We just came back from a trip to Albuquerque, going from 68 degrees and sunshine to a snowstorm and -15 wind chill. You could imagine how distressed we were landing onto a bed of snow after a 4-hour delay. I know. I know. #firstworldproblems. Anyways, aside from stress from travel hiccups, stress is a part of our daily lives, at least many of us, and it stems from one of three things: Personal, Professional and Self. SO, as always, I got you guys and I’m here to bring you back to your happy space with 3 ways to destress in Winter. Hey, if you live in the west coast where it’s 75 degrees and awesome, you could still use this tips, girl!
Personal Stress
Whether it’s a lingering fight you’re having with your significant other, a breakup gone bad, stress from parents or a friendship gone awry, relationship and personal stress is no joke. It doesn’t matter how close you are to that point of stress, relationship and personal stress is draining. So, how do you come out of it? WRITE and COMMUNICATE.
One of the things that transformed many of my relationships was the 5 Love Languages. If you’re not sure what your top love languages are, go take the quiz! Not going to lie, the web page looks like an ad, but believe me it’s legit. As the name suggests, the love language is how you speak love–do you perceive love (romantic or friendly) to be in the form of affirmations, acts of service, or otherwise?
It’s really interesting. Take the quiz, review your results, then see if your friends or family can take the quiz too. This will not only give you a way to bond, but it may give you more insight into each other’s perceptions.
Self Stress
We are our hardest critics, as the saying goes, and self stress from poor body image, a negative self image or otherwise can quickly send you spiraling. First of all, know that you ARE beautiful inside and out, because it’s your spirit that matters above all else. So one of the first things to do to combat self stress is to smile. That’s seriously the easiest thing you can do, and you’ll already start feeling better. The next, is self love. Take care of yourself! Take some time to brew some tea, pull out a good book, throw on a vegan and cruelty-free face mask and just enjoy some of that time to yourself. By the time your face mask is dry, and you wash it off, you’ll feel some sort of renewal–a fresh start if you will. And if you didn’t already know, the Asili Naturals Spirulina Clay Mask is my FAVE. If you’re not sure how to apply a clay mask, I did a quick tutorial here.
Professional Stress
I don’t have to tell you that 8 hours of work a day is draining, and even more so when you tend to put in 10-12 hours a day (hello!). Whether you’re simply tired from a long day’s worth of work or stressed from the growing to-do list, you CAN relieve yourself and actually enjoy the time from 5-9 (if you go to sleep at 9 like I do…).
How? Schedule your day for focus. Often times, work stress comes out of “not having the time” to do something else, when in reality, those minutes we spend picking up the phone to browse or just dilly dally actually add up. I sometimes have this problem, so I looked for an app to help me focus because lord help me. I found this app like Forest #notsponsored. It’s cute, because you can set the amount of time you want to focus for, and if you stay focused, say for an hour, you grow a tree. This tree gets added to your forest! The more you stay focused, the more trees you add to your land. You also accumulate points. Once you hit a certain amount of points, it goes toward the company giving a tree to third-world countries where food is scarce. So win-win.
Question of the Day
How do you de-stress?
Vegan & Cruelty Free {VCF} 