If you’re reading this, you may be feeling like I am right now: overwhelmed with the expectation to live up to my resolutions, stressed about what this new year may hold, and just all around busy with the holidays over.
Have no fear friends, we are going through it together. One of my goals for this year was to focus on my mental health. That being said, I want to learn to know when it’s appropriate for me to chill and when I should grab a double espresso and knock sh*t out! Below I’ll lay out some of my favorite ways to chill out when I am stressed out.
Face mask it up
YES. QUEEN (picturing my inner JVN as I type this haha). But seriously, has anyone ever regretted a face mask? I love the ones that either are warming as you rub them in or give your face a super cool-as-a-cucumber feel. Throw one of these bad boys on when you’re having a stressful day and I promise you’ll feel refreshed and like you have life all together (I say this because I always feel like the most put-together people have a strong and committed skincare routine lol).
My favorites include anything from the Yes to brand, the Bliss Mighty Marshmallow Mask, and the Tula Exfoliating Treatment Mask.
Write it out
Ok, tell me that you don’t have at least 30 little notebooks and notepads just waiting to be filled (what? is it just me??). Whether you write in a beautiful leather bound notebook with your initials on the front or on a frickin’ napkin, WRITE YOUR FEELINGS. Heck, even type it out on a Word doc. Getting out your thoughts, feelings, rants, etc. out of your head does wonders. I’m typically one to let things pile up in my mind because I don’t want to bother people or waste their time and then I end up exploding with emotions and words. Yeah, that doesn’t sound too good for the good ol’ mental health now, does it? Simply put, find time to decompress and let your thoughts bleed into some paper and just leave them there for a while. They will be right where you left them when you want to address the issues again.
To do lists
My coworkers may know this more than anyone, but I am a to do list FIEND. Not kidding, I may actually have a problem. I write a to do list (or three) every day at work haha. There is something sooooo satisfying about checking something off of one of my lists (yes, so good that it required 5 o’s). One thing I could actually be better about is organizing my to do lists. When I start to write a list, I imagine a little mini me inside my brain giving two claps and saying, “She’s writing the list, let’s go people,” and things just start pouring onto my paper. That being said, sometimes it can be things as easy as make lunch for tomorrow, to more long term things like look into possible job opportunities (fyi, def not looking for a new job at the moment but just wanted to give an example :)). So sure, maybe I wouldn’t be able to tick off finding a new job, but I could tick off making my lunch, right? Sometimes the best thing for me (kinda just like my previous point), is to get all my little thoughts out of my head so I can just relax a little and know that my list will be there when my chill time is up.
Reading a book
Now that I’ve graduated from college, when I come home from work I have time for this crazy, foreign concept called: leisure. Haha, you think I’m kidding, but seriously. When I was in school, I never had time for leisure reading and when I did, I felt guilty for not spending my time studying instead (PRO TIP: don’t guilt yourself for taking much needed you-time, I did this way too much and regret it). Honestly though, I used to read ALL THE TIME growing up. The amount of teen romance novels that are stored in my garage back home is embarrassing.
Giving yourself some time to chillax with a good book is one of the best ways to relax your mind. And although I don’t have as much free time after work as I did earlier this past summer now that I’m studying to go back to school, I make sure to read at least twenty pages a night.
**stay tuned for a major book review post soon 😉
No technology
Yeah that’s right, you heard me. The self-proclaimed Queen of scrolling through Instagram and spending hours on YouTube is telling you to UN-freaking-PLUG yourself. I don’t know what no tech will look like for you, but for me I take that time to read, journal, cook/bake (very therapeutic, I highly recommend), take a walk outside etc. There is SO much you can do without checking your snapchat every 20 seconds. I mean think about it, the world went on just fine without Instagram before, I know you can too!
Self care
Everything in this post is under my personal idea of self care, but here I want to focus more specific things. For example, go take a hot shower and get one of those fun shower bombs that make the steam all fun and smell-goody. (My faves are: this one and this fun one (use this before bed). Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, girl why not chat about bath bombs? Well, bath bombs are a sensitive subject for me because I have a ton but my apartment doesn’t have a bathtub (first world problem I know, but I wanna get my bath bomb on too!).
So like I was saying, take your shower/bath, put on a fluffy robe, paint your nails and toes, tweeze (a little every day saves you from an eyebrow wax appointment soon), jade roll your face (this is the EXACT one that I use and I’ll be talking about the benefits of this soon), brush your teeth and f l o s s (ehem, don’t skip that step it’s important). To sum up that crazy long run-on sentence, do the things you push off because you don’t have time and relax.
Candles
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, ambiance. is. everything. No joke. Ask my roommate Morgan, I light a candle as soon as I enter a room and I immediately feel more at ease. If you have a fireplace, I envy you. My guy never used his fireplace before me and now buys firewood all the time because it truly is so nice and calming (he also uses a candle now and then too because I’m a great influence, haha kidding, kinda).
Bath & Body Works candles are the ones I swear by. They last forever and have great scents. Do yourself a favor though, wait until they have one of their 3-wick candle sales because no one is trying to pay $25 for a candle.
A good playlist
Music just does something to me, I swear. I am listening to music or a podcast, literally at all times. Put together a chill playlist for your relaxation days and each time you hear it, your body will automatically begin to relax. It’s basically science! I’m talking about conditioning yourself, just like Pavlov did with the dog and the food? The dog begins to associate the sound of a metronome with food and he salivates in response to the bell from then on. Ok, stick with my dorky-ness here. If you play your chill-out playlist at times where you are allowing yourself to relax enough, I’ll bet that after some time when you hear that playlist, your body will react.
(my science my not be exactly scientific, but if you have more questions about conditioning, lmk because I would love to chat about it)
Slow down
Take things slow. Do them with purpose. Try doing ONE thing at a time. Seriously, try it. I found it so hard to not make myself double task because I wanted to fit more into my day. Once I attempted to single task, I realized how much more I was living my life with intention.
Hope these tips help!! What do you guys do to chill out? I’d love to know!
XOXO,
Alexis