Stress – what a little bugger it can be! On one hand its necessary for getting your butt into gear, but on the other hand if it becomes a regular occurrence and leads to bouts of anxiety, insomnia, depression, isolation, digestive issues or illness – well, that’s your beautiful body sending you strong signs that something needs to give.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the expression ‘living with flow’ or ‘ease and flow’. This is the ultimate way to live and if you can do this at least 60-70% of the time (let’s be realistic here), you’re doing a mighty-fine job!

Check out my 7 ways to de-stress and flow more…

1. Remove yourself from the stressful situation. This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how often people neglect doing this or feel that they can’t. If, for example, your stress is work related, removing yourself from the situation could be as simple as heading outside on your lunch break to get some fresh air, breathe deeply and recharge. The aim is to reduce your stress as much as possible, where possible.

2. Be with nature. A personal preference of mine is to hang out at the beach. For me, water and sun are my natural de-stressors. I don’t even have to go in it (although I usually do). Just looking at the ocean and smelling the salt and feeling the sand between my toes and sun on my skin, is enough to recharge my batteries and melt away any stress. Where in nature do you love to go to bring you peace and tranquility?

3. Move your body in the way that feels good to you. This could mean lifting weights, going for a run, taking a yoga class, swimming, slow walking outside etc. Exercise does wonders for de-stressing and clearing your mind, plus a nice dose of endorphins is an added bonus.

PT Tip: if you like to sweat it out doing cardio, take note on how your body feels during exercise and once you’ve cooled down. If you feel extremely fatigued, this is a sign that you’ve raised your cortisol levels too high. Adding more stress to an already stressed out body can do more harm than good. Cardio is much more catabolic (meaning to break down), whereas weights and some forms of yoga are more anabolic (meaning to repair). Play around with some different forms of movement and stick to what makes you feel the best…you can always go back to the more intense forms of training once you’re feeling less stressed.

4. Write it out. Journalling is one of my FAV ways to de-stress and flow more. I bring this little trick up often because I truly believe in it’s ability to release stress. Journalling is a fabulous clearing technique that allows you to ‘brain dump’ everything that’s going on in your mind, creating loads more space for inner peace. It also helps to reduce the intensity of these feelings of stress, sadness, anger, or frustration, making you feel much lighter and calmer and this helps you to flow more.

5. Confide in someone you trust. This could be your partner, friend, family member, work colleague/ boss or coach. Talking it out and verbalising what’s stressing you will immediately release some stress from your body and mind. Even better is if you can come up with some strategies together to reduce/ clear what it is that’s making you a stressed out little bunny. Winning 🙂

6. Trust in the flow of life. Easier said than done, right? You probably even hate it when people say that. Ha! I getcha, totally been there, nodding along with you my friend. But here’s the thing…it honestly is a lot easier than your mean girl would like you to believe. A lot of the stress we feel is emotionally related and inflicted. You may worry a lot, future trip and ruminate over things that you may or may not have control over.

The trick is to ride the wave of life with the knowledge and understanding that your circumstances, feelings and relationships will naturally ebb and flow.

There’s really no such thing as eternal happiness. Even those who are highly self-aware and have nailed the art of Wholehearted Living, will still experience moments of stress, unhappiness and pain. The difference is that they’ve learnt how to move through these emotions a lot faster than those who get stuck in a rut. The latter trust in the flow of life – good and bad – and have the skills to make sure they bounce back to their happy place sooner rather than later.

7. Meditate. I just couldn’t write a post about ways to de-stress without mentioning this gem. Meditation is the number one, top-notch, scientifically proven stress buster that you simply MUST incorporate into your life – stress or no stress. You might like to check out this post of mine where I share some examples of how to start a meditation practice in as little as one minute a day. Really.

Would love your feedback on this topic, lovely. Scroll down below if you’d like to leave a comment or ask a me a question.

Image found here.