After COVID-19 hit, it was more common for me to get stressed out. Although it’s not always easy to get through stress, there are some ways, such as meditation and simple exercises, that would help you destress. Today, I will be sharing with you some things that I do to destress my stresses.
- Breathe in, Breathe out.
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Before I explain the specific meditation and exercises that would help you destress, I want to share a general and simple way to destress. It is something you can do anytime and anywhere—breathe in and breathe out. What I like to do is take three big breathes in and out while closing my eyes. It’s a very easy way to calm yourself down and try to clear your mind off of whatever may be stressing you out.
- Drink Hot Tea or Coffee.
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I’ve always had a problem with binge eating when I’m stressed, and recently, I have tried replacing food with hot tea (not much of a coffee person). What I love about drinking tea when you are stressed, other than the fact that it has almost 0 calories, is how the warm drink would help to calm your body down. I like to sit on a comfy chair and drink my warm tea. But be careful not to burn your mouth when drinking hot tea!
- Do something that you love.
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When I’m stressed, I start doing things that I love doing, something I can focus on, and forget all my stresses. No, I don’t mean for you to look at your phone, but do cooking, reading, or drawing. I like drawing and sketching, as well as making beaded accessories when I’m stressed. But when I’m like, really, really stressed, I bake cookies at 3 am (which is weird, I know, and I should probably not do).
- Get your body moving.
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Sometimes, we can only let go of our stress by doing something physical, and that is exactly what I do most of the time. For some light exercises, I like to walk outside and explore my neighborhood whether it is to see things that I’ve never noticed before, or visiting my favorite cat. There are also many videos on YouTube that you can follow along to move your body or/and workout. One of my favorite workouts is doing some kickboxing cardio workouts, because I feel like an action star, physically fighting my own stresses in front of me. But of course, there are so many other ways to get your body moving by doing such things as dancing, going on a jog, or doing a general fitness workout.
- Sing your heart out by singing (or humming).
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Whether this means to sing alone in the shower or your heart out with a group of people, singing is one of my favorite stress-relieving activities. The wonderful thing about singing is that it takes your mind off things that you may not necessarily want to think about. If you want to karaoke at home and sing to some background music, I recommend finding YouTube videos of karaoke versions to your favorite songs, or using the Spotify karaoke feature (however, some songs do not have the karaoke feature).
- Listening to your Favorite music (or sounds).
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Yup, another stress-relieving activity that involves music. They say “music is healing,” and I definitely agree. I personally love listening to 80s love songs or Disneyland background music when I’m stressed. But of course, you don’t need to limit yourself to music. You can also listen to white noise, such as the sound of nature or rain, which is something that I like to listen to when I have some tasks to do or am too stressed to fall asleep.
- Clearing your mind and relaxing by doing some yoga and stretching.
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Yoga is such a nice exercise to do especially in the morning. I love doing yoga and some stretching in the morning because feeling good in the morning means that I would most likely feel good the rest of the day. I recommend searching on YouTube “stress-relieving yoga” and doing yoga along with the instructors.
If you ever feel stressed, I hope you can use some of the methods and exercises that I use to destress.