Stress Busters

STRESS BUSTERS

• Get up from your chair, look out the window and find something that brings a smile to your face.
• Go to the park, swing on a swing, go down the slide, play in the sand.
• Watch a funny movie or TV show.
• Read the daily comic strips.
• Stand up and stretch, wiggle your toes, reach up high and shrug your shoulders.
• Breathe – deep and slow. Feel the air fill and empty from your lungs. Really focus on your breathing and try to take a deeper breath each time, holding it a bit longer until you reach 10 breaths.
• Close your eyes. Picture a wonderful place you enjoy visiting and spend a few minutes there. (flower field, waterfall, scenic location, a pond or stream, an amusement park, etc)
• Close your eyes. Visualize your most wonderful achievement and remember how good it felt when you accomplished your goal.
• Revisit a treasured memory from your past and enjoy the warmth that it brings you.
• List 10 things you are grateful for.
• Draw your anger. Use red or any other color you want. Artistic skills don’t matter. It can be abstract or realistic. The goal is to put them on paper and give you a way to express your feelings.
• Light a candle in the room you frequently sit in. Enjoy its warmth and fragrance. Feel that warmth enter your body- think of it as a loving, embracing gift from the world.
• If you have a pet, give it a nice massage or at least a good scratch.  Animals have the ability to lower blood pressure and help us to simplify life.
• Get rid of clutter. Organize your office. Clean the car or house windows. By cleaning your physical environment, you will mentally feel lighter and less overwhelmed.
• Sing!  In the shower, in the car, in church, in a Karaoke bar.