My Stress Relief Methods

I, too, was plagued by stress throughout my career and tried hard to relieve it, even if just a little. But honestly, I never found a way to completely wipe stress away.
Even if I felt refreshed at the time, it would just bubble up again soon after.
Stress is quite a troublesome thing, isn't it?
Today, I will introduce some methods I practiced to at least lighten that stress, if not completely eliminate it.

<What is stress?>

First, let's think about what stress actually is.
It can be worries, anxiety about the future, or feeling irritable, short-tempered, or unable to sleep due to poor physical health.
As that happens, you gradually lose the ability to concentrate, lose motivation, become reckless, and lose interest in everything.

These can come from external environmental factors like noise or temperature, or from illness or injury, but for me, the most common cause was work-related.
I carried stress from various things, such as interpersonal troubles, pressure, anxiety about work not going well, and dissatisfaction with not getting a raise.
All of these stem from the gap between the story I envision and what is actually happening. It is the so-called gap between ideal and reality.
When you want to fix this but cannot, or when things do not go well, it manifests as stress.

<Dealing with stress>

When I was young and stress built up, I would turn to "drinking to forget" or "stress eating."
I have since quit both alcohol and cigarettes, but I used to do both quite a bit back then.
I would eat my fill of delicious food, drink alcohol, and fall asleep after getting drunk. That was the only way I could sleep.
That can hardly be called healthy.

In the midst of that, windsurfing, which I started at age 47, was very helpful for stress relief.

On the ocean, I would think only about getting better and speed up as I rode the board, and when I got back to land, I would laugh out loud with my friends over trivial things. Ending the day with yakiniku on the way home was the perfect finale. Stress would just blow away.

Taking time to immerse yourself in your favorite sports or hobbies is very helpful for relieving stress.
However, even after a fun time, the gloomy days begin again after the break.

At such times, what I practiced was, as mentioned earlier, to "laugh."

Even during small talk between work, I would find fun topics and laugh from the bottom of my heart.
At that moment, I would forget the blockage in my heart, focus on that interesting topic, and laugh.
Then, my heart would feel lighter, and new ideas would suddenly pop up.

Greet with a smile, behave cheerfully, listen well to what others say, do not speak negatively, and if you always actively try to stay one step ahead of others, you will have no time for your heart to sink.
And removing the cause of that stress, or distancing yourself, or leaving it yourself is also effective.
For these, it is important to take action yourself rather than waiting for the other person to do something.
If you expect the other person to change, you will never be able to escape stress.
Instead of just enduring it, by taking action yourself, you can find a way to break through the situation.
Anyway, focus on work and do your best to complete it; this alone will increase trust from those around you, you will be able to get cooperation, and stress will gradually decrease.

Besides that, although it is a small thing, what I often practiced was,

• walking in the sun instead of the shade. When your heart sinks, a feeling of wanting to avoid bright places works on you, but you should dare to walk where the sunlight hits. Then, you can feel the dark heart disappearing as you receive the sun's energy. However, be careful of heatstroke in the midsummer sun.

• I also often smelled my favorite scents or listened to my favorite music. The effect of the scent does not last long, but you can spend the time feeling good.

• Organizing your desk and throwing away unnecessary things requires a bit of effort before you start, but it is a good change of pace. When throwing away unnecessary things, I feel like I am also throwing away unpleasant stress, and I feel refreshed. At this time, it feels more effective if you also take off your wristwatch.

• Taking a deep breath while looking at the greenery in the distance is fresh for both your eyes and your head. It is an image of exhaling bad things.

• When you polish your shoes on your day off, a feeling of "I'll do my best again starting tomorrow!" wells up.

• Trying to make a plan (just a plan) to relax slowly on a southern island, or even without making a plan, imagining yourself there and simulating various things makes it fun.

• If you dare to stay up late to watch a movie or anime, and get absorbed in it and shed tears, you will feel strangely refreshed after you finish watching it.

• When I take a long, relaxing half-body bath in lukewarm water, ideas and solutions come to mind.

• .....and so on.

In any case, please "struggle."
If you keep struggling and suffering, you will definitely see a way to climb out.
Light will shine into the darkness you thought was before you.
I repeat, just enduring it will not only fail to eliminate stress, but it will keep increasing until you can no longer bear it.
Before that happens,please start moving on your own.
You should be able to find your own solution.

Thank you for reading today as well. If you liked it, please give it a like and follow me. I will continue to strive to write good articles, so thank you for your support.

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