Look, we all love our families but let’s be honest, after two months trapped in the house with them virtually nonstop, they are getting on our ever-loving nerves. We are trapped in the house with no real indication of when things will change. Times are stressful. Here are a few tips to help you get through another quarantine day. Woosahhhhhhhh…
Listen to Music
Music is effective for stress management and relaxation because of its effect on emotions and the body. Slow, quiet classical music, slows the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones making it the perfect music for an evening wind down or soothing bath. All the extra chores from NO ONE EVER LEAVING driving you nuts? Cleaning is a chore that many busy people don’t have the energy to face after a long (emotionally draining) day. Throwing on some energetic music like hip-hop or pop raises your energy level and makes cleaning fun(ish).
Positive Self-Talk
Remember when Moms would get SUPER PISSED and would ask God to give her the strength not to whoop your behind? You know those crazy times when she would take deep breaths and tell herself that it was okay, calm down, no reason to be so upset? Well that was self-talk! Positive self-talk helps you calm down and relieve stress by enabling you to better cope with stressful situations. Be gentle and encouraging to yourself. Never say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to someone else. The key is to take negative thoughts that creep into our heads and make them positive. For example:
Negative: I failed and embarrassed myself.
Positive: I’m proud of myself for even trying. That took courage.
Check out 10 Affirmations for Positive Self Change for more self talk to keep you going.
Take a Walk
There’s a reason when anger and tensions are high people say, “Take a walk.” It gets you out of your head and out of the environment. Walking is a natural stress reliever. Its like meditation with movement and bumps up endorphins, your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters. For maximum effect, walk outside in nature. A number of studies have found the outdoors relieves stress, improves memory and attention, and improves energy levels. So get out for a quick stroll when you’re feeling particularly stressed out or volunteer for dog-walking duty if you feel like you need an excuse.
Get a Hug..or Make a Little Love
Physical touch can help relieve stress by releasing oxytocin. Oxytocin reduces blood pressure and is associated with higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress. The longer the duration of the hug, the better the effects. Aim for a 20 second hug. Hugging is also a preventative measure. Findings from studies suggest that hugs provide a buffer for the deleterious psychological effects that the stress caused by fighting with someone else can have on our mood. Basically people who got into a fight who’d had a hug the day before, were less stressed and their mood less affected by the fight.
Sex is also a great stress reliever: endorphins, exercise, deep breathing, touch, reduced cortisol, orgasms. Sex is a crock pot of stress relief!
Color
Yes, I said color, like a kindergartener. Grab some markers, colored pencils, or crayons and color. Coloring relaxes our brain. Believe it or not, coloring is actually a mindfulness activity. It calms the mind and puts us in a meditative state. Because we are just coloring someone else’s picture versus creating our own, it’s a no stress activity. Coloring also makes an excellent pre-bedtime ritual to wind down and prepare us for better sleep. Unlike a screen, coloring won’t mess with your melatonin levels.
Ask for Support
You’re adapting to the new normal but others in your house might think its business as usual when it comes to Mom. Maybe schoolwork has always been “your thing,” so homeschooling has landed solely in your lap. Perhaps you were perfectly happy preparing all the meals yourself when it was mostly breakfast and dinner, but that’s turned into three full meals a day (with a staggered breakfast because nobody wakes up at the same time anymore) plus snacks.
It is okay to ask others in your home to share some “mom” duties now that your responsibilities have increased. Teach your oldest child to cook simple family favorites, enlist your husband for Zoom class supervision or assign him a subject or two, get younger kids to help you sort laundry or wipe off counters and dust. Now that everyone is spending more time at home, their responsibilities in the home must also increase to help reduce the overwhelm that can lead to a stressed out mommy.
Implement one or two of these stress relieving tips into your daily life and let me know if you found them helpful. Is there anything that you already do to help relieve stress? Let me know in the comments!
