How can I just relax?

[Wondering917]

I’ve come to the conclusion that over the past few months I get worked up by a lot of small things that don’t really impact my life in a great way. Whether it be at work, or in my personal life, I just find myself being quite stressed when I don’t really need to be…

Are there any effective things I can do to help me have a more calm presence?!

I’ve dipped my toes into mindfulness before but I’ve never really stuck to it. Maybe I should try this again with better resources.

I was thinking maybe yoga and mediation too?

I'm quite similar. Worrying like that led to me having anxiety which I cope with, but it's always there. My mind works overtime sometimes but I find that reading, having time to myself each day to collect my thoughts and doing distracting activities like diamond art, helps.

Exercise - doesn't have to be strenuous! Just a 30 minute walk really helps order my thoughts.

Good sleep - for me this means not drinking and going to bed early with less screen time

Routine - being in a rough routine so I know there's a time for everything that needs to be done. So for eg I spend the first 20 minutes when I get back from the school run doing a quick tidy round the house and putting a wash on. Then I spend 10 minutes sorting through emails and planning what I've GOT to do that day. I also do time blocking so I don't spend hours on one task when there's other little tasks that need doing. Ie I'll do 90 minutes of work, then break for 10 minutes to make the beds, then do another 90 minutes and then pay a bill etc. I work from home but obviously adapted this when I was working in an office 😂

I don’t practice yoga but I do shavasana every day which is a yogic practice that’s sort of a yoga sleep. You can find a good guided one on Spotify by a woman named Caroline Wirthl.

I also meditate 3-5x a week and have been doing so for quite some time. It’s a commitment. It doesn’t all happen at once but it when it does, the healing is palpable. I’ve had tremendous stress and trauma in the past 3 years and I credit meditation for keeping me sane when I’ve had every reason to just lose my mind entirely. I recommend a meditation guide on Spotify called Raphael Reiter. He’s excellent. Simple. Soothing. Just easy to get into. He peppers his practice with elements of Stoic philosophy which I like. My dad was a follower of Stoicism and honestly, I’m only now, in my midlife, beginning to realise how much there is to it.

Breathing exercises. I do a set of 12 (4-7-8 technique) breaths at the start of each day. It’s simple things that don’t have to be done ‘right’ and don’t have to take too much time.

Movement is everything. Walk instead of drive/bus. Simple as that. You can try Qi Gong or something like this as well. Dance in your kitchen. Anything. Movement is probably one of the most beneficial stress relievers.

None of it has to be complicated, time consuming, or expensive.

Turn off all news, including on social media. I did this, trust me,the vital stuff will get through, everything else is simply anxiety provoking.
Get outside.
Walk regularly.
Find something that induces a state of flow: basically anything where you lose track of time, playing/learning an instrument, gardening, crochet, Lego, whatever.

Reading a book, audible or BBC sounds works for me

You can walk and listen 🎧