One thing every one of us has in common is STRESS! In this economy? SHHYEAH! There is so much going on in the world right now that is not easy to digest. While social media can help us feel connected and seen it reminds us every minute of the day that there is a shitstorm going on all around us. (Yeah, I cuss a lot, some psychologists say it’s a sign of intelligence and relieves stress) One easy way to reduce the amount of stress in your life is to establish habits that relieve tension and completely change your emotional state. Here are five such stress-relieving habits. If you can hold yourself accountable to these long enough they will become routine and your ability to maintain lower stress levels will improve your life overall. So instead of reaching for your phone and scrolling, pick a few of these and try to do them at least once a week. For real, for real.

Habit #1 – Listen to Music Exclusively for at Least 15 Minutes

As a society, most of us have lost touch with truly enjoying music. Music is played in the background in cars, in bars, in offices, in coffee shops; but when’s the last time you sat down deliberately to savor some music, much like you’d savor a glass of French wine?

Find somewhere private where you won’t be disturbed for at least 15 minutes. Get a good pair of headphones or a nice sound system and just listen to some music you enjoy. Soak in its nuances. You can choose different genres for different moods. Make some Spotify lists. Make several in fact. Need to relax? Make one full of meditation sounds or slow jazz. Need a pick-me up? Create a playlist full of booty jams that get you crunk. People don’t say crunk anymore, do they? Sorry. Anyway, make a playlist that makes you want to shake it and shake it like nobody is watching.

Habit #2 – Get a Massage

A good massage can reduce a lot of stress. A great massage can leave you feeling like a completely different person.

Find a good masseuse and get a massage once a week. A great massage can cost anywhere between $50 to $150 per session. While not cheap, many business people treat this expense as a necessary business expense rather than personal leisure, as it contributes so much

towards their personal productivity. Maybe shop for a personal massager online. No, that kind! Well, maybe it counts. Hell, go for it, Who is watching? Don’t answer that it was rhetorical.

Habit #3 – Take a Relaxing Bath

Take a bubble bath with Epsom salts. Warm water releases neurotransmitters in your brain that cause relaxation and can help to relieve tension. Absorbing magnesium can offer pain relief in minutes on top of reducing blood pressure if used consistently. There are a lot of us walking around with magnesium deficiency and it can cause all kinds of problems. I love an epsom bath, but I also use a magnesium spray regularly. You can find them in stores or online. It honestly has helped so much adding this to my nightly routine.

A good bath daily or a few times a week can help change the amount of stress you feel. For even more stress relief, try soaking in the bath for a while, then doing a 1 minute rinse in cold water then soaking in warm water again. Cold water constricts the blood vessels and shocks the system, increasing heart rate. When you soak back into warm water, the constricted blood vessels will expand, which results in more blood flow to all the muscles in your body and your brain. This increased heart rate and increased blood flow can help reduce a lot of stress and can have cardiovascular rewards too.

There is a reason athletes take ice baths. How about before you get out of your shower you turn the hot water off and let the cold water run over you for a minute. It can give you a burst of energy to get your day started. This has so many benefits for your nervous system, and your skin and hair too.

Habit #4 – Play a Mentally Stimulating Game

Chess. Sudoku. Crossword puzzles. Scrabble. Go. These are all games that engage the brain and can really “suck” you in. They’ll take you out of whatever is troubling you and get you fully engaged in a task completely unrelated to work, family, relationships, or life in general.

Getting away from your problems is a great way to reduce stress. Unfortunately, taking a vacation to the Caribbean every weekend just isn’t feasible. But playing a mentally engaging game for just a few minutes a day certainly is.

Habit #5 – Journaling

I can hear your collective groans. So many people absolutely hate this. Writing down your thoughts, emotions, and stressors can relieve a lot of that sense of being bottled up. A lot of stress doesn’t actually come from events themselves, but from holding the stress in inside. Writing it down can help you feel like you got those things off your chest, even if you don’t share it with another human being. You don’t need to go find a cute journal to do this. Maybe use a notes app. You can log the stress as it happens too. Coworker pissing you off? Write them a nasty letter. I mean, angry type your worst, then delete delete delete. Heavy thoughts on your mind before bed? write it out and set it aside. Try journaling daily for a week to see if it changes how you feel.

These are five easy, and affordable (except maybe the massage) habits you can develop to help relieve stress. Set an alarm, and put it on your calendar. Create space for it! None of these things take too much time. If you can scroll social media for an hour you can do this. Need more help? Schedule an appointment by clicking the Book with Me tab at the top of this page. Or check out the life in balance quiz for FREE on my Services page!