Five Ways to Alleviate Stress Today

Sometimes a glass of wine just doesn’t cut it.

What I mean is that adulting can be darn difficult.  There are always going to be stressful times thanks to that little thing called “responsibility.”  Any one of a million things can set it off: paying bills, job loss, parenting, weight watching, the list goes on and on.  Getting through all the feels and coming out on the other side is challenging!

My last few weeks have been super stressful. Lots of traveling, ripping up flooring at my family cabin, fostering an injured cat, feeling the pressures of self-study, then on top of all that finding out my car needs a new transmission… well, let’s just say a glass of wine couldn’t cure it all.

Only within the last few days have I been able to shrug off the pouting and brooding and put myself in a better mental state.  There was no silver bullet that yanked me out of my funk; it took several different approaches to get me out of Stressville and back to the Land of Productivity.

Here are my top five tools to battle stress.

1. Exercise.

Endorphin release almost always makes us feel better after a walk, run, bike ride or insert the exercise of your choice here. That rush and sense of accomplishment following a strenuous hike, long run or even a hot yoga class gets us feeling good about ourselves, right? Personally, it can be as simple as taking my dog for a walk and just getting outside, breathing the fresh air, making sure my body is moving.

2. Eat well.

Stress can make the best of us reach for a double bacon cheeseburger and fries.  While I think indulging on occasion is an essential part of eating, and you know, being human, I also know that I have to eat right to feel right. If I’m feeling stuffed full of fatty food, it makes my blue feelings bluer. It feels good choosing nutritious meals and I’m often totally satisfied by preparing my favorite vegetable soup or ordering my most absolute favorite salad (I’m looking at you Chicken Arugula Basil).  Simply deciding to fuel my body with healthy food lifts my spirits.

3. Sleep.

How is it we can be so incredibly tired, yet wide awake 3am, mind racing?  So annoying!  Stress can prevent us from falling asleep or cause irregular sleep patterns after we do nod off. Either way the result is fatiguing and unpleasant, which only compounds the negative emotions.

Tips and tricks exist to help tuck ourselves in (or back in) when this happens. Try taking a pre-bed bath infused with lavender, using a white noise sleep machine, reading, having a glass of wine or chamomile tea, making love, or even getting up and moving to the couch. My personal favorite is my “magic movie”, Sense and Sensibility.  I don’t watch it, I just listen through my phone and somehow the score and softly spoken English take me away to dream land.

4. Do something just for you.

Some days the chunk of time you get to yourself may only be fifteen minutes; other days you may be able to participate in a sporting event or go to a movie.  However your day may look, purposefully block some time for yourself then do something that brings you joy.

Sometimes I combine my just-for-me activity with the next tip…

5. Drink Wine.

Maybe you’ve heard that wine is good for you. This is not a rumor folks, it’s true!  The USDA recommends women have one glass per day and men up to two. Moderate wine consumption provides our bodies with resveratrol, a compound found in the skins and seeds of grapes that protects against aging and disease.  You aren’t going to become immortal, but you might have the face of a 30-year-old at age 45.  Allegedly. Who are we to argue with science?

I like to think of my evening glass as a relaxer for the furrowed brow brought on by the day’s trials. It works well in tandem with the measures listed above to battle that tense, heart-in-your-stomach feeling.

Does everything we’ve covered make the stress magically disappear, never again to return?  Of course not.  However, at present, I do feel better-equipped to handle my life and I know I have the tools to refer back to when I need them.  And now so do you!