Destress Ten

There's a lot to stress over this summer, which prompted me to make some changes to maintain a positive attitude while I manage everything. If you're in a similar boat, here are:

Ten Things I'm Doing to Reduce My Stress

Baking: Cooking is therapy for me, and baking is my favorite form. Yesterday I baked a new batch of my guys' favoriter bagels, and last night I made apple turnovers for them.

Crochet Every Day: I regain a lot of peace and calm from crocheting in my spare time. It's also great physical therapy for my hands.

Focus: For the first time in my life I am taking active charge of not only what I think, but how I think. My goal is to be present in this moment, not dwell on the past or worry about the future. Today, right now, is where I am and where I need to be.

Generosity: I've always been a generous person, but I'm trying to incorporate one act of kindness every day. It's not anything gradiose, usually just a nice gesture or kind word. The interesting thing is that I'm getting kindness is return, so it's nicely reciprocal even though I have no expectations.

Gratitude: It's too easy to dwell on the negative, and offering thanks for the good things in your life is a great mind and heart reset. In the evening think of three things that happened that day for which you're grateful, and say thank you for them. It's as easy as that.

Morning Meditation: My new spiritual journey is taking me in some interesting directions. Every morning now I spend five minutes in meditation before I do anything else. I think about the teaching I want to focus on for the day, offer gratitude for having another day to live and learn, and center myself on the path. It's working wonders.

Reading for Pleasure: Each morning I read something for pleasure while I have breakfast. This also calms my thoughts and adds joy to the start of the day.

Stretching: Before I get up in the morning I stretch my feet, legs and arms. I also take a moment to be grateful that I did wake up and have another day to live.

Trying and Learning: Learning something new is never stressful for me, and I consider it a lifelong goal to keep learning, especially by trying new things as I'm a hands-on person. Today I'm testing a yarn skein holder as part of a $10 or less series I'm writing for my crochet blog.

Wellness Mindset: Rather than dwelling on all the bad news and complications that are cropping up so fast this summer, I'm turning my thoughts toward the ways I can live better, healthier and with more peace and calm. I am watching my diet very closely now. Exercise has become a priority. I set small, positive challenges for myself each day that are doable and make me happy.

It's easy to let the difficulties in life, the depressing aspects of current events, or the grim possibilities of what's to come in the future get to us. I think we're all dealing with a lot more than we should. I can also tell you from my experiences that taking some time and making an effort to stress less, live well and not dwell on the negativie will help. Give one thing on my list a try and see if it does.