how to stay calm

[Bella2]

hey everyone, so I know everything is really stressful but lets find ways to keep calm. 

feel free to share some tips that work with you and try someone else's tips when you feel stressed. 

here is some tips that I use to help me when I get stressed.

- writing everything down on a piece of paper and when I'm finished I get to cross everything of my list and chuck it away makes me feel so much better.

- watching videos that make me laugh or my favourtie movie 

- cooking

- cleaning

- deep breathing breath in make sure your stomach is getting bigger and then blow it all back out. remember smell the flowers, blow out the candle. 

let me know guys how you go 

[sunnygirl606]

So many similarities in what we do to feel less stressed!

Things i like to do are;

- Arts and craft, particularly painting

- Writing poetry

- Going on ReachOut (Helping others helps to make me feel less stressed)

- Playing with my cats  

[Taylor-RO]

Awesome thread idea, I love all these suggestions!

I personally like to:
- Make sure I exercise
- Play some video games/watch TV to unwind
- Make sure I find some time to chat or see friends
- Sometimes if something in particular is making me feel stressed, I like to come back to it and work on something else in the mean time
- Try to not place too much pressure on myself in other areas of my life
- I also try to be conscious of my breathing and self-talk

[Lost_Space_Explorer5]

I love this thread! Thank you for the coping strategy ideas everyone, I needed them!

I'll suggest some too
-splash your face with cold water for a minute to activate the 'mammalian dive reflex' (basically slows your heartbeat down)
-hug a pet or stuffed toy
-drink some herbal tea (anything that doesn't have caffeine)
-drink some ice cold water
-watch funny cat videos
-take some deep breaths

[Wathan]

It is quite hard to stay calm and not stressed during this covid time. Here's some of my tips: count down from 5, to 1. Breathe in and out while listening to a short 3 min meditation audio. Just noticing and taking in the beauty of the nature. I wanna know what works for you too!

[clarii3105]

this is a great thread! I personally:

- exercise: either going to the gym or doing a hike, I find the latter especially effective in staying calm because I'm surrounded by nature

- meditate: either guided meditation using the Smiling Mind app (https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app) or other breathing exercises

- write lists: if I'm stressed/anxious about something in particular I find writing down a list of what I have to do makes me calmer as all the thoughts aren't just swirling around in my head

[new1234567]

I wish I had seen this thread earlier and thank you for providing a lot of good suggestions!!!!

Here's how I manage and reduce stress in my everyday life...

1) Chewing gum before an interview or presentation

2) Listening to music 

3) Breathing deeply (Even when your are stressed or behind deadline, don’t forget to breathe! )

4) Playing games (e.g., Bubble wrap?!)

[chillspace]

Such a great thread! With some awesome suggestions 

Mine are; 

Walking the dog 

Going to the gym 

Play some video games or watch Netflix 

Reach out to a close friend

Gardening 

Practice slow breathing 

[TawnyOwl]

This is an awesome thread! Thanks for starting it @Bella2! Everyone has some super cool suggestions, keen to try some of these out (: 
When I'm a bit stressed I like to:
- Plan my gap year holiday

- Walk/play with my pets

- Chat to my mates (usually they don't know I'm stressed, we just facetime and talk about dumb stuff but it really helps haha)

- Attempt to write a song/poetry (eek!)

- Play animal crossing (teehee)

Stay safe everyone! Hope these suggestions help some people (:

[ayrc_1904]

Love this thread! 

I personally like to 

1) squeeze and hug a squooshy toy

2) do some deep breathing exercises

3) make a checklist of things so that I can rationalise things instead of feeling overwhelmed or exaggerating what I have to do in my head