I get plenty of sleep, I eat balanced meals, I work out three times a week, all of my relationships are positive and supportive.
But school is killing me. I've been here for 5 years and had hard stuff and never had as much stress as I do now. Plus, I've recently had some minor medical issues and I'm worried about them and I'm sure my worrying isn't making things any better.
What can I do beyond what I've tried to relax?
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Make lists of stuff you have to do and buy yourself something little and fun when you check off major accomplishments. This gets expensive, but it is extremely theraputic.
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<is relieved this isn't, and is sincerely hopeful that this won't be turned into, an onansim thread>
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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everyone, even some rich person who never works and sits on an island all day has stress license. Try- music. Nice soothing music then try to make sure you manage your time right. save some time aside to just sit back, relax, drink cocoa, think cheeful thoughts. Do what you want and need to do...
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read one of your favorite books. that usually takes me out of the horror that reality can be sometimes, at least for a little while.
Posts: 91 | Registered: Nov 2003
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bubble wrap...or tearing a piece of paper into conffetti (sp?)...or anything that requires concentration on a small spot I find works for me often...it changes from time to time what works, what doesn't, and what's available...that or going to a coffee shop or dinner and talking with a good friend...or if none of the above are available I'll take St. John's Wort occasionally, although I favour the other options...but that's just what I do...
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Blow bubbles. Dance. Color in coloring books. Even better - FINGERPAINT! Climb up on roofs. Go for a Midnight Ramble and look at the stars - especially good in the winter.
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Also, Annie, get over the idea that you have no "right" to be stressed. The fact remains that you are. Stressing about being stressed is not going to be helpful.
It's okay to be stressed. A lot of stress actually come from good things. It's just a matter of letting go.
My favorite letting go methods:
Sitting by running water until my body relaxes and my mind shifts to the immediate NOW.
Lying in a sunnyspot on the floor, like a cat.
Going out to dinner alone. Make sure it's a favorite place and you get your favorite food.
Basically, I bliss out on sensual pleasures but I do it alone. This somehow causes a brain shift that enables me to get up from that moment refreshed and renewed.
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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blowing bubbles in cold weather is always fun. Taking long walks, just laying in bed reading.. Stress is a signal to take care of yourself and pamper yourself a bit.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Bowling Beating a tree with a baseball bat in the middle of the night. Movies (preferably comedies) with friends Halo Bad Poetry Dance Dance Revolution
Then again, I AM a guy, so it may be a bit different.
Posts: 530 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I second the vote for DDR if you're feeling up to it. It's so silly and fun.
I also second what everyone said about your anti-stress stress. Please allow yourself to feel what you're feeling and do whatever you need to to take care of yourself. It's all about you you you you!!!
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I find that exercise is a great stress relief for me.
Then again, my biggest form of exercise involves attempting to impale people... so its not only a stress reliever, but also a great vent for aggression. "GRRR! Take that!! *stab*"
Yoga rocks too, for both exercise and relaxing.
Another thing I use: Sitting down with a good book, one I've read several times so that i don't have to worry about comprehending a story.
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Did anyone say meditate? It quietens your brain.
I second the yoga suggestion.
And for those times when you really really can't unstress, run hard intervals until you drop. Half an hour to an hour is usually plenty for me. The endorphins make your body relax and focus on what matters for at least 2 or 3 days afterward.
(Hard intervals, in case you've never done them, might go like this: stretch, then run a mile or so at a nice easy jog just to warm up, then sprint as fast as you can for as long as you can manage. 100 to 200 yards is typical. Then slow back down to an easy jog (or even a walk if you have to) until you recover, repeat over and over until long past the time when you'd think any sane person would have given it up. At some point you start to break through and it gets almost fun. If you feel like you're about to vomit, then ease off a little. Vomiting is not good. When you're truly at the point of collapse, then run an easy jog for a while to cool down, then stretch again, then rest. Excellent destressor!)
[ February 21, 2004, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
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Create something. Anything. Do what you like. Bake a cake, but don't just ice it - decorate it. Jenny's suggestions were excellent, the coloring is very soothing. Do you know there is such a thing as coloring therapy? Grab some crayons and have fun.
Go for a walk someplace you've never walked before. Walk slowly, not for fitness, but for the joy of taking a stroll.
Go to the library, but not to study. In fact, stay away from the adult sections, go to the kid sections. Look at some of your favorite childhood books, randomly pull some picture books off the shelf and read them. Let that stressed out, grownup mind take a break for a while, and the kid in you can delight in colorful pictures and rhyming verse.
Man, that suggestion about lying in the sun like cat was so unfair Jenny. Cause I didn't read it until it's 9 at night, and I can't go do it! Sounds like heaven. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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*fell asleep on a patch of sunny plywood floor this afternoon* something else I find that helps is writing, poetry especially...but then I enjoy doing that...
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I think my main problem is that I'm a worrier. Worry, worry, worry, fret, fret, fret. That's what's causing most of my stress.
But I'm much better today already... Thanks!
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Cause I didn't read it until it's 9 at night, and I can't go do it! Sounds like heaven. ![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
