We are all stressed!!

[Sherri]

Great topic Glenn,
I have found for me to destress is to help others. By volunteering my time. At my daughters school, here on the board and with friends that just need someone to listen to them. It helps me to help others.
Also, when I was huckleberry picking high atop a mountain yesterday, I stopped along the road for the view and got out and just started yelling and shouting out all the things i've kept inside. Vented so to speak. Man, when I was done, I felt a 1000 pounds lighter. Emotionally and spiritually! I really feel at peace today. I thought to myself today,"If someone heard me shouting yesterday that they were probably happy to be where they were instead of where I was."LOL
Sherri

[momtomany1]

If you believe in God above, prayer.

[write2thepoint]

For me the answer is always prayer. Sometimes I pray a rosary, other times I will read my Bible or sit quietly on my porch, listen to the birds and just be in His presence. Prayer has saved me from many things, including suicide.

[IrishMom82]

I have found that sometimes I have very stressful times at work and the thing that works for me is to listen to Christian Praise and Worship music in my car when I'm either coming or going from work. It automatically puts me in a good mood and lifts me. I guess you could say its a form of prayer and it works for me.

[eclectikat]

K... if i missed anyone saying this already I am sorry to be repeatative.

I breath.

Seriously, I sit and breath deeply. Aware of my breath in and out and breathing deeply. In through my nose out through my mouth. Breathing oxygen into my finger tips and my toes... visualizing my blood being oxygenating.

I do this for a few minutes every day.

It sounds amazingly simple and stupid, but it is totally effective.

Try it... right now.

Kathy

[gman]

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions on how to handle stress.
I've tried a few, or turned up the effort quite a bit on some, that I was not doing:

Exercise.
A good giggle.
Reading a book.
Helping others.
Breathing.
Finding your own space.
Detach myself from the person and consider the source.
Living in the moment.
Volunteering your time to organizations.
Sit and breath deeply.

[jimmie 48]

Originally Posted by IrishMom82

I have found that sometimes I have very stressful times at work and the thing that works for me is to listen to Christian Praise and Worship music in my car when I'm either coming or going from work. It automatically puts me in a good mood and lifts me. I guess you could say its a form of prayer and it works for me.

i have to giggle just a bit. in a good way, i promise. i've been know to blow a gasket now and then. no, really, i've done that, honest.
anyway, when i'm blowing off steam, jack will very quietly slip away and put on some Third Day or 4 Him and then re-enter the room without saying a word. in no time i'm singing along hardly without thinking. this is the kind of stuff i listen to when i walk the trail by myself. just don the headphones and sing my way around the trail. i try to sing quietly when i know someone else is around but otherwise, i just sing.

[audi]

I don't know about anybody else, but gardening helps me alot. Something about my hands in the soil and watching things grow and all the wonderful creatures of Nature around me, bees and butterflies and dragonflies and rarely (for me) hummingbirds, gets me into a zen state.
Cooking destresses me too. I often like to cook up a storm on my days off. It sounds June Cleaver-ish but I swear it relaxes me.

[liv]

Personally I need to be better at identifying that I am stressed. Sometimes there can be things that is eating me and I have not figured out what it is. In the pre Atkins days I often snacked aimlessly in those situations. So I have been working on being more real with myself. For me walking is a great de-stresser. I can think, get fresh air and work things out that way.

[jimmie 48]

to releive our stress further, we are all going to audi's house for dinner thursday evening.

did we say laughter is good for destressing?