photo credit: witigonen

Too much bad stress, too often can make you sick.  How do you relieve tension and anxiety?

Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.

— Astrid Alauda

With apologies to Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, take a listen and let his music inspire your creative release of whatever tensions plague you.  Of course, the problem isn’t all inside your head – bad stress permeates your body, your heart and your soul… and it’s as damaging as can be.  Shaking off your stress is well worth the struggle.

Stress is the trash of modern life – we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.

— Terri Guillemets

There Must Be 50 Ways to Shake Off Your Stress

1. Just slip out the back, Jack.
2. Make a new plan, Stan.
3. Bake some bread – beat that dough into submission!
4. Learn to forgive. Really, do it, forgiveness matters!
5. Make funny faces to a mirror.
6. Yawn on purpose.  Do it again.
7. Remove yourself from the situation. (Hop on the bus, Gus.)
8. Turn on a radio talk show, talk back or mimic the commentators.
9. Help someone who needs help.
10. Take off your shoes and soak your feet.
11. Meditate.  Even three minutes will relieve some tensions.
12. Go for a swim.
13. Relax in a hot tub.
14. Grab a cup o’ (tea, coffee, cocoa?).
15. Bounce a ball against a wall. Bam, Bam, Bam.
16. Smack a pillow.
17. Go for a walk.
18. Sing LOUD.
19. BREATHE deeply.
20. LOL.
21. Dance, exercise, assume the yoga position.
22. Bite your tongue before you say something you’ll regret.
23. Bake something and give it away.
24. Doodle, draw, paint, write…
25. Call a friendly voice.
26. Get lost in a TV drama.
27. Clean a cupboard, a drawer or a refrigerator.
28. Turn off your phone.
29. Plan for it and then sleep in. (Make a new plan, Stan.)
30. Get up early and go for a walk.
31. Stand on your head.
32. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around.
33. Wash your hair.
34. Blow bubbles.
35. Go fly a kite.
36. Make paper airplanes.  Write your troubles on them and watch them dive bomb.
37. Write down the “problem” then crush it and toss it in the trash.
38. Brainstorm ridiculous solutions.  Try a few out in your head.  Consider doing the best of the bunch.
39. Write a letter you WON’T mail, let it all out; then shred it!
40. Plant a seed, or better yet, a flowering plant.
41. Smell a rose.
42. Stretch.
43. Forgive someone, including yourself.
44. Find some beach reading and disappear into the plot.
45. Go to the beach, walk in the sand, listen to the waves breaking.
46. Chase a squirrel or a duck or a puppy or even a kid.
47. Skip pebbles across a pond.
48. Hold your breath and count to 10.
49. Whistle.
50. Quick! Name all the animals you can think of that start with “E” …Emu, Elk, Elephant, Eels, Eagles…
51. Take a hike.
52. Light a candle and watch it burn.
53. List all the things you’re NOT going to do.
54. Now list all the things you WILL do.
55. Throw both lists away and find another way to resolve the issues.
56. Stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the view from there.
57. Go fishing.
58. Listen to music that soothes your soul.

OK, I was on a roll… more than 50 ways to shake off your stress.  Your turn – invent your very own.

Some of the secret joys of living are not found by rushing from point A to point B, but by inventing some imaginary letters along the way.

— Douglas Pagels
from These Are the Gifts Id Like to Give to You

Too much bad stress, too often can make you sick.  How do you relieve tension and anxiety?   Share your stress management strategies so we can all become healthier, wealthier and wiser!