Like so many people I struggle to find peace amid stress and anxiety. Anxiety and stress take so many different forms in our lives: headaches, panic attacks, muscle tension, and on and on. Negative effects of stress on our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being are well known and researched. What to do about it? When stress and anxiety becomes overwhelming, it’s often important to consult a doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist or all of the above. The advice on this post is not meant to substitute for those important resources. That said, here are some of the things that I use that have helped me tremendously.
1. Meditation – I’ve wanted to learn to meditate for a long time but never found a system or method that helped me learn until I found HEADSPACE. Headspace is an app that teaches you, step by step, how to meditate. The first 10 lessons (10 minutes each) are free. There is a subscription service after that. I’ve been using Headspace for about 2 months now, and I love it. Give it a try!
2. Bible Art Journaling I’ve written about Bible Journaling HERE and HERE and given some tips on how to get started and what resources to use. I find that Bible Art Journaling is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety.
3. Mandalas and Coloring Books for Adults. Adult Coloring is all the rage recently, and with good reason. Here is a link to a nice book of mandalas, and here is a lovely one called Beauty in the Bible.
4. Gratitude Practices Gratitude has many scientifically proven benefits. There are many ways to establish a gratitude practice, from writing in a journal every day, to simply jotting down five things for which you are grateful once a week. I have a journal that I write in sporadically, and Elias and I also list five things on Sunday evenings and share them with one another.
Bonus: Here are a few other things that have helped me with stress and anxiety. Maybe give them a try!
- Relaxation therapy (aka the best nap in the world!): When I have gone in for relaxation treatments for anxiety, the practitioner puts me on a table with cushions under my neck and knees, puts noise canceling headphones on my ears that play nature sounds, puts a lavender scented eye pillow on my eyes, and (the most luxurious part of it, for me) covers me with a weighted blanket. I lie there and take a 30 minute luxurious relaxation nap break. I have yet to recreate this whole setup at home, but it is one of my goals, because I come out of each treatment feeling great. Your own at home relaxation spa! Give it a try!
- I try to cut back on caffeine when I’m super stressed and add tea to the mix. One of my favorite teas recently is lavender. (Sensing a theme?) I also use lavender candles, lotion and bubble bath.
Those are all my tricks and tips! Happy relaxing and de-stressing!
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