Saturday, February 26, 2011

How to clear your mind

Most of my suggestions for stress relief involve distracting yourself from stressors with something you can enjoy. Clearing your mind before you even try to relax could definitely make de-stressing more effective, and it's just not health to let stressful thoughts fill your head all the time. There is no need to forget about or neglect those thoughts, but there is a need to think about other things in life.

My first recommendation is to go on a good run. Take a look at another blog about running/jogging, and read further about how you can use exercise to manage stress by following the link at the end of Christine Luff's post. The information is interesting and sensible. Simply put, healthiness increases happiness. In addition, running manages hormones that contribute to stress and can give you a "natural high". Also, as the Exercise and Stress Relief article states, "research suggests that physical activity may be linked to lower physiological reactivity toward stress." Not only will running enhance your mental and physical state, it will prepare you to better naturally react to stressors is the future.

Other methods of clearing your mind are available to those who don't intend to throw on running shoes any time soon. Try focused meditation. It lets you think about what you want and not what you feel you have to. Constantly thinking about the list of things you have to get done at work around the house or at school won't make you accomplish them any faster. So don't waste time thinking about that stuff when you can focus on something enjoyable, then think about any stressful responsibilities when the time comes to address them. You can learn how to practice focus meditation and some of its benefits by researching, or you can just let go of any restraint and try it a couple times. Maybe it's just the solution you need at the end of the day!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Safely shop away stress

First off, I am not suggesting acquiring any kind of tendency toward extreme indulgence or oniomania! What I'm getting at with the idea of shopping away stress is just making yourself happy with a slight dose of retail therapy.

The 1986 Christmas Eve issue of the Chicago Tribune first put the idea out there: "We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy." This is clearly unhealthy. Don't measure your life by shopping bags.

I've implemented retail therapy and it definitely served as a pick-me-up! This is saying something because I don't like to spend money on anything but food. In fact, it feels good to spend extra for a meal I know I'll really, really enjoy. Even though my presents to myself are usually of the food variety, I recommend buying yourself something you want, but don't need, and will get use out of. My most recent session of retail therapy resulted in a pair of Steve Madden boots I wear almost everyday in the harsh weather of my hilly campus, and I still get excited that I own them every time I put them on. Sure, I could have bought a cheaper pair of boots but this pair was just what I really wanted. Also, I might argue that the extra cash spent pretty much bought that little sense of joy I get whenever I wear them, and now it feels well worth it.

At the end of a week of feeling overworked, shopping for your family, dealing with an overbearing boss or pushing through a never ending grocery list, you owe yourself a personal favor. So think of a present to yourself that is something you've always wanted, but you know there are better ways to spend that money. Might not be worth it if you feel like ultimately you've wasted money, so think about after the fact and choose something that would REALLY make you happy to have. You know my suggestions: food or shoes.