5 Ways to Relax When You’re Stressed to the Max

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It’s Christmas time and although it’s a time to slow down and spend time with family and friends, most of us are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. This is supposed to be the most wonderful and joyful time of the year and instead I find myself feeling completely stressed. So, I tried finding ways to help me reduce my stress levels, and most of them involved some time with myself. These are just some of the ways I like to relax when stressed.

1. Self Care Tuesday

This is something I started a while ago, but fell out of the habit of doing when life got busy. Every week I had one day where I just pampered myself and relaxed. This happened to be Tuesdays, hence Self Care Tuesday. However, this can be any day of the week that works best for you. I took 3 hours to myself and did whatever I wanted to relax. Most of the time I would take a nice hot shower then put a face mask on and relax in my bath robe while reading a book. I often have something to do everyday, so just finding a few hours to just relax is really important to keep me from getting burnt out.

2. Take Myself on Dates

I admit this one is a little harder to do because it takes a whole lot of confidence. But, once you start taking yourself out, you’ll find a new love for yourself. Once a month I try to to a nicer restaurant for a dinner for myself. Typically it’s Olive Garden or something similar, but every now and then I’ll go to Panera. I try to avoid being on my phone the whole time and I try to just enjoy the moment (and the yummy food!).

I started taking myself on dates when I was starting to feel bad about not being in a relationship and wanting to go out to eat. That’s when I decided that it was okay to be single and that not having a boyfriend wasn’t the end of the world. I’ve had so many fun times and have met so many people just because I’m taking myself out for a well deserved meal when trying to relax when stressed.

3. Take a Drive to a Nature Area

Nature is very grounding for me when I’m stressed. Just being outside makes me feel so much better about whatever I’m facing. Lucky for me, nature isn’t too far away. I’m living with my mother’s parents and their property includes about 14 acres of wooded area. In less than a month I’ll be living with my father’s parents, who live on a lake. This lake is also considered a state park and therefore has some walking trails around it.

Sometimes, however, you want to go far away from where you normally are. So I like to go to parks in my area and just walk around. I live pretty close to Mill Creek Metropark. This is one of my favorite places to just go and walk. I keep my phone on me for safety purposes, but I try to stay off of it as much as possible. Not only are the surroundings beautiful and relaxing, but the exercise of walking helps get some of the built up nervous/negative energy out of my body.

4. Find a Hobby

If it wasn’t for this tip, you probably wouldn’t be reading this post right now. Although a lot of people consider their blog their job, this is solely a hobby for me. It’s an outlet for some of my creative juices to flow since my job doesn’t allow for that. Having the opportunity to help someone going through something means so much to me. I’m grateful everyday for having the chance to have this blog.

Having a hobby allows you to put your heart into something you feel so strongly for. For me, that’s helping people. This blog isn’t the only way I help people, but that’s a story for another day. Finding something your enjoy doing helps to relieve built up stress and puts that energy into what you love. A hobby can help you relax when stressed by giving you a distraction, even if for only a little bit of time.

5. Spend Time with Friends and Family

No one knows you like your friends and family. They can see things you might not see, like when you’re getting to your limits of stress. Spending time with these important people can help you relax when stressed because you can talk to them. Talking helps relieve some of my stress because I don’t feel as if all the burden is on me. I get to share the load.

If you aren’t so lucky to have a close relationship with friends or family, I would encourage you to do a couple things. The first is to try to become closer with these people. These are the people that were put in your life to help you get through the tough times. Everyone needs someone to lean on when the need the extra strength. The second thing I would do is find a relationship with God. He’s there to get us through the hard times and the stressful times. He wants us to give him our problems so he can help us get through anything and everything. Plus, even if you have a fight with him, He’ll always be there, no matter what.

I hope this list will help you find at least one way to relax when stressed.

If there’s anything you do to help you relax when you’re stressed let me know in the comments. As always, feel free to connect with me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest! Thanks for reading!