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Bournemouth Girl

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in Mental Health + Self Care ·

7 Activities To Do At Home To De-Stress

Unfortunately, stress is a natural state which we will experience at some point in our lives. However, if you do not learn how to manage and cope with stress, it can have huge, negative, health implications

When you do not adequately deal with stress and the symptoms of stress it can cause so many negative impacts on the body such as: high blood pressure, heart problems, depression, anxiety, headaches and many more. This is why you need to make stress management a priority in your life and not ignore these feelings when they arise in your life. As it can lead to it being too overwhelming and interventions are needed.

The good news is that there are many simple habits and activities you can implement in your daily life to keep those stress symptoms and the feelings of stress at bay.

Here are 7 suggestions of activities that you can do at home to de-stress and help you to relax properly:

1. Mindful Colouring

Colouring is a mindful activity that helps you to calm your mind as you are shifting your focus to the design, how it feels when you are holding the pencils or pens and you are thinking about the colours you want to use.

This slower activity then allows you to work through your thoughts and feelings at a slower pace and gives your mind a chance to absorb the thoughts and feelings before tackling any solutions to problems you may be facing.

Colouring has actually been known to induce the same state as meditating by reducing the thoughts of a restless mind. Not only does mindful colouring reduce stress and anxiety, it can also improve your focus, sleep, fine motor skills and vision.

A person is painting on white paper with flowers next to the paper

2. Mindful Meditation

Meditating is the act of focusing your mind for a period of time, in silence for the purpose of relaxation.

Meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation because during the act, you are focusing your attention and eliminating thought that may be causing you stress. There have been several clinical studies that have found practising meditation for 40 – 45 minutes per day has huge benefits in reducing stress and anxiety.

Practising meditation has other scientific benefits like:

  1. Controls anxiety
  2. Generates kindness
  3. Enhances self-awareness
  4. Promotes good, emotional health

There are other methods of mindful living that you can introduce into your daily life that will positively impact your mental well-being such as:

  • Mindful Walking – Taking your time when you are on a walk, appreciate the colour, sounds and smells as well as how your body is feeling. With the added benefits on your mental health from the exercise.
  • Mindful Colouring – This helps you to relax and help reduce the symptoms of depression.
  • Be Present – In the moment with loved ones engage and appreciate your time with others. This will help strengthen good relationships. Building your self-worth and improving your mood.

3. Practise Self-Care

Taking time out to put yourself first is a great way to eliminate tension and stress. Self-care means that you are simply mindful of your own needs, which enables you to maintain your physical, emotional and mental health.

Activities such as: regular good quality sleep, exercise, healthy eating, or relaxation can promote good stress management. Looking after your overall health is vital for practising positive self-care. Adding a supplement such as Morning complete can also be a great way to ensure your body is functioning how it should which will improve your physical and mental health.

Some self-care suggestions could be:

  • Have a long bath or shower with a indulgent skincare routine
  • Read your favourite book or a self-help or self-development book
  • Have a power nap of around 20 minutes to feel more refreshed and focused
  • Write in a journal

A woman sat on the edge of the bath in a towel sprinkling rose petals into the bath

4. Breathing Exercises

Practising breathing techniques is an activity that can quickly counteract the feelings if stress, tension and anxiety.

There are a variety of breathing exercise that can help you with stress like: square breathing, 4-7-8 method and belly breathing.  By learning a few simple breathing techniques you can:

  1. Lower your heart rate
  2. Reduce depression
  3. Lower your blood pressure
  4. Better manage chronic pain

5. Get Creative

Being creative can take many forms like: gardening, listening to music, dance, painting, knitting, cooking or even baking. Creative activities like gardening or sewing releases dopamine which is a natural anti-depressant. Engaging in activities like the ones mentioned previously can keep your mind busy and but give you a sense of achievement once you have completed the activity. This can improve your self-esteem and lift your mood.

Focusing your mind on a creative activity can also:

  1. Help you process trauma
  2. Reduce anxiety
  3. Reduce depression
  4. Increase self-awareness
  5. Help you become a better problem solver

6. Exercise

Exercise in any form can make a very good stress reliever. When you exercise your body, you get a boost of feel good endorphins also known as the happy hormone that can help you to clear your mind and improve your mood.

Exercise can help provide stress relief for your body while imitating effects of stress such as the ‘fight or fight’ response and helps your body to practise dealing with these effects.

Activities can be gentle or intense depending on what you can physically do, but all have positive effects on relieving stress and improving your mental health.

Here are some exercises that you can do at home:

  • Yoga
  • Pilates
  • Hoovering
  • Walking in the garden and/or gardening
  • Steps on the stairs
  • Workout DVD or YouTube video

7. Talk To A Loved One

When you are feeling stressed or going through a stressful situation, talking to a loved one about what is happening and how you are feeling can help you to manage the situation and find solutions to any problems.

Studies have shown that by simply talking about your problems and sharing any negative emotions with someone you trust can actually be profoundly healing, which will relieve stress and strengthen your immune system which will reduce both physical and emotional distress.

Building and strengthening your relationships with loved ones and friends can give you a sense of belonging and purpose, with positive relationships it gives you the confidence to foster the ability to deal with stress.

These are 7 simple activities that you can do at home to help relieve stress and feel more relaxed, practising positive habits like these mentioned can benefit your mental health. Improving your mental health will help you to be able to deal with stress in the future. If you do feel overwhelmed it is important to reach out to a loved one or a healthcare professional.

What activities do you like to do at home to relieve stress? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Hannah says

    I have the same colouring book! It’s so relaxing but I always lose so much time to it as I lose track of time. I find mindful journaling so helpful to de-stress me. xx

    Reply

  6. Bexa says

    These are great suggestions Lauren! 💖 I’m a big fan of napping and yay for The Greatest Showman soundtrack. That always puts me in a good mood! 😄 I think baths are such a nice way to relax and unwind and colouring books are sooo calming. Fab post, thanks for sharing! 😘 xx

    Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com

    Reply

  15. C.K Beauty says

    I do pretty much the same type of thing, i really love colouring and listening to music at the same time! I always find myself going for a nap halfway through doing coursework and then going back to it recharged after! Great tips x

    Reply

  19. Kristen H says

    I love coloring, watching favorite tv shows, and gaming. I find playing video games like Stardew Valley and Minecraft (in peaceful mood) to be relaxing.

    Reply

  22. femaleoriginal says

    Great post! I always listen to music when I’m stressed – I’ve become obsessed with a Spoitfy playlist called Piano in the Background recently 🙂 xx

    Reply

  28. BeautybyKattXO says

    I loved this post!!! I’m currently going through a lot right now and when I feel overwhelmed I either listen to music, watch Netflix or just go on my phone play games or read. I’m a mother of 3 so there’s really not much I can do since I’m always in the house with the kids. But reading this post gave me another idea which is coloring! I love coloring but I didn’t think about it as an option to clear my mind. I’ll definitely grab some coloring books 😊

    Reply

Trackbacks

  5. […] Stress can come to us all for a variety of reasons, but they can cause both physical and mental health problems if they are not dealt with. Journaling is a powerful technique to combat feelings of stress as you are able to out pen to paper, getting out all your concerns to come back around to them with a clear head. When you write down your thoughts, it can help you to identify stress-inducing thoughts. When you have had a bad day, writing down what has caused you stress can stop the thoughts escalating and causing you further stress or anxiety. […]

    Reply

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