doing something manually is the first relaxing part of this, but in the end getting a perfect loaf of bread, or a dish for dinner is the biggest reward.

Gardening

Just like cooking, the key element to this is getting right in there and doing things with your hands. An added benefit to gardening is that you are doing it outside in the fresh air, hopefully, surrounded by nature. Even if you are potting plants that you keep indoors, try to do it on a terrace or yard, where you can be completely immersed in nature. Following the same pattern, the relaxation comes from doing the gardening itself, and the rewarding feeling comes from seeing something you’ve made bloom and grow.

Painting

We’ve all heard that painting can be a great stress relief, yet so few of us actually do it. This is primarily because we don’t have all the tools we need or a place to do it. The trick is to have a designated painting space and have it ready with all the supplies you might need. Find a place where they do custom canvas stretching and have a canvas set up for you. Choose your painting tools and have everything ready for when you need to sit down and relax for a bit. If you need some stress-relief on the road, then try getting small coloring books and travel-size colored pencils to have on you at all times. Make sure you’re not being hard on yourself and trying to achieve perfection because that will give you the opposite effect of what you’re looking for. Just let your emotions go, put on some music and tune out.

Nothing

It sounds so simple, yet it’s almost never used. When have you given yourself some scheduled time to do absolutely nothing? Just sit or lay down, maybe put on some music, maybe don’t, tell everyone not to disturb you and just let your mind wander. Sometimes all we’re missing is more headspace and time for ourselves. Try to let go of the feeling of guilt because you’re not doing anything, and understand that doing nothing is actually doing something. You can call it meditation, but in reality, you don’t have to focus on your breathing or be aware of yourself, you simply have to do nothing – which is actually a lot harder than you might think and could take you a few tries to get right.

Remember that being relaxed and having the right mindset is what helps us be healthy and productive, so make sure you give yourself a running start by taking time to relax and de-stress.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Diana Smith is a full-time mom interested in topics related to health and alternative medicine. In her free time, she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.

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