5 Favorite Ways to De-stress – Blogtember #16

Halfway through the Blogtember challenge and Bailey Jean is prompting us to share how we de-stress.  Coincidence?  Seriously, though, it has been a little stressful posting daily but it has also challenged me to do a little more serious pre-planning and looking ahead.  My intentions every month are to do just that and I always start off on a high note and end up scrambling.  Maybe this challenge will instill a new habit for me!

So what are my favorite ways to de-stress?  Here are my typical 5 go tos.


1.  Exercise.  I just handle life better when I’m able to have some physical activity.   As little as 30 minutes or so of heart pumping movement and I often have a clearer head and stand to be more focused throughout my day.  Why, then, does this seem to be the easiest for me to drop when things get crazy I’ll never know.  
2.  Clean.  Seems like doing one of the acts that can sometimes cause me to be stressed in the first place would work against me but my de-stress cleaning doesn’t look like the normal every day cleaning.  My entire house could be in shambles and I will retreat to a closet, a junk drawer or a box full of pictures to sort for my therapy.  Typically I need something I can manage to turn from chaos to order in a short period of time and it instantly helps me deal with the rest of my mess.  
3.  Music.  I have a playlist created on my iTunes labeled My God Fix.  Whenever I’m feeling out of sorts and needing a way out, I can plug in my ear buds and sing along with these songs and instantly feel more at peace.  
4.  Laugh (or cry).  Sometimes the best medicine is to find a way to have some fun and laugh with friends or over some mindless TV.  Other times putting in a sad movie and being able to just shed some tears will allow me to release so much tension.  
5.  Escape. Maybe in the literal sense such as a long drive alone in the car or maybe even an overnight jaunt to shop alone but more often escaping from the ongoing reel in my mind of the to dos.   Reading a book, watching Friends reruns, writing in a prayer journal; these are the ways I can escape for a bit and reclaim my calm in order to handle my crazy with a little more grace.  
What are your favorite ways to de-stress?  
Click the Blogtember graphic to learn more about the challenge and find the monthly prompts!
Click the image for all my faves!  

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