How to reduce stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety are a massive part of life in your 20s. I don’t think I am going to completely get rid of my stress and anxiety, because in your 20s there are tons of opportunities and things that could cause stress and anxiety, but I do think you can definitely reduce it and find ways to overcome stress and anxiety.

Narrow down what you have anxiety and stress over

Sometimes, I wake up and I’m just feeling anxious for no reason (or I just can’t pin point the reason I may feel this way).

So taking some time to really think about why you are feeling this way, is a good start to be able to reduce your stress and anxiety.

Ways to help you pin point your reason why:

• Talk to someone. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to be able to target why you’re feeling the way you are.
• Journal. Writing down everything you are feeling, and everything that’s happened to make you feel that way, could allow you to see the reason.
• Reflection. Reflect on your past few weeks or anything that’s looming ahead that could be making you feel this way.

Journal

Journaling is so good for your mental health, and allows you to get a better understanding of yourself.

It allows you to know how your brain works, so you can better tackle any problem that comes your way.

There are a lot of prompts you can follow to help you work through what’s bothering you.

And it also just feels good to write everything down, so you can see things from a wider perspective.

Some journal prompts:

• What is making you anxious and stressed?
• Have you been anxious about this before? (If you have you at least know you got through it)
  • What was the outcome?
  • Were you happy with the outcome?
  • If not then what could you have done differently?
• What steps could you take to help the situation that is making you anxious and stressed?
• Why are you anxious and stressed about this situation? Is it fear of doing something? Fear of the outcome?
• Can you do anything to help the outcome? If so, great, if not, don’t worry, because you can’t change anything.

Deep breathing

This is a game changer. It sounds like it wouldn’t help that much, but trust me it does.

There has been many times when I have been driving somewhere, and I have been really anxious and stressed about something. But deep breathing clears your head and massively helps.

Benefits of deep breathing:

• Slows your heart rate down.
• Clears your head.
• Decreases stress and anxiety.
• calms your nerves.
• It increases your endorphin level (your feel good hormone).
• Allows you to take a second for yourself and realise you are doing okay.

Walking to clear your head

Not only are you getting those feel good endorphins from moving your body, you are getting fresh air, clearing your head, and bettering yourself.

When you go for a walk, especially if you don’t have headphones in, you have a lot of time to think.

It is easy to go into the negative, overthinking route. So keep an open mind, and think positive.

Maybe even try to not think at all.

Focus on your breathing, and have a kind of meditation/deep breathing session whilst walking.

Or maybe you could just think about what’s around you. Make an effort to look at everything you can see, and focus on that.

Listen to music or podcasts

Especially if you’re on route to somewhere that gives you stress and anxiety.

Putting music or a podcast on totally distracts you and lets you not think about what’s making you stressed and anxious.

Podcasts I love:

• The Girls Bathroom. This is a good one if you want to laugh and feel like you’re talking to your girl friends.
• NearlyWeds. This one is absolutely hilarious, and what better way to take your mind off things, than laughing.
• Wednesdays we drink wine. This one is also hilarious, similar to both podcasts above. They just make you feel like you are talking to your friends.
• Call Her Daddy. This one is a lot of celebrities, and is so interesting, especially when you love the celebrity.
• Anything Goes. I love Emma Chamberlain, and I could listen to her all day, enough said lol.
• Saving Grace. This one is hilarious and Grace just makes me laugh so much.
• The Matcha Diaries. This one is just wholesome and really is like you have your friends with you.

Self care

This could include whatever you feel is self care.

But taking some time for yourself to really unwind will ease stress and anxiety.

Self care rituals:

• Long, warm bath, with a movie / YouTube. When I have a long period of time, where I don’t have to be anywhere, it is so nice to take a long warm bath. Especially when you can put a movie on and just relax.
• Sauna’s or face steam. I feel like having a sauna is just cleansing all of the bad energy from your life. You can practice your deep breathing, or meditation, and really unwind.
• Yoga. Sometimes when I’m already overly stressed, I don’t want to do an intense workout. Yoga is perfect for your mind, body and soul. I would 100% recommend, because not only does it make your body feel better, it makes your mind feel better.
• Painting my nails. I paint my nails myself, and sometimes it can take me 2 hours. So when I have that time, I love to sit and do my nails, and put on a tv show or some YouTube. Not only am I taking my mind off things, but I’m finishing with pretty nails. Win win.
• Massage. Not everyone can just go and get a massage every time they feel anxious. (I’d be getting one every day lol). But once in a while, I would love to get a massage. I’ve had a proper spa day once before where I got a massage, and it was delightful. I knew I had 40 mins of uninterrupted relaxation, not to mention the massage felt amazing.
• Sleep. Sleep is SO important, and will make you feel 10x better. Getting a good nights sleep is essential to having more energy and just feeling better throughout the day.

Escapism through books, movies and tv shows

Nothing feels better, than getting snuggled up, having a cup of tea, and reading a book or watching your favourite movie / tv show.

Often times people make themselves feel guilty for doing these things (I am a culprit of this too). But we shouldn’t make ourselves feel guilty for taking some time off to relax and make ourselves better again.

You need to fully allow yourself to rest, to feel the benefits of resting.

Sometimes we spend that time resting, making ourselves feel guilty for ‘not doing anything productive’ and that just makes us more tired and burnt out.

Book recommendations:

• ACOTAR. If you’ve been thinking about it, this is your sign to start it.
• Six of Crows duo. First fantasy I ever read and I loved it.
• Throne of Glass. (Currently reading, but absolutely loving so far).
• Off campus series. If you love YA romance (but not childish) then you won’t be disappointed.
• Verity. If you like thrillers (I have only read a few), I really recommend this one! It had me on the edge of my seat.
• One true loves. Literally couldn’t put it down. It was heart breaking and amazing.
• All your Perfects. If you need a reason to sob your heart out, then let this be it.
• I have a book recommendations page if you want more (http://bigsisterera.com/book-recommendations/)

Tv show / movie recommendations:

• Selling sunset. I love this series so much. No matter how fake it is, I will never get bored.
• White chicks. This is such a good movie if you want a laugh.
• Mean girls. A classic that I will never get bored of.
• Wednesday. I didn’t expect to like it so much, but it is so good!
• This may be a strange one, but Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle. It just makes me laugh so much, and never fails to put me in a good mood.

Maybe it’s best to face whatever you’re anxious about straight on

I am guilty of making something seem so much worse in my head than it actually is. So sometimes the best thing to do is jump straight in, and then you can see, actually, there was no need to be stressed and anxious.

Sometimes the more I put something off, the worse I think it’s going to be, when it really didn’t need to be made into such a big thing.

Planning

Maybe you’re stressed and anxious over an exam or a driving test.

The BEST thing to do is plan.

There is nothing worse than going into an exam and doing no revision. You are basically setting yourself up for failure?!

But if you plan, then no matter the outcome, you know that you tried your best and went into it the best prepared you could.

If you’re stressed about uni or school, I have a blog post on how to help: http://bigsisterera.com/how-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-at-uni/

My tips on planning:

• Saying to yourself that you are going to do something every day can be overwhelming. So make an effort, every day, to do at least 10 mins.
  • That could be listening / reading / writing about certain things you need to learn.
  • When you’re cleaning your room for 10 mins, or making your lunch, have something you could be listening to that would be beneficial to what you are learning / studying / whatever it is you are doing.
  • Plan out your days. There is nothing worse than waking up everyday and not having a plan, leading to you procrastinating and not being productive.
  • Be realistic. Don’t plan so much into a short amount of time. Don’t make yourself burn out!

Thank you for reading <3

I hope this post helped in finding ways for you to reduce your stress and anxiety.

No matter what you’re going through right now, I am here for you and you are doing amazing!

Life in your 20s means there is going to be a lot of new challenges that you have to face, but I promise you are going to be okay!