Feeling stressed? For many of us, stress is a physical sensation as much of an emotional experience: a tightened chest, sweaty palms, clenched jaws, pounding headaches and a host of other not-so-fun symptoms.
Sometimes de-stressing yourself is a matter of tricking your physical body into not manifesting those bodily signs of stress. Utilize all five of your physical senses to feel physically and emotionally free right now.
Hearing:
If your nagging inner voice won’t shut up, keep it quiet by listening to podcasts, audiobooks and good music. Guided meditation audio files are aplus. Hearing other people’s positive chatter may keep your own negative and stressed inner chatterbox at bay.
Listen to silence.The silence in the air around you, and the silence within you. Underneath every thought–good or bad, stressed or unstressed–there is always a constant, peaceful silence that means no harm.
Listen to the soothing voice of a close friend, significant other, spouse or family member. Sometimes all we need is to hear another person’s voice to counteract our own inner voice that isn’t serving us best when we are stressed.
Go out to nature and listen to nature sounds: the sound of wind, birds, rustling leaves, etc. With nature, it is what it is. You can apply that same neutral viewpoint to your stressful situation as well.
Seeing:
Look at something that is inherently calming: a flower, the clouds in the sky, a happy child, the face of a friend. If you don’t those sights within reach, visualize them internally and you will get the same effect.
Take a close look at your current surroundings. Are you in your house? This means you have a roof over your head. Are you in front of a computer? This means you are lucky enough to afford one. Do you have a half-eaten bag of Doritos on your desk? You are lucky you have the means to feed yourself. Simply taking a close look at your current surroundings many reveal many things to be grateful for, and gratitude is always the best anti-stress.
Smelling:
Spray your room with a room mist scented with something that will calm your senses, or invigorate you to get things done.
When you’ve reached the halfway point of the day, reward yourself by spraying yourself with a body scent you like, whether it is a body mist spray or a favorite perfume. The new physical scent will wake you up and give the second half of your day a new life.
Visualization can be used for smell, too. Imagine the smell of something that is calming or pleasant: lemons, oranges, the fresh morning air after a night of rain, your favorite body lotion.
Tasting:
Drink up cold water with lemon juice. The sour fruit aftertaste will feel refreshing and wake you up.
Chew or suck on something really minty, like gum or Altoids, and focus on the tingling sensations in your mouth.
Touching:
Be aware of what your body is touching right now right this moment: your fingertips on your keyboard, the back of your legs touching the seat of your chair. By staying in your body as much as possible, you will be able to check in more effectively with how your body is feeling.
Never underestimate the power of a caring human touch. Get a hug from someone who cares about you.
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