For the most part, stress is hard to avoid. It affects all of us differently and ranges in severity, but everyone’s experiences are valid. Even though it’s common, it’s still a negative strain on life, so here are a few ways we can prevent it or, at the very least, make it go away.

Relaxation With Meditation

Self-care of mind, body, and spirit is vital for a stress-free life. Taking time to reflect on the thoughts and feelings leading to your stress can help you discover ways to prevent the stress from happening again.

I try to meditate daily and I’ve been pretty good at keeping on track. As someone who easily gets distracted, I try to make myself as comfortable and relaxed as possible to keep me from breaking my concentration. For a little aromatherapy, I burn 100% natural incense and to stay comfy, I use an actual meditation cushion instead of a pillow which I’ve found extremely helpful. 

If it’s for 20 minutes or 2 hours, I always feel relaxed and revitalized and ready to conquer the day.

Write it down

It’s no secret that journaling is a regular practice of mine. It’s such an easy way to get the thoughts that are stressing you out, out of your head. 

I usually use a basic notebook for my journaling to look back at how I’ve grown and handled different stressful situations. Since I began journaling, I’ve revealed a lot of negative self-talk rooted in my stress and it’s made it so much easier to let it go and avoid those feelings in the future.

Understandably, journaling is not for everyone. It can sometimes feel like just another thing to add to your to-do list which is why I only journal when my mind tells me I need to – which has been a lot lately. Regardless, to avoid burnout and dropping the practice altogether, journal at your own pace instead of making it a daily chore.

Read Something That Makes You Feel Good

It’s an actual statistic that reading reduces stress by 68%, so need I say more?

Reading is all about personal preference. For me, nonfiction, biographies, and books that help me grow as a person are always my go-to, but it’s not the same for everyone. Read something you enjoy that will help you cope with your stress.

The next book on my list is, Project You: More Than 50 Ways to Calm Down, Destress, and Feel Great. I’ve found it helpful to always have the next book you want to read on hand so that when the inspiration to read a good book hits, you’re ready for it.

Affirm Your Limitations

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything, and that’s OK!

Learning when to say no is easier said than done, but you need to do it. I used to never say no to any opportunity and it did help me achieve so much but at the cost of my mental health and well-being. Accepting my limitations was one of the best things I did for myself. I still strive to achieve my goals and take advantage of many opportunities, but I don’t 

You should still strive to achieve your goals and take advantage of opportunities that come your way, but you need to keep in mind your mental health.

SLEEP!

If you don’t sleep, you might have more stress and if you keep stressing, you might not be able to sleep. It’s a vicious cycle! If you’re able to break it and consistently get a good night’s sleep, then your stress levels will likely fall.

 

Creating a bedtime routine and sticking to it can help with better sleep. Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. The recommended amount of hours of sleep for an adult is 7-9 hours, but I can say with personal experience most of us aren’t getting that much rest.

Until I started a nightly routine, I was going to bed really late and waking up super early. I was unintentionally doing serious damage to my mental health and stress levels, so I came up with a routine that I (try) to stick to. 

I’m the type of person that likes background noise while I’m trying to sleep, so I got this cool little sound machine/alarm clock/reading light/the list goes on. It has a personal sleep routine setting so I can set alarms for when I need to put my phone on the other side of the room and go to sleep/wake up, play ambient music or white noise for background sounds, and have a soft light for reading. It makes me want to stay on schedule.

These de-stressing techniques have really helped me, so hopefully one, if not all, will help you!