Meditation, Journaling And Other Ways To De-Stress

Welcome to day 4 of 7 ways to stress less! I will share the links to the earlier posts a little later on.

Todays post is all about finding ways to de-stress, little activities that you can do on a daily basis for a big impact.

Are you ready to actively do something to reduce stress on a daily basis?

If not, I would like to encourage you to pick up and develop a daily habit that helps you accomplish just that.

Stress not only reduces your quality of life, but it can also negatively affect your health. There’s a reason why they say stress kills.

Start doing something about it and embrace life to the fullest.

Simple techniques to help you de-stress. 

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Start Meditating

One of the best tools for reducing stress is meditation, and honestly there is nothing complicated about it.

I think meditation is still seen as a little bit woohoo by some people. If you feel like its an activity you have avoided, I encourage you to just give it a try.

You can start with a simple breathing meditation by getting comfortable in a quiet spot and focusing on relaxing and thinking about nothing but your breath.

Your mind will probably wander and a thoughts will pop into your mind, but just push them to one side and return to your breath.

From there, give some of the free guided meditations a try. There are some wonderful apps out there that will turn your smartphone into your favourite new meditation device. Set aside a few minutes each day to meditate and watch the stress melt away. 

Some of the apps I use are Headspace, Calm & Fabulous, there are much more apps available but I defo recommend these as one of the ways to de-stress (Gardening Love is not an affiliate of these products)

Keep A Journal 

This one may surprise you. A journal is an effective tool to help you worry and stress less.

The simple act of writing about what’s on your mind can be incredibly freeing. A journal is also a great tool to help you look back and figure out what’s triggering or causing periods of high stress.

This is valuable information to have since you can’t work towards reducing or eliminating a trigger if you don’t know what it is. 

Get comfy, grab a notebook and pen, take a few deep breaths for a minute before you begin.

Then brain dump! Get it all out. What’s the first thing that come to mind? What is upsetting you at the moment? Are there specific areas of your life that are huge stress factors for you.

Once you have got it all out, you can break your thoughts down further. Take one of your stresses and go into more detail with it.

Keep repeating this exercise until you feel that you have got it all out. Journalling can be incredibly cathartic and you may be surprised by the release of emotionally energy you get from this exercise.

Go For A Walk 

Another one of the simple ways to de-stress, but very powerful activity is to go for a walk.

Get outside if possible, but if that’s not a good option, hop on a treadmill or pace around your house.

It doesn’t take a lot of walking before you start to see the benefits.

If you only have ten minutes, walk. If you have an hour lunch break, walk for 20 minutes and spend the rest of the time relaxing and eating.

Make it work and get in the habit of walking regularly. 

I’m lucky to be surrounded by beautiful countryside, and can honestly say that I have never gone for a walk and finished my walk feeling worse than what I started.

Its just a great way to clear your mind, take in your surroundings and scale down the stress. Often the issue I’m stressing over has shrunk somewhat by the time I end my walk.

Walking is the perfect way to gain some clarity and a fresh perspective.

Hug 

That’s right. Something as simple as a hug can help you relax and fight stress.

Make sure the hug is genuine on both sides and for best results, hold the embrace for at least twenty seconds.

You’ll start to feel calm and those endorphins will flood your system.

Don’t have anyone around to hug at the moment? Laughing out loud is pretty powerful too. Turn on a fun comedy that leaves you in stitches. 

Clean Up Your Diet 

Last but not least, take a look at what you’re putting into your mouth.

A clean diet of mostly whole foods that’s low in sugars and preservatives will nourish your body and fight much of the damage stress causes.

It will also help you feel calmer and more in control. Start making some small changes and see if you don’t start to feel better. 

So that’s it for todays post, I hope you feel inspired to lower those stress levels!

There are of course many more ways to de-stress, why not share your favourite way in the comments below. You may just inspire another reader!

As promised here are the links to post 1, post 2, & post 3 please share with those who may benefit and join me for tomorrows post.

In the mean time don’t forget to subscribe!

Becky 💚