If I had all the time and money in the world, I would constantly be fighting down my stress with spiritual journeys to Tibet, long hikes in the Peruvian mountains, internet dating and shopping sprees at Saks.
Of course, if I had all the time and money in the world, I probably wouldn’t need such great amounts of de-stressing. That doesn’t really matter because I, like most of you, don’t have the luxury of always going to the best extremes to keep my mind and body in balance. We’re work-a-day, normal people with friends and jobs and relationships and kids and endless other things that make “me time” a rare commodity.
Lucky for us, there are loads of ways to quickly relax and rejuvenate your mind to have you happy and functioning at your highest level in no time. Here are a few of my favorite picks:
Sit up straight
I love this one. Only takes a second, you don’t have to stop what you’re doing and, at least to a small degree, it works every time. It realigns your body to where everything is in its proper place, increases blood flow to your brain, alleviates little pains…and you just look better when you sit up straight. Slouching is not sexy. Learn it, live it.
Get your ankles in the air
If you want to take that in a dirty way, you go right ahead. Run with it. Because it would work. But the point isn’t to get down and dirty, it’s to get high and mighty; feet high, brain mighty.
Try lying on your side on the floor with your butt up against a wall. Slowly swing your legs up so that they are resting flat against the wall. Your body should be at a 90 degree angle. Now all you do is hang out like this for about ten minutes. Try to focus on relaxing your whole body and breathing slowly and evenly. Through muscle relaxation and rejuvenating your blood flow, this is somehow a magic trick for chilling out. I do it everyday.
Take time for what you love
Even if you’re at work, in the middle of a busy day, if you’ve got a case of the sads or the stressed outs, take a few minutes and immerse yourself in something that makes you happy. If you’re really into sea turtles (hey, you might be) then go online and just look at pictures of sea turtles for 10 minutes. Or pull that book you’ve been loving out of your desk and cruise through a chapter.
Whatever gets your inner smiles going, that needs to be your go-to stress reliever. Exposing ourselves to things we enjoy releases oodles of good, happy brain chemicals, enlivening us to continue with the most unpleasant things we have to tend to.
Get some sun
This is another one that will make you look hotter and feel more upbeat. If I hate one thing about western culture, it’s that we are programmed to spend entirely too much time indoors. Fresh air and sunlight are nature's most potent and most readily available bummer-fighters.
Don’t forget your SPF and try to get as much sunlight as you can every day. If you own a laptop, take it to a park. Have a meeting to run? Suggest moving it to the benches outside your building. Changes of scenery keep things fresh, and the natural surrounding will sharpen everyone’s minds and raise their moods.
