5 Ways To Stress Less

According to a study, some of the main reasons people stress are relationship drama, media overload and of course lack of sleep. If you don’t stress about any of these, please tell me your secret!

Between working part-time, going to school full-time, and trying to juggle a social life, I’m pretty sure I stress about all of these in some way. I know stress can be really bad for my health not only mentally, but physically as well, so I try to keep my stress levels down.

Let’s face it though: It’s impossible to relax or get a good nights sleep when you’re constantly running around like a chicken with its head cut off and you always have a million different things on your mind.  Here are my top five ways to de-stress:

1. Laugh. Laugh loudly and ridiculously. Don’t hold back. Laughter truly is the best medicine. Try looking at the humor section on Pinterest or watching funny Youtube videos. You can find all of the benefits of laughter here. http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/laughter.htm
2. Go outside. Go to a park and lay in the grass. Take a hike and find a waterfall. Sunshine can do magical things to help you relax.
3. Exercise. I hate when people tell me to exercise because I always think of a gym with blank walls and sweaty people but it doesn’t have to be that. Try a yoga class or take a walk outside.
4. Read a book. Books suck you into a different world where you can’t think about or focus on your own problems because you’re too busy focusing on the characters and lives you’re reading about. If you don’t like to read, try getting an audio book.
5. Drink water. It’s amazing how stressed out your body physically gets when you’re dehydrated and how much good the simple act of drinking more water can do.

When all else fails, remember this quote by E. Joseph Cossman. “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.”