Tag: stress reduction

Coping, Society

Embrace Your Messiness

Kerrie Smyres

“Say Yes to Mess” and stop feeling guilty about how disheveled your house is or how scattered your days are. You can reduce your stress (and, thus, possibly your headaches) by changing the way you think about clutter.

Rest assured that this isn’t a sign of weakness or laziness. In fact, messiness is illustrative of “creative, limber minds” and slobs are “probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. “The anti-anticlutter movement “confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands.”

I love the idea, but can I really let my guilt go?

Coping, Mental Health

Longterm Stress Reduction

Kerrie Smyres

99.5% of people who have seen a doctor about migraines or headaches have been told to reduce stress. I made up that statistic, but I bet it’s not far off.

Google “ways to reduce stress” and you’ll get nearly 3 million hits. Most recommendations are mildly effective band-aids. Changing how you react in the moment or trying to slow yourself down when you’re already worked up are vital skills, but living a calmer life overall is the only true solution.

Zenhabits takes this approach in 12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine. The recommended daily rituals go a long way toward longterm stress reduction. Among the 12 recommendations include:

  • Enjoy a quiet cup of tea or coffee each morning. I sit at the kitchen table and look at our ugly patio. Normally the current state of the patio distresses me, but in the mornings I simply enjoy the sun streaming through the windows.
  • Devote a few minutes to think about what and who you are grateful for. A bipolar chronic headache sufferer mentioned in a forum that she does this. The small ritual has made her happier and keeps her from being bogged down by anger and self-pity over her illnesses.
  • Have a real, honest conversation with a loved one.

I’m taking bite-size pieces of Zenhabits’ suggestions to see if calm down my life. I’ve quieted my frazzled self a lot in the last two years, but there’s always room to relax more.

Do you have any soothing rituals?