Welcome back to the blog! I can't believe that March is around the corner and warmer weather will soon be here for good :) The sun is seriously something that never fails to boost my mood and bring me some good vibes. Who's with me? Anyways, I wanted to share a few tips for anxiety and stress because I feel like that's something that can always just enter our lives from time to time. As you probably know, feeling anxiety is something that just doesn't feel good at all. It impacts our happiness, of course, our mental health, and how we emotionally feel each day. Stress is something that makes me feel so worried and on edge, and pausing and stepping away from those stressors by focusing on self-care and relaxation is so helpful. So, I wanted to share a few relaxation techniques that have been working for me lately to help ease stress and anxiety when these feelings arise in my life.
1) Listen to Music
There is something so serotonin-boosting about listening to music. Ever since a young age, music is something that has continuously brought me so much happiness and good vibes. Whenever I'm feeling stressed, my go-to relaxation technique is just listening to some music that honestly just brings a smile to my face. Listening to some feel-good music has been proven to boost the serotonin in our bodies, and that helps counteract feelings of stress in both the mind and body. Every morning right when I wake up, I crank on some good old 80s music to get me in a positive mood! I like to make listening to music a part of my morning routine because incorporating it into my daily life always brings down stress and helps me feel calmer. Music has a correlation to our mental health, and our minds feel significantly calmer and more relaxed when we listen to music. So, throw together a playlist of some feel-good tunes that you love, and blast it on whenever you're feeling some stress!
2) Practice a Hobby
Whenever I find myself feeling stressed, doing an activity that I love gets my mind away from the stressors. Hobbies improve our mental health as they allow us to feel more happiness and joy, and happiness automatically brings down the cortisol in our minds and bodies. One of my favorite hobbies to practice when I'm feeling some stress is writing a blog post, or creating some social media content for all of you :) Doing something I love on a regular basis helps get my mind off of things that are not serving me the energy that I need, and instead lets me feel calmer and more peaceful. Even finding 5 minutes to do something you love will surely make you feel less anxious. Not only does having a few enjoyable activities allow us to relax and unwind, but they help us be more productive. When we feel less stressed and overwhelmed, we're able to accomplish more and do more because anxiety is not getting in our way. So, find a few hobbies/activities that really bring YOU some happiness. Maybe it's baking, gardening, reading books or blogs, drawing, meditating, etc. Hobbies provide us with "me time" and they're a super beneficial way to help us relax and de-stress.
3) Incorporate Self-Care Rituals Into Your Day
For me, self-care is really the small things that I can do each day to fill up my cup and make myself feel loved and cared for. One of the most helpful self-care practices for me to help with anxiety and stress on a daily is creating self-care rituals for myself that I can consistently do each day. Some examples are lighting a candle at home, opening a window and letting in some fresh air, taking a warm shower, taking regular breaks, doing my skincare, meditation, stretching, and spending some time in the sun. Doing some of these small self-care rituals each day helps me show myself more love and care, especially when I'm feeling some stress in my body. And showing yourself love can really be just doing some of the things that bring you happiness! The nice thing about self-care rituals is that you can do them each and every day, and they're super grounding and allow us to focus on the present. I encourage you to find a few small self-care rituals that improve your mood, and most of all make you feel calmer and more at peace.
4) Move Your Body
Although I'm someone who hasn't been a huge fitness person, I can say that fitness and moving my body have had the biggest difference in how I feel mentally. One of my biggest motivators in getting in exercise has been wanting to FEEL good. I truly believe that movement is all about feeling and how I want to feel mentally and physically. Whenever I exercise and get in a good sweat, I feel that so much stress and anxiety are released. I like to think of it as sweating the stress out. And even exercise where you're not really sweating is also so impactful on the mind. Movement releases the feel-good hormone, also known as endorphins, that enhance how we feel. My mom and I have been attending a cycling class every week together and having someone to work out with is so motivating and makes it so much more enjoyable! And you don't even need to move your body for an hour to feel the impact mentally. It can be as little as 5 minutes to just do some stretching. Find some kind of movement that again, feels good for you, and take some time to get it in especially on the days when you're stressed. Making the decision to show up for yourself and care for yourself is so important, and even on the days when you don't want to get in movement, show up for yourself by doing something small. It will make the biggest difference in how your mind feels.
5) Do Something Fun!
Incorporating time into your schedule to have some fun is honestly so critical in preventing yourself from feeling overworked and super anxious all the time. When we make time for doing things that bring us happiness and something I like to say all the time, good vibes, we honestly feel so much more relaxed and less stressed about something that may have happened, or the future. Doing things that bring us happiness, like a hobby, helps us release the stress and pressure we may be feeling internally, by boosting serotonin and even feelings of positivity! Dancing to your favorite music, having a good laugh, spending time with family and friends, playing a board game, and watching a hilarious movie are all ways to have some fun and bring down the cortisol in our bodies and therefore help us feel more relaxed and less worried.
These 5 relaxation techniques have really helped me keep my stress at bay. A lot of how I take care of myself is by doing things that bring me happiness and love! Remember that relaxing and self-caring are always productive!
Xo, Esha
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