What Are Your De-stressors -- Fish? Green Jello? Legos?

These days, it is essential to have a few tried and true relaxation techniques in your emotional survival kit.

Stress and anxiety seem to be hovering around every corner these days, ready to spring out at any moment and knock you off kilter. Plus, long-term stressors caused by constant pressures at work, financial troubles, or endless political pot stirrings, to name a few, can quickly lead to a host of problems, like headaches, depression, high blood pressure, and strokes.

You never want to let life’s strains and stresses get the upper hand. Make it a daily practice to turn down the volume of life when things start to make you lose it. Develop a few calming rituals that work best for you.

Here’s what other folks do when they get pushed to the limit. You may want to try some of them yourself:

I put my phones on ‘do not disturb,’ turn my radio's volume down (I’m a paramedic and am supposed to keep it on) and I shut off my computer and shut my office door. I started a timer for a few minutes, and I gave myself that time to sit in my office, have a drink of water and calm down while collecting myself. I took a few breaths and once the timer went off, I went back to work. I did this twice today. It gives me 4 minutes at a time to calm down and attempt to become less stressed. It doesn’t always work, but today it did, and I was able to have a good day at work.

Vodka also helps, but unfortunately, I’m still on-call so I can’t even have a drop of alcohol. Instead, I’ll go to the gym.

-- Brittney Foster, Quora

Take a walk, I don’t have to have a certain destination. I just keep walking, enjoying the surroundings and clearing every thought trying to weigh me down.

-- Maximus Clifford, Quora

Distraction. I would read, draw, sort colourful beads, listen to music, count... anything that I could or needed to focus all my attention on.

-- LunaRose0, Reddit

When I could not sleep, I watched a friend’s dog settle himself, change his breathing, and go to sleep. I learned that you can calm yourself by taking slower deeper breaths. I read about it and put it into action.

-- Mary Jane, Quora

A lot of people say to meditate, breathe, blah blah. This does help but often, at least for me, I can’t calm myself down that fast because my mind tends to race a lot. You should turn on some really good music and just dance around to it. Jump around and let yourself feel the happiness. And go on a run! Exercise will naturally make you feel great even if you don’t notice while you’re doing it. 

-- Tiffany Hagen, Quora

Good weed.

-- xpst500, Reddit

Indoors I read to relax and I always put nature sounds from you tube on TV or cafe jazz and I find them so calming I also light a few candles. And outdoors I would drive to a woodland area and take a walk in the woods and sometimes depending on the weather I take a book and something to eat and I find all these things peaceful and most of all enjoyable for me.

-- Maria Gippert, Quora

Well, I like to have a glass of wine which helps. If you’re not at alcohol consumption age, then a bubble bath would also be great!

-- Kimberly Leah, Quora

I really wish I wasn't so late to this one because I have the best trick. If you feel an anxiety attack coming on, play catch. You can throw absolutely anything, to a friend, up in the air, bounce a ball, just keep doing it. After a few minutes of this, you will be completely calm. It works every single time without fail. My therapist taught me this trick, and I really hope this doesn't get buried so it can help someone else.

EDIT: This is getting a lot of attention, so I want to clarify a few points to ensure efficiency. First, you do not need a partner to do this. You can throw the object up, or bounce something by yourself. Second, and most important, you must do this quickly. As soon as you catch it, you need to throw again. The whole point is to distract/redirect your thoughts. If done slowly, this will not work. I'm so glad that this is gaining attention. Anxiety sucks, and I'm happy to help anyone else that has had to deal with it. Good luck to all of you!

-- lesterkeene, Reddit

Hum to myself.

Eat green Jello while watching old Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie, Quick Draw McGraw).

-- Laura Aanested, Quora

Watching the fish in an aquarium is mesmerizing. They just drift around, no worries, no cares. After you watch them for a while, you feel calmer.

-- Janice Birch, Quora

Have a nice cup of hot chocolate or a coffee and pile it with cream and marshmallows, or have a relaxing alcoholic drink, and put on a favourite movie, it won't fail to relax you, it definitely works for me.

-- Maria Gippert, Quora

For me, the best one is a lukewarm shower. The sound of the water and the feeling of it running over my head always feels relaxing.

-- kytis13, Reddit

Take a bath, meditate, talk to your friends or family!

-- Mia Mills, Quora

A great big freakin mug of peppermint tea.

-- coffee_o, Reddit

Driving aimlessly around. Helps if you have a manual transmission to keep your mind occupied.

-- FilthyFingers, Reddit

When I'm upset or feel my anxiety creeping up on me, I have to let it out to a trustworthy person (someone who is not in the same house as me) and that makes me feel better and makes me feel like I'm not alone. Just having that listening ear.

-- Alisha, Quora

I like to Google restaurants and bars in other countries to look at their menus and see what I would get if I were there. It relaxes me and also helps me kill boredom sometimes.

-- eDgAR, Reddit

I take long, deep breaths. Inhale to the count of four, hold for the count of four, exhale to the count of eight. This is really hard and feels like I am not doing it right, like it won’t work, but it does, and it gets easier. One breath at a time.

-- Dushka Zapata, Quora

I don't know if this works since i haven't tried it myself, but eating something with a strong flavour apparently works wonders. Like a lemon or something.

-- _demeter, Reddit

Air conditioner.

-- ZonkoRB, Reddit

When I get home, I immediately take my clothes off and stay naked till I have to get dressed in the morning. 

-- Mac Stewart, Quora

I feel like whenever I have a panic attack, I just ride it out, and eventually just cry it out. Then rinse my face and carry on with life.

-- WonderFlowers, Reddit

Just run man. Anxiety can be triggered by pent up energy or caffeine. Run every day mate you won’t regret it. Avoid caffeine and try to eat well. Take care.

-- stratosphere1111, Reddit

Counting and/or touching 5 things repeatedly till I calm down enough to process what gave me anxiety.

-- cantreachthe2ndshelf, Reddit

Playing with Legos because I can unleash my mind to the creative ventures that I usually cannot release on a hectic day.

-- Michelle Lin, Quora

Talk to a friend: We often forget about the precious gifts we have. Being too busy with the work we don't have time for our loving ones. So talk to them and it will make you happy.

-- Path to Wisdom, Quora

People with anxiety and ptsd have been taught to hold on to a few ice cubes to bring yourself back to reality. Very good if you’re going through any kind of emotional episode. Helped me when I used to get anxiety attacks.

depressed-dude-, Reddit

Believe it or not, stopping what I'm doing, laying down on the floor and spreading my arms and legs out. Really makes you feel at peace with everything.

-- renacotor, Reddit

I rub my face on my Maine coon cat until he gets annoyed and runs off.

-- DamnyouJapan, Reddit

If ever a time comes when you feel that you simply can’t cope any longer, do yourself a favor and reach out to a trusted friend or family member, contact a health professional, or call a crisis hotline like the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

:-) Please like and share this story freely -- Thanks!

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