5 Things You Can Do When You Feel Stressed

Even if you can’t completely rid your life of the things that generate stress and anxiety, you can take measures to reduce the impact of stress on your mind, body and spirit. As soon as you begin to sense emotional overwhelm, it’s important to do all that you can to halt the course of anxious energy and calm your system. For ideas on how to best support yourself through stressful times, this guide is here to help. 

1. Take Care of Your Body

Stress is not only a mental phenomenon. Your brain is wired to react to stressful stimuli with certain mechanisms that enable you to tackle problems and threats quickly and with ease. However, the same biology that assisted your primitive ancestors in fleeing from a predator are at work when you’re on a tight, urgent deadline at work, as your nervous system is designed to interpret threats to your safety, whether physical or emotional, in similar ways. 

Your body responds to stress by releasing activating hormones and kicking your system into high gear, so a great way to combat the effects of stress is to do what you can to relax your body and quiet some of those signals. You may find it helpful to take a warm bath, get a massage, take deep breaths, research weed delivery San Diego couriers or head outside for a walk around your neighborhood. 

2. Calm Your Mind

A hallmark of anxiety is racing thoughts and a mind that cannot seem to find stillness in the midst of a stress-inducing situation whether you’re faced with it directly at the time or not. You may not be able to calm your brain down completely, or rid yourself of all anxious thoughts, but you can certainly slow them down. 

Grab a journal and jot a few of your most pressing thoughts and feelings down or simply try to allow your thoughts to happen without judgment or a need to do anything but recognize them and let them pass. Provide your brain with a few soothing inputs such as soft music, calming scents, low lighting and gentle activities that can provide a context for your brain to find a little peace and quiet when you feel confronted with internal chaos. 

3. Find a Distraction

Even if it seems impossible to try to get your mind off of the things that are stressing you out, sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do. At a certain point, ruminating on stressful situations becomes unproductive and stagnant. Break the cycle and switch up your current routine to turn your attention to something else. You can pick up a book, watch a mind-numbing TV show, read the news, go to the gym or get involved in a favorite hobby or activity to give your brain a well-deserved break. Just be sure that whatever you choose is sufficiently engrossing so you will be adequately distracted. 

4. Reach Out to Your Network

What are friends and family for if not for social support during trying times? When things get tough, call up a trusted confidant in whom you can confide and invite them over for dinner, drinks or just to chat about your problems. You don’t have to get together with loved ones to talk about your problems in order to relieve stress, however. Friends and family can provide a worthwhile diversion from your problems in the form of fun night’s out, games, outdoor adventures or even just fun time spent in one another’s company. 

5. Solve a Problem

Anxious thoughts, especially repetitive ones, are your brain’s way of trying to protect you from harm and force you to fixate on a problem until you can find a solution that will help you to feel safer. It can be helpful to, when you’re feeling rational enough, lean into that thought train and try to solve a situation or find a remedy for something that is weighing heavily on your mind. Even the completion of a simple household task that feels pushed to the back burner, such as finally replacing the light bulb in a hall closet, can feel like a huge weight is lifted.