Stress Relief Alternatives For The Hectic Woman

By Joyce M. Stuart

Am I the only women who finds the idea of stress relief stressful? Just how am I supposed to find time in my busy schedule to relax? I know that sounds terrible, but I also happen to know I'm far from being alone. We live in an increasingly hectic and unremitting world of constant motion. But it isn't good for our health, which is why I've been taking a little time out to examine the various stress relief options for women.

One of the things that has most surprised me is just how many ways there are to relax, calm down and take a moment to shake off the troubles of the day. Perhaps it's because my days are usually so full and so hectic that I've never stopped long enough to realise, but there are several excellent stress relief alternatives.

Perhaps I have a habit of starting at the end of lists rather than the beginning, but my list started with yoga. My first assumption was that yoga is all about contorting your body in weird ways without falling over, but in truth it's very easy to get started with yoga, and can be very relaxing too. The benefits of yoga extend to both the physical body and the mental well-being.

Having untied myself from the yoga class my next visit into stress relief alternatives was meditation. I thought this would be easy, but I spent most of my time trying to pick between the many ways in which meditation can be undertaken. I chose a meditation CD which I played whilst lying in the dark with my eyes closed. Very relaxing, although I have no recollection of the second half of the disk!

I have many girlfriends who insist that regular exercise such as running, biking and using aerobic machines are brilliant for stress relief. I can imagine that after cycling twenty miles having not moved an inch one would have little energy left to be bothered with stress.

So after only a half hearted glance at the idea of stress relief through exercise my attention was turned towards women's toys. I have to say that we're certainly lucky these days to have so much variety available at the click of a button. Having purchased something not dissimilar in size to my kitchen rolling pin, and with more attachments than my food blender I was certainly able to demonstrate that stress took a back seat for as long as the batteries could hold out.

Sometimes of course it's just not convenient (or decent) to enjoy such methods of stress relief, and so a suitably convenient method is of course to listen to relaxing music. I have an iPod onto which I have saved a whole heap of relaxing songs and music. When I need to unwind a little I can slip the headphones on, close my eyes and try to make sure that I don't fall asleep and start dribbling in public.

One of the simplest, cheapest, yet often most difficult forms of stress relief to put into practice is simply finding time to get plenty of rest. It seems that our lives are so hectic that just finding time to rest is hard enough. If we don't relax and shake off the stresses of the day it can be hard to sleep, which only makes the next day harder still. It's important to put a good deal of effort into relaxing. - 31520

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