Three simple strategies that we can implement right now to reduce our stress levels.
1. A Kiss!
I heard this one years ago and it works! It does require that we currently have an intimate someone in our life. (And no, please don’t leave it until the last moment as Lord Nelson did, when he asked Hardy to oblige!)
As soon as we see our intimate someone each evening, kiss them immediately. But hold the kiss for 30 seconds! (Maybe pre-warn them the first time 😊). 30 seconds is a long time in kiss terms. But hang in there, be present with it. We will probably feel any stressful thoughts from both our days just falling away. And who knows what other beneficial stress relieving activities might result?!
Do this every evening for a month then observe what that’s done for our stress levels, and our relationship.
Someone once said, “Everything in moderation, except love, sex and laughter,” and that’s great advice. There are other options too.
The second-best alternative to the kiss is to give someone we know well a really long hug. The tactile sensation of a hug, of touch, transcends thought, and warms us in a visceral, subconscious way that every human craves. Hugging is good for the soul.
2. Slow it Down.
We are so busy “doing” these days, trying to fill every moment with some activity. That is self-inflicted stress. Take some downtime each day, if necessary schedule it. Get up 30 minutes before the kids if we need to. Go for a walk, meditate, yoga, or anything for just ourselves. The world is not going to fall apart, or call us “lazy buggers”, even if that is our own guilt-trip right now. We don’t always need to be doing for everyone else! Go have some bodywork once or twice per month. Get out of the rat race and then it won’t always be “One damned thing after the other”, rushing from one calamity to the next.
When we take a holiday, don’t schedule every day with activities. Plan some nothing-time, to do what we like in the moment, including nothing. It’s so restorative to body and brain to just STOP. Some people come back from holidays more tired than when they left. It’s ridiculous.
3. Acceptance
Accept where we are right now. It is pointless arguing against some stressor that already is. Accept that it is as it is. There is an enormous release of pressure when we do that. Surrender. There’s no battle to be won here. Any fight only tears us apart on the inside.
Then we can look at our options to deal with “our stuff”. And we must deal with it, openly, honestly. Denying it will only make it, and our health, so much worse.
We need to analyse our stuff, research it, learn from it. Then just get on with the best course of action for us, once that becomes apparent, in a state of presence. It starts with acceptance.
Bodywork like Zero Balancing or Craniosacral therapy can bring us back into a state of present moment awareness, which is the best place to deal with anything happening right now. If we’re not present, we’re probably trapped in thoughts, in “Stressland”. Bodywork also helps us to release any physically held tension, tension that may have been felt recently, or was put there years ago. That’s liberating for the body, and the mind.
Next Month - More Stress Relief Ideas