Spinoff: What do you to de-stress?

[Pea-n-Me]

Since I live at the beach, I grab my chair and a drink and go and sit and stare at the ocean. Doesn't matter the weather, just feeling that sand under my feet and taking in all the sea smells, really helps lower my blood pressure and center me!

There's something about the ocean that is renewing to me, too.

My dog. I just got her and already she has been a huge stress reliever. Just a snuggle with her and I am smiling. Dance class helps a lot. I love ballet for taking me out of my head. I have to concentrate on the steps and my body. Currently I am taking tap which is a huge stress reliever.

I think I talked about it in the other thread, but Dr. Benson talked about this in particular - doing something you have to concentrate on in order to clear other thoughts out of your head. It's partly why people kneeling or holding other body positions during prayer help, because you have to concentrate on that as well as the words so it's practically impossible to do all [three] at the same time. The same principles go for meditation and lots of other complimentary therapies in which you train your mind to think of something else. Nice work! And glad you're loving your new dog! The known benefits of interacting with a pet have been around for a long time, as well as one of the things that's been most studied!

 

[perditax]

I envy those of you for whom cooking reduces stress.

I agree that pets are very calming - my cats do wonders for my stress level. I also like to DIS or surf Pinterest, scrapbook or do crafty things, watch TV, and occasionally have a glass of wine.

I think that if I was *obliged* to cook for a family, every day, I would grow to hate it quickly. But I have a small non-picky household so it can be a hobby instead. There's something calming about taking a weekend afternoon to make something that is somewhat labor intensive (a lot of ingredients, a lot of steps, or a long cook time, but ideally not all three at once unless it's Julia Child's beef bourguinnone (spellcheck refuses to throw me a rope here)). It's also technically a creative pursuit, when you think about it. (Not that I am any good at plating or decorating, but I'm a solid general cook.) You're working methodically with your hands, and you get that gratification of a finished product.

 

[Poohlove]

Yoga does the trick for me.

I also like to walk my dog, read a good book and watch TV in my pj's.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I talk to my kids or DH and also Dis too.

 

[Wendy31]

I was thinking of other things, too.

I love electric candles and have a lot of them around the house, even in my room for when I'm trying to fall asleep. I like the ambience they give. This season is fun to drive around and look at Christmas/holiday lights. I also like scents. (Aromatherapy you might say.)

Along those same lines, we just purchased a salt lamp a couple of weeks ago, & it's amazing to me how comforting & relaxing the glow is.

Depends on the stress.

Mild, daily stress... I play video games and hang out in the livingroom with family watching Netflix Youtube on the big TV (mainly various comedians such as John Oliver, John Stewart, Adam Ruins Everything, and music videos, etc).

Extreme stress... I clean house and organize closets and drawers. When the world around you is chaotic, sometimes it feels really good to put things back in order. When my husband had to go to hospital in an emergency once, I did all the laundry and hung it out on the line sorted by colour, like a great big rainbow stretching from one end of the yard to the other. Then I sorted our socks by colour, too. And the cups. And that's about when his doctor finally called to fill me in on his condition (a week in hospital, but ultimately all was good).

On the Myers Brigg Scale, I'm an INFJ, &, if my outside world is chaotic or disorganized, it really bothers me & adds to my stress. I can't fully relax if stuff is messy, so I get what you're saying.

And I'm glad your husband is okay!

Since I live at the beach, I grab my chair and a drink and go and sit and stare at the ocean. Doesn't matter the weather, just feeling that sand under my feet and taking in all the sea smells, really helps lower my blood pressure and center me!

The beach is my happy place, & I wish we lived closer! There is just something about the salt air & the sand!

Swimming, swimming, just keep swimming...I like the way you think!

Personally, I'm extremely introverted and although I feel very confident in my ability to handle practically everything (by God's grace), I need a TON of down-time to be able to process it all. Stress-management for me is all about having time completely alone - it doesn't even matter what I do, only that there's nobody during that time period that "requires" anything from me. I just need to be able to think. I also require a lot of sleep when the going gets rough. There are occasions (like my forced confinement with extended family directly after our DMother's recent death) that I "escape" into sleep as that's really the only time I feel like I can be alone.

I'm also very introverted, & I have to have my down time. After a few days of too much "peopling," I tend to shut down for a while & just retreat.