How Do You De-Stress?

shellyr44 · #1 10/08/08, 04:44 PM

I've been under a lot of stress lately to the fact of having some wicked headaches. It comes from a combination of things (husbands health, work issues) and I feel its toll. How do you all deal with stress? I could probably use a good cry but the tears just seem not to want to come.

Danaus29 · #2 10/08/08, 04:49 PM

Spider solitaire. I have played it for hours. Make it challenging though. Another favorite destresser is Columns or the Chinese picture tile game. They make me keep my concentration on the game and off the stress.

Scott in Florida Panhandl · #3 10/08/08, 05:10 PM

Sleep.

Wisconsin Ann · #4 10/08/08, 05:20 PM

Light some candles in the bathroom. turn off the regular lights. fill the tub with hot water and bubblebath

put on your favorite music. Take time for yourself..maybe take a book in with you if you like...or a magazine. just let the stress ooze out into the bubblebath.

now....that's one way I destress. the other, which I learned a LOOOONG time ago is a type of self hypnosis. In the beginning, I had to lay down on a firm surface (like the floor) and imagine my body filling up, starting at the toes, with orange liquid. It fills up slowly...toes, feet, ankles,lower legs...like there is a valve in your toe and you are an empty vessel. When the warm orange liquid reaches the top of your head, the valve is opened again....the liquid slowly leaves your body. As it leaves, you do the same as when it was coming in...you think about the body part it is filling..(or leaving in this case). The orange liquid absorbs all the stress and washes it away as it leaves. Your head, face, neck...it drains slowly down your shoulders....your arms, elbows, wrists...fingers....

anyway. by the time you've drained the liquid out, you're calm and relaxed.

after a while of doing that particular destresser, you can simply take a deep breath and feel stress ooze away within seconds.

there are other things...my favorite and oldest way to destress is to take a walk/hike in a forested area. Just hiking around, smelling the woods, touching the trees...that will do it for me.

Jean · #5 10/08/08, 05:21 PM

For those who are so inclined I find that Bible reading puts the priorities in the right place and gives peace.
Jean

Alice In TX/MO · #6 10/08/08, 05:24 PM

Walking. Early in the morning. Clears out the brain fog.

Iddee · #7 10/08/08, 05:26 PM

Close you eyes and imagine a cool, clear mountain stream. You are looking down into the clear water and the site is so beautiful. The face of the A**hole that you are holding under.

NOW, feel better?

chickenista · #8 10/08/08, 05:26 PM

I have several
*I like to hike, but who has the time anymore. sigh
*Accomplishing something really helps. If I can start and finish one thing it helps me feel a bit more in control as well as lifting my spirits. And if I am mad I love hard outdoor work. I curse and fume and plot revenge in my head while I massacre weeds or something.
*A few things I can't print.
* a good escapist movie helps too.

Queen Bee · #9 10/08/08, 06:18 PM

I don't deal with stress well, migraines, body aches and pains that feel like a bad case of the flu are a few of the signs I am under too much.. I usually can work my honeybees and forget most of the problems.. If it's not time to work the bees, a walk or a swing in the skychairs under our maples will work..

GrannyG · #10 10/08/08, 06:29 PM

I head for the barnyard....love to sit in my old rusty rocking chair....watch the butterflies (Monarch's) on their way to Old Mexico, scratch the goat's head and pull on his beard, try to keep him from crawling up in my lap, listen to the chickens, and let the sun warm me...this soothes me...then some bird will fly over and crap on me !!!

NWoods_Hippie · #11 10/08/08, 07:09 PM

I drink many many nice cold beers and smoke a bunch of cigarettes while sitting on the deck watching my dog play in the yard!

Margie

daretodream · #12 10/08/08, 07:15 PM

Oh me oh my, stress has been a constant for me lately. Cocktail, long, hot lavender bath, vanilla musk body lotion, fleece pj's, good book and my big bed with lots of pillows and quilts.

wr · #13 10/08/08, 07:26 PM

I knit or do crossword puzzles. I find that both require me to concentrate enough on the task at hand that I have to stop fretting about the things that are driving me crazy. I also find that if I go for a power walk, 2+ miles a very brisk pace, also helps ward off the headaches.

Susan · #14 10/08/08, 07:26 PM

Stress has been my middle name since 9/11 when i was told i may have ovarian cancer, then added stress was on friday when i was told ive had a heart attack....
one thing keeping me calm is Klonipin which is to do exactly that, keep me calm so no more heart attacks, i suffer from anxiety and they think that was when i had my heart attack, and in turn klonipin makes me sleep...and when im not asleep i am online reading or playin on pogo....
and if that dont help well a couple shots of JD will help!! lol

Mid Tn Mama · #15 10/08/08, 07:59 PM

I like to scrub floors, by hand, with a brush. You can assess my level of stress by how spotless my floors are.

TonyE · #16 10/08/08, 08:11 PM

This is how I spell relief…P-R-A-Y-E-R!

wvstuck · #17 10/08/08, 08:28 PM

You can remove stress the way the Army removes stress....

Exercise...A short strenuous work out will remove stress and leave you full of energy. When I stress out I go and walk a mile, if I am really stressed I go run two miles and try to beat my best time...

Oh well works for me anyway...

bloogrssgrl · #18 10/08/08, 08:33 PM

I was having tremendous migranes and neck pains - much of which I attribute to strees. I found a chiropractor who has a massage therapist on staff. He would give me deep muscle massages in my neck and upper back and the change was miraculous. The massage hurt like the dickens when it was being done but when it was over...aaaaahhhhhhh. Migranes gone.

I also find hard physical work helps too.

galfriend · #19 10/08/08, 08:54 PM

MID TN MAMA, I am with ya on the floor scrubbing, lol, I do that too.
I also live spend way too many hours in pogo world

Iddee,

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Close you eyes and imagine a cool, clear mountain stream. You are looking down into the clear water and the site is so beautiful. The face of the A**hole that you are holding under.

LOL, I AM I AM I AM!!!

Wisconsin Ann, with my kind of luck I'd be afraid that I'd drown myself visualizing all that, or I'd wake up soaked, lol

I also like the brisk walk~away~ Sometimes I have to make myself walk back....which is where my stress comes from.
The best de-stresser's for me though is when I am around my GK's or my DS's they are all such a riot, should have been comedians. Unfortunately, I dont get to see all of them often enough. Laughter is so much easier on ya than crying. At least for me it is.

I'm gonna keep an eye in this thread for tips too!

shellyr44 I sure hope ya find what works for ya asap and get to feeling better! Stress just aint healthy.

Pigeon Lady · #20 10/08/08, 09:16 PM

I build stuff. Right now it's chicken coops. Hammering nails is a great stress reliever!

When it's too cold to work outside I spin, knit socks and sweaters or carve walking sticks.

Pauline