How do you de-stress?

[applepie]

I know we all experience it. Life. It is a crazy hodgepodge of seemingly endless stresses. Murphy's Law is alive and well in the world, and it seems to unerringly find us all. Some deal with it better than others, some crack under the pressure, and some (like myself I'll confess) let it make them quite literally sick while pretending all is fine and they're in control of the situation.

So how do you deal, and what helps you keep the stress manageable? I've tried everything, short of restructuring my life and cutting out a lot that I do (That's just crazy talk as I always point out to my husband. How could I possibly do less :out:) So I'm really curious, what is it that you do?

[LitNetIsGreat]

I spend time alone without any distractions, take a bath, drink beer and take my socks off, listen to music, watch a good film or go on litnet! :hat: In summer I go to green places and sit under trees or by some water. I like to get someplace without any traffic or people. Oh, I also ride my cool road bike, though if I am with my brother he laughs at my hill climbing abilities (or lack of them).

[BienvenuJDC]

Engage in LitNet games...

[The Comedian]

Man, I could just about echo Neely word-for-word. I'll add that I go fishing. And, mentally, I make sure that I enjoy life's little tasks -- respites and breaks are fine -- but sometimes they're not possible.

So I make sure that I like doing the dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning up the toys, getting the bath ready, cooking dinner on a busy Wednesday evening. I used to get stressed about the amount of these chores until, after a while, I came to the conclusion that dishes are just dishes: they can either stress me out or not. I'll choose the "not".

[LitNetIsGreat]

:thumbs_up

Right now I am laid in my comfy tub chair, head back, listening to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlT8yeEYbMs&feature=related
Guaranteed relaxation after a hard day! Now please excuse me, where was I...

[Janine]

Neely, is that a 'tub' chair or 'tube chair? I am picturing a bubble bath if you say tub...:lol:

Best way for me to unwind/de-stress is to watch a movie I really like on DVD or listen to music laying in bed. If I stay on the computer, I definitely do not relax and unwind.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Neely, is that a 'tub' chair or 'tube chair? I am picturing a bubble bath if you say tub...:lol:


Ha, ha, picturing me in the bath? :blush:

No, I did mean a tub chair like one of these:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:skrV8ndeP4gubM:http://www.netfurniture.co.uk/shop/images/products/tubcream.jpg

Very relaxing, I refuse to work without one. :)

[ClaesGefvenberg]

I wind down in many different ways, but here are some of them:


If I'm just plain tired, usually with a book.
If my joints hurt, as they often do in the winter, I pull a blanket over me in the couch, open a book and refuse to move unless my wife threatens me with a cattle prod or something equally distasteful.
If I have had one of those days and feel like maiming someone, I do: Digitally, that is. I crank the computer up and start blasting my aggressions away in a game until I regain my equilibrium.


/Claes

[samercury]

Listening to calming music and drawing usually help

[applepie]

Comedian - Thanks! I do take the time to enjoy those things. Bedtime stories is my favorite time of day with the kids, and I'm hoping to set aside a quiet area in my house with soft lighting and a comfy couch for us to enjoy an extended one. The living room has too many distractions, but I do have this massive bedroom of my own with tons of space :D

Otherwise, What I'm hearing is that you actually have to take time to de-stress :lol: I'm not the best at doing that. See, things are so busy to start I tend to make it worse if I start trying to cram time to exercise or just relax into the mix. Trust me, I know it is neurotic, and my husband has been on me for years to just simply DO less. I can't figure out how. Then I start to wonder what I give up. I have no hobbies to speak of, well at least none that I'm able to make time for. I work, eat, cook, clean, care for my children, and I sleep. I've tried doing away with the sleep bit, but that never ends well :nod: Hmmmm, I can't quit eating and I have to cook to eat. I can't not clean. I already can't keep things as neat as I did before I started working, and I can't quit working.

I suppose reading my answer above, the better question would be how do you balance things so that you can take the time to relax? People always tell me to make time to do something for me, time to just kick back, but all I can do is look on in confusion wondering just where they think I'm going to get this time from. I'm pretty booked at the moment :)

[Lacra]

When I feel that I am over stressed, that I a can't bear anymore, I try to refresh my mind and heart. I self reflect and I consider that patience is most fitting, because I cannot change the world and I don't have any alternative solution. I just look inside me and reorganize the priorities and aknowledge that each time I escape a difficulty I have to face another. This is the first step of my de-stressing method. The second step is related to my relation with God: I pray and my soul finds comfort and solace. Reading the Holy Book each time I am consumed by stress is a remedy who flies away the stress. :)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Comedian - Thanks! I do take the time to enjoy those things. Bedtime stories is my favorite time of day with the kids, and I'm hoping to set aside a quiet area in my house with soft lighting and a comfy couch for us to enjoy an extended one. The living room has too many distractions, but I do have this massive bedroom of my own with tons of space :D

Otherwise, What I'm hearing is that you actually have to take time to de-stress :lol: I'm not the best at doing that. See, things are so busy to start I tend to make it worse if I start trying to cram time to exercise or just relax into the mix. Trust me, I know it is neurotic, and my husband has been on me for years to just simply DO less. I can't figure out how. Then I start to wonder what I give up. I have no hobbies to speak of, well at least none that I'm able to make time for. I work, eat, cook, clean, care for my children, and I sleep. I've tried doing away with the sleep bit, but that never ends well :nod: Hmmmm, I can't quit eating and I have to cook to eat. I can't not clean. I already can't keep things as neat as I did before I started working, and I can't quit working.

I suppose reading my answer above, the better question would be how do you balance things so that you can take the time to relax? People always tell me to make time to do something for me, time to just kick back, but all I can do is look on in confusion wondering just where they think I'm going to get this time from. I'm pretty booked at the moment :)

:hand: It sounds like you are very busy quite a lot, that's not good, the mind and body needs a break from all the mad dashing around that modern life tries to trick us into leading. Just slow things down, work less, cook less, clean less, relax more (that could be a Neely motto). Easy surely? :D

I live very close to work, so I am home by 4.30 pm and the rest of the night is pretty much my own.

[Paulclem]

To sleep perchance to dream ...

There are lots of great suggestions from Neely and Comedian. The key is seeing it on a par with the other things you have to do.

I think - I'm going to do this and that and whatever, and then I'm going to chill. A nice reward system. But make sure you do reward yourself. Something else can wait.

Difficult with kids. I do night chillin' :D

[JuniperWoolf]

1. Hang out in the woods. I do that a lot.
2. Read something, if I'm really stressed out I go for something mindless. Last year when bad stuff was happening to me during the summer, I read a lot of Nora Roberts (seriously). This year, I actually opted for Twilight.
3. Vodka. That's my drink of choice.
4. I sometimes sit by myself in a room and do nothing. I just kind of let my mind wander. Too much stimulation, tv/music/books/whatever, you don't notice it while it's jamming your thoughts but when it's absent, you feel a lot of relief.
5. Make myself look pretty and go out.
6. I actually really do like to fight. When you're sparring and trying your best, everything kind of fades away. It's very primal. Also when you're stressed out, your fight-or-flight reaction snaps on. It only makes sense to succumb to your body's natural instincts for relief.

[MANICHAEAN]

The end of ambition comes as a great relief.
Followed by building up an obscene amount of money that you don't actually need, (unless you are into the Nicholas Cage life style).
The money gives you the peace of mind to actually enjoy your work, followed by the independence when stressed to say "Bugger this for a game of soldiers!" and walk away.

[papayahed]

Working out helps out a lot but there are times when I just don't have time to go work out, on those occasions I eat.:lurk5:

[miss tenderness]

I cry , distract myself with work mostly in my home " cleaning , washing dishes .." ,
take a nice warm path and write in my blog .

[Virgil]

I cry , distract myself with work mostly in my home " cleaning , washing dishes .." ,
take a nice warm path and write in my blog .
Hey nice to see you back Miss T. :)


Exercise for me . Also surf the internet trying to learn something has become a way for me to take my mind off what's stressing me out. Cooking also used to, though my wife handles all the cooking these days. Reading doesn't usually work for me, since if I'm stressed my mind wonders.

[miss tenderness]

Thank you Virgil .
what about writing poems ? isn't it a relief .

[applepie]

I think I've found one good solution :) Not that I'm advocating alcohol as medicine or anything. Over the last week, I've enjoyed a glass or so of wine each night, and I've also been trying to make the time to break out my art supplies. I've tried writing, but that is requiring more attention than I can give at the moment, so instead I'm reacquainting myself with my sketchbook and canvases. I'm no Picasso or anything, but when I take the time to practice I get pretty good. Plus a drawing is easier to put down and work on again later.

Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions, and I'm certainly going to take them to heart.

[paradoxical]

Spending time alone, reading and playing my guitar.

[Divine Comedy]

I just take a walk alone until I feel am ok. Sometimes (not always) I relish myself with an icecream and in the end all that am left with is delicious memories :)