5 Free Easy Ways to Relax and Relieve Stress

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In this hustle and bustle world we have to remember to take time for ourselves, to not only stay healthy, but also maintain peak productivity. It benefits no one if you run yourself into the ground. Here are 5 simple EASY FREE ways you bring down your stress levels near instantly.

1. Do Nothing Literally

Sometimes our minds just need rest. Just take a day to do no activity. Don’t plan any events, trips or chats. Just stay in with low lighting and no noise and let your mind and body recharge. For those of you raised you handled responsibility early you may feel an itch to work, or do a favor for someone, or show up somewhere for something. Resist this. Resist the guilt of solely and wholly choosing you for a mere 24 hours.

2. Get in touch with Nature

As the internet kids say, “Go touch grass.” It may sound like a cliché, but there are differences in air. You probably have traveled to places with different air quality or have been in a quarantine *wink wink* in your country where you couldn’t go places. There’s a difference when you open up a window and let the air in or walk outside after being indoors for a while.

Google your local or state parks, where other people frequent, first of course, and visit on a clear day. Try it to start your day or on a lunch/work break. Just a 30 minute walk and every now and then, take in a slow deep intentional breathe, to give your cells fresh oxygen straight from the tap.

Also, fun fact, walking is the most underrated and underestimated form of exercise.

3. Fancy Bath or New Soap

If you don’t have a personal masseuse, as I would guess most of us don’t, then your muscles have a tendency to get tight. In fact take a moment now, take a deep breathe and when you release it, relax your forehead, jaw, shoulders and you’d be surprised….

Water of course is a source of all life. There is something relaxing about warm water. At this point there is a whole market of bath products with a variety of bubble baths, bath salts, and bath foam balls. The aromas and the silky texture it can change the water to (Calgone is known for this. Be sure to drain your bath fully and stand carefully in case slickness is left over) can be very relaxing. Lavender is well known to have been scientifically studied in its effects on the body and is said to “may help relieve stress, chronic pain, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression.”

If you don’t like “frilly” baths, don’t worry I still have you covered. You can focus more on Epsom Salts with helpful things added such as lavender, hemp or eucalyptus. If you workout especially, look into these at local department stores. Pharmacy type stores would definitely have it but at an higher price.

4. Have Fun With Healthy Coping Mechanisms

In many of our other articles, we stress how important breaks are. We are all for being in the flow state, but resting your matters just as much. This is when not pushing yourself to a mental breaking point and rewarding yourself with play come into action.

All work and no play doesn’t make you dull,… it makes you nearly lose your mind and very vulnerable to triggers and bad habits.

When you know you are truly sticking to your set plan and making progress no matter how slow, you must take set days or time to truly let loose. How do you know you are not tricking yourself into procrastinating? Well you measure your input NOT the progress. Because progress that is completely stopped despite effort points to something else severe being overlooked or hidden. So you ask yourself did I really get out of bed by my second alarm every day this week? Did I really do 20 minutes of Hiit Cardio 3 times this week and only had one 300 calorie dessert? Did I really put in 2 hours of work on my project each day so that even if I have to go back and redo something its further progress still?

So if you know you genuinely are putting in work, reward yourself with healthy coping mechanisms or hobbies. These are things that may not give you progress in life but they are not harmful and it brings you joy. This is when you can have a video game marathon, bake cookies for a movie night, or see a concert and stay up all night.

5. Chat with Human or Animal Friends

Although I love the concept of grinding towards a goal in a season of solitude, as they say, ” No man is an island.” Its apart of our human nature to have social needs the same way we have nutritional needs. The mere feeling of wallowing in loneliness can affect your physical real health. Remember even if your are alone you control your mood of feeling lonely.

At this point in a world of technology you can make social connections virtually. There are online influencers who uses apps to gather subscribers, or platforms like YouTube or Twitch to do live recordings for viewers where they can interact. Like in real like you don’t want to say outrageous, spammy, or offensive things or like in real life you’d be outcasted. Online connections and social media can work as a quasi form of feeding your social meter.

Also among apps are dating apps and meeting apps to even have coffee, or find groups in your local area. If you don’t already have a close at least 2 friends you feel you can call out of the blue, then I would suggest being open to meeting people. Go to events and pickup new hobbies like fitness class where you can interact with people in real life and not get rusty and awkward like we all do sometimes.

And for those of us working through more rough anxiety, I say connect to animals. If you have no pets of your own, take the opportunity to ask a pet owner in public if you can pet their animal. (Animals with medical/support animal vests on or strange harnesses, just assume they are at work.) Also pet stores and shelters sometimes have pets they allow you to spend time with or touch. And lastly zoos and animal sanctuaries like for birds are usually in all states. Sometimes just being close to them and watching how they interact with each other and on rare occasions react to you can be a grounding experience.

Honorable Mentions: Vitamins and Meditation

I just had to add these tried and true methods that help with good mental health on a consistent basis, for the duration of your entire lifetime.

Therapists will sometimes recommend you ask your doctor for a test on Vitamin D levels in your body when you mention depression. You’d be shocked how a vitamin level in your body can actual wreak havoc and many who realize this don’t realize it can be cognitive as well.

Vitamin D sometimes call Vitamin D3 is found in common stores that sell vitamins and I find with a months time you can notice a permanent higher life in mood. Your lows just aren’t as low any more.

Another tried and true method is mediation. The most healthy activity on the planet, I would argue even more than physical exercise, that could changes lives across the globe within a week, but lets face its booooring. Well that is before you learn different methods and learn the deeper benefits that seem magical from it. Check out our article on How to Meditate the Easy Way, that gives you much easier and interesting ways to actually get into it.

For those of you with more debilitating stress and anxiety we recommend you read our article on Dealing with Burnout, Overwhelming Stress and Panic Attacks.