Stress Reduction Methods

There are many things I do in my life to reduce stress but the #1 thing is...

1) Get Stuff Done. Sounds simple, and it is. Just the simple act of doing something, and crossing it off, makes me feel better. No matter how silly or small the item is, just getting it done makes me feel like I have taken a step in the right direction.

This week my list has dropped from three pages to two, and this is even adding things on to do as I went along. You might have noticed that the web site is well on its way to being up to date. I just need to fix some wholesale stuff and the events page, and keep it updated as I finish new products, and things are great.

I also got the newsletter out, finally, it was a bit late. But I love the new look, and I got lots of great feedback from it too. Always makes me happy to know that someone actually reads that thing.

The shop has been completely cleaned. All the boxes have new labels, supplies arrived and have been put where they belong, and I feel like I have room to expand and grow again. There is still much work to be done, but little by little I am getting there.

2) Meditate. I meditate every morning and every night before bed. I have found a few pod-casts and downloaded them. I am going through and finding my favorites right now. None of them last more than 30 minutes and I find myself going back to them during the day reminding myself to breathe, or to let go of anger, or to express gratitude more.

I don't think I will ever reach that transcendental state of meditation the Tibetan Monks find, but I do find taking the time to relax a little, and concentrating on relaxing helps. I listened to one the other day when I had a migraine. Now, I had taken medicine, that would have eventually helped the pain, but I do think listening to the twenty minute meditation on dealing with pain helped. It in itself didn't eliminate the pain, but it helped me calm down and relax and let the medicine do its job faster. It was manageable in 20-30 minutes, rather than in the hour or so it usually takes.

I hope to add on more things in my routine to help reduce my stress and anxiety, what do you do to reduce your stress?