Millennials are increasingly focused on their overall health and wellness. Instead of relying solely on medication, many are turning to natural and holistic solutions to improve their mental well-being. When it comes to relaxation and stress relief, guided meditation for beginners is one of the most effective and accessible tools available.

If you’re looking to learn guided meditation, you’re in the right place.

In this guide, you’ll discover what guided meditation is, its many benefits, the different types of guided meditation, and how to get started today. You’ll also find simple guided meditation exercises you can use to relax, de-stress, and support your mental health naturally.

What Is Guided Meditation?

Guided meditation is a type of mindfulness meditation led by a teacher, instructor, or recorded voice. During a guided meditation session, you’re encouraged to focus on your breath, bodily sensations, or a mantra (a repeated word or phrase).

Throughout the practice, the guide provides verbal cues to help you stay present, relaxed, and focused. This makes guided meditation especially helpful for beginners who may struggle with silent meditation.

The Benefits of Guided Meditation

Practicing guided meditation regularly can support both your mental and physical health. Some of the most well-known benefits of guided meditation include:

• Reduced stress levels with consistent practice
• Improved sleep quality
• Decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Less negative rumination (repetitive negative thinking)
• Increased focus and concentration
• Reduced physical pain
• Lower blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health
• Increased self-awareness and emotional insight

Because guided meditation addresses both the mind and body, it’s an excellent tool for overall wellness.

Why Is Guided Meditation Good for Stress Relief?

Guided meditation helps bring your attention back to the present moment. Instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, you learn to observe your thoughts without judgment.

Additionally, guided meditation strengthens your ability to control your attention. As a result, you may become less reactive to everyday stressors. Over time, this can reduce anxiety, negative thinking patterns, and emotional overwhelm.

Different Types of Guided Meditation

There are many forms of guided meditation, which makes it easy to find one that fits your needs. Popular types include:

Mindfulness Meditation

Focuses on the present moment while observing thoughts and feelings without judgment.

Guided Imagery

Uses visualization of calming scenes or experiences to promote deep relaxation.

Mantra Meditation

Involves repeating a word or phrase to create a sense of calm and focus.

Walking Meditation

Encourages awareness of your breath and the sensation of walking. This can be especially grounding outdoors.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Involves tensing and relaxing muscle groups to release physical tension.

Breath Awareness Meditation

Centers attention on the natural flow of your breath.

Body Scan Meditation

A mindfulness-based practice that brings awareness to physical sensations throughout the body to reduce stress.

How to Get Started with Guided Meditation

Getting started with guided meditation for beginners is simple and accessible. Here are a few easy ways to begin:

• Find an online guided meditation class or audio recording
• Download a meditation app like Headspace, Insight Timer, or Aura
• Explore free guided meditations on YouTube

YouTube is an excellent free resource, with many guided meditations created by qualified mental health professionals.

Guided Meditation Exercises You Can Try Today

To find guided meditation exercises on YouTube, simply search for “guided meditation”. You’ll find countless options for sleep, anxiety, relaxation, and stress relief.

Some helpful examples include:

• A guided meditation for sleep by Deepak Chopra
• Guided imagery meditation from Johns Hopkins
• A five-minute guided meditation for stress relief

Guided imagery is especially effective because it combines visualization with relaxation, enhancing sensory awareness and calming the nervous system.

Tips for a Successful Guided Meditation Practice

Before starting your guided meditation, find a comfortable and quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. Sit or lie down in a relaxed position and consider setting a timer.

If you’re a busy parent, let others in your home know you need a few minutes of uninterrupted time. Using a sound machine or white noise can also help reduce distractions.

As you begin, focus on slow, deep breathing. If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breath. This is a normal part of meditation.

Most guided meditations last between five and 30 minutes. When your session ends, take a moment to sit quietly and acknowledge yourself for prioritizing your well-being.

The Takeaway

When practiced consistently, guided meditation can be a powerful tool for improving mental and emotional health. It’s an excellent way to relax, manage stress, and build mindfulness—especially for beginners.

If you haven’t tried guided meditation yet, now is the perfect time to start. With so many styles and resources available, you’re sure to find one that resonates with you.

Feel free to share your favorite guided meditations in the comments—I’m always looking for new ones to try!

Happy meditating! 🧘‍♀️✨

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by stress? If so, you’re not alone. A growing number of millennials are struggling to manage stress in their daily lives. While there are many different techniques that can help relieve stress, one of the most effective is progressive muscle relaxation. 

This easy-to-learn technique can be done in just a few minutes and can provide long-lasting relief from tension and anxiety. In this blog post, we’ll teach you how to do progressive muscle relaxation and discuss some of the benefits it has to offer. So if you’re looking for a simple way to get relief from your stressors, read on!

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a technique that helps you relax your muscles and thereby reduce overall stress, anxiety, and tension. It’s similar to guided meditation in that it helps calm your mind by teaching you to focus on your body instead of intrusive thoughts.

Unlike meditation, it also has the added benefit of helping with physical pain. Even if you have no experience meditating or practicing “being present,” PMR is incredibly easy to learn and practice.

If you’re curious about how PMR works, how to do a successful PMR session, and how it can help you relax both physically and mentally, read on for a comprehensive beginner’s guide:

HOW PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION WORKS

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a simple, systematic way to relax your body and mind by tensing and then relaxing your muscles.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is an exercise that helps build awareness about how our bodies feel when we tense up or contract muscles unnecessarily.

The goal is to learn how to release tension from these areas so we can feel less physical stress in everyday situations (like sitting in traffic).

This relaxation exercise involves focusing on each part of your body one at a time—from the top of your head to the tips of your toes—and tensing and relaxing each one slowly.

It is by far my favorite relaxation technique, especially if you’re someone like me who can only sit and meditate for so long until you begin fidgeting and wondering what you should eat for dinner. 

A restless mind typically invites a restless body and this is the perfect way to take that physical tension and turn it up to the Max, and then feel it gradually melt away with each muscle group you tense and then relax.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a technique that involves tensing specific muscles and then relaxing them.

PMR can be done sitting, standing or lying down, in any comfortable position.

PMR involves tensing specific groups of muscles for 10 seconds, then relaxing them for 10 seconds. You repeat this process for each group of muscles.

The whole exercise typically takes about 15 minutes, but it can be shortened to 5 minutes if you have less time or are starting out with little experience at PMR.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation Benefits?

 If you’re struggling with headaches, backaches or another type of physical pain; if you have trouble sleepingwell at night; or if you have any other kind of discomfort in your body that makes it difficult for you to relax during the day—then progressive muscle relaxation will help reduce these discomforts so that they don’t interfere with your life.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS Of PMR

Stress can cause very real physical symptoms on a daily basis. PMR helps

• relieves tension
• lower blood pressure
• reduces headaches
• reduces backaches
• helps improve sleep
• and eases other symptoms caused by stress.

It’s a good way to help you relax your body and mind, lower your stress level and improve your overall health. 

Progressive Muscle Relaxation Script

So how exactly do you complete a PMR exercise? 

You’ll want to find a quiet place where you can be alone for 5-15 minutes, uninterrupted by phones or other distractions.

 You can dim the lights or light a candle if you prefer. 

Sit back in a chair or lay on a couch or a bed during the exercise.

You may also want to put on soft music or play white noise to increase your sensory focus.

When you’re ready to begin your PMR session, focus on breathing in through the nose for 3 seconds and out through the mouth for 3 seconds. Repeat this two more times.

Try your best to relax your mind and think about little to nothing.

If you find your mind wandering, gently guide yourself back and focus your mind and body in the present moment.

With this exercise, you will gradually tense and relax each muscle group in the body. Usually, it’s best to start from your head down to your feet.

 Tense the muscles in each muscle group for 10 seconds.

It’s important that you really concentrate on feeling the tension in those muscles until you are ideally shaking from exerting so much effort. 

 Relax those same muscles completely for another 10 seconds before moving on to another group of tensed-and-relaxed muscles.

1) To begin, take three deep abdominal breaths , then exhale for 5 seconds. As you exhale, imagine that tension throughout your body beginning to fade away. Repeat this two more times.

2) Hold your arm out and clench your left fist. Hold for 10 seconds, and then release for 10 seconds. Repeat with the right fist. 

3) Shrug your shoulders up towards your ears, tightening the muscles. Hold for 10 seconds and then relax for ten seconds. 

4) Squeeze your eyes shut as tightly as you can, feeling the tension in the muscles around the eyes. Hold for 10 seconds and then relax for ten seconds.

5) Pull your head back and look up slightly, feeling the tension in the back of your neck. Hold for 10 seconds and then relax for ten seconds.

6) Allow your head to fall to the left, and feel the tension on the left side of your neck. Hold for 10 seconds, and then release for 10 seconds. Repeat this on the right side of your neck.

7) Arch your back, sticking out your chest, and feel the tension in your upper back. Hold for 10 seconds, and then release for 10 seconds.

8) Lean forward and tighten the muscles in your stomach, squeezing the stomach as hard as you can. Hold for 10 seconds, and then release for 10 seconds.

 9) Stretch both of your legs, straight out in front of you, stretching your feet and pointing your toes up toward your head. Hold for 10 seconds, and then release for 10 seconds.

Now, turn your neck left to right 3 times, hold out your arms and wiggle your fingers, raise your chest and pull it forward, hold out your legs and wiggle your toes. 

Repeat this exercise 2 more times if you still feel tense until every part of your body has been relaxed, starting with your arms (number 2) and ending with your legs (number 9).

If you’re doing it right and inviting enough tension, you should be slightly out of breath upon completion.

SOME TIPS

 With practice, you’ll begin to understand your muscles, their reactions to tension, and how you can relax them. It is important to practice consistently if you wish to train your body to respond differently to stress. 

Don’t do it too fast or hard. In order for this technique to be effective, you have to go slowly and deliberately through each step. So, take your time! 

If a part of your body feels uncomfortable, skip over it without feeling bad about yourself. Just focus on relaxing elsewhere instead until the discomfort passes. 

You may feel lightheaded or dizzy during some exercises. For example, if doing deep breathing makes you feel lightheaded or dizzy—which can happen because deep breathing floods oxygen into areas where there isn’t enough available blood flow right away—then just relax somewhere else until those sensations pass.

Progressive muscle relaxation is not a replacement for medication. If you are experiencing a medical condition, or if you are pregnant or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, please consult your doctor before trying this technique.

When you’re having a stressful day, the last thing you may feel like doing is taking time to relax. But that’s when it’s most important for you to do it. 

Give yourself gratitude for taking charge of your mind and body during stressful times. Recite a few positive affirmations and get to sleep or resume your day feeling lighter and more relaxed.

4 PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE VIDEOS

There are many different variations of this exercise in terms of where to start on your body and how long to do the exercise, but ultimately the same goal. Here are 4 Progressive Muscle Videos I Send My Clients Regularly. These are great if you prefer to close your eyes and let a soothing voice guide you. They are what I consider to be the best out of countless PMR videos, but feel free to find and save the videos that resonate the most with you.

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training- Mark Connelly : 14:55 minutes

2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation- Relax For A While : 15:52 minutes

3. Reduce Stress through Progressive Muscle Relaxation-Johns Hopkins Rheumatology: 5:53 minutes

4. Reduce Anxiety & Improve Sleep With Progressive Muscle Relaxation– Bob & Brad: 12:45 minutes

THE TAKEAWAY

Progressive muscle relaxation helps you release tension in your body and mind, so if stress is getting in the way of your work or personal life–it might be just what you need!

Whether you have 5 minutes, 15, or 20, take the time to complete this exercise and feel the tension melt away from your body.

PMR is a great way to unwind, relieve anxiety, and promote good sleep. It is easy to learn and easy to do at home. Once you get the hang of it, you can incorporate PMR into your daily routine so that you’re prepared for anything that comes your way! 

What’s your absolute favorite relaxation exercise when you’re feeling stressed? Let me know in the comments section below!

Would you believe that around 7% of Americans suffer from social anxiety?

What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?

Social anxiety disorder, often known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by intense worry in social situations. People who suffer from this illness have difficulty conversing in any social interaction.  The excessively worry about being  judged or embarrassed by others.

This condition can be quite isolating because everyone else around you may appear calm, but it’s reassuring to know that you’re not alone. Even though social anxiety is common, many people still struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy in their routine.

Could you use some help managing social anxiety to restore the quality of your life? Read on so you can gather four powerful tips on how to manage social anxiety.

1. Prepare for Social Interactions in a Productive Way

What is social anxiety spiraling? It’s when people allow themselves to imagine the worst-case scenarios always coming true instead of envisioning events closer to reality. They engage in negative automatic thinking patterns that maintain social anxiety time and time again.

It’s important to try to train your brain to view social interactions more productively. Identify your fears and come up with solutions that can help you feel safe. If awkward silences send shivers down your spine, make a mental list of several topics that you find interesting.

You can also take the pressure off yourself by turning your attention toward others. Be prepared to ask them questions so the conversation is focused on them. Now, take a breath and find your sense of calm while you listen to them.

2. Be Mindful of Your Breathing

One of the top signs of a social anxiety disorder is having an increased heart rate and rapid breathing in public settings. Over time, this can also lead to trembling, blushing, and nausea.

As challenging as it may be in the moment, turn your attention to your breathing and try to slow your body down. When your body is in a calmer state, it’ll be easier to get a grasp on your mental health.

Certain techniques can help you slow and control your breathing. Try these steps:

1. Wherever you are, focus on relaxing major parts of your body.
2. Relax your face muscles, your shoulders, wiggle your fingers to make sure they’re not clenched, and sit or stand upright to improve confidence.
3. Breathe in slowly through your nose for 6 seconds. Make sure you’re allowing the breath to move from the chest to the belly, taking in a big sip of air.
4. Hold your breath in for 5 seconds and then slowly let it out through your mouth for 4 seconds.
5. Really focus on setting the mental intention to relax committee to a sense of calm throughout.
6. Repeat this several times until you feel relaxed.

Remind yourself that nobody else will see your distress unless they’re looking for those signs. On that subject, here’s a fact coming from a therapist that can be reassuring to know, most people are focused on themselves and not you anyway!

3. Try Chewing Some Gum or Wearing a Soothing Scent

A lesser-known tip for coping with social anxiety is to keep your mouth busy with some gum. Not only will this activity allow you to get some nervous energy out, but you can also trick your body into a rest and digest state. This is the opposite of fight or flight.

Smells can also have a positive impact on our mood. You can carry around a small container of lavender essential oil to apply to your wrist and inhale whenever you want to soothe yourself.

4. Consider Getting Professional Help for Managing Social Anxiety

A sad truth is that many people with anxiety find it hard to get help since they have to socialize to work through their problems. Although setting up your first appointment with a therapist can seem daunting, you’ll feel much better once you can vent and gain valuable insights from a professional.

CBT is a common treatment. A person will learn to identify negative thoughts or beliefs that stop them from interacting socially. CBT can help a person recognize that their thoughts and behaviors can be modified so that they feel more comfortable entering into a social interaction.

If sitting down with a stranger is too scary right now, you can explore online mental health services that allow you to type instead of talk.

Do I Have Social Anxiety?

Now You Know How to Cope. Managing social anxiety can seem impossible if you’ve been battling your mental health for years. By following these tips, you should be able to take control of your well-being again.

Money, relationships, and work are just a few of the endless things that can cause stress. If you’d like to learn other ways you can improve your mental health, bookmark this blog or contact us.

When you’re human, you deal with some level of stress. Stress management techniques are often not taught in our everyday lives. They weren’t added to a school curriculum growing up or implemented into the work day. Stress can come from various situations in your life. 

Your job may cause you stress, you may have relationship issues, or deal with family problems such as health issues or an unhealthy relationship with your family.

Whatever the case, finding a way to give yourself stress relief fast is so important. Using skills help you feel empowered and in control. 

Stress can be tolerated and beat with these instant stress relief mind hacks, because finding stress relief doesn’t have to take years of soul searching.

What Happens Mentally and Physically During Stress?

There are many emotional, physical, and behavioral aspects to an acute state of stress. If not controlled in a timely manner, symptoms can occur such as:

• Chest palpitations
• Chronic irritability due to feeling out of control
• Difficulty breathing
• Indecisiveness
• Shakiness and sweating
• Inability to concentrate when needed
• Physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue, and sleep problems 

These are some of the typical symptoms that people face when they are experiencing acute stress. 

Mind Hacks to Fight Stress

The best way to fight ongoing symptoms of stress that affect your mind and body are to learn useful mental health hacks. We are often told to exercise to reduce stress. While exercise is vital to your overall health and wellness, paying attention to your mind, and how it is the root cause of your stress, is so often overlooked. 

Basically, you can train your mind into thinking everything is going to okay and bring its attention to something else. 

Whether it is distraction behaviors, or relaxation exercises, you can yield the power of mental jujitsu!

This is how I term gradually mastering how to control your stress through the use of strategic skills or mind hacks. 

In this fast paced world, it’s important to know how to beat stress so it doesn’t beat you. 

After all, we are the one’s in charge of our mindset, and it can be hacked easier than you realize. This is the basic principle behind the mind hacks used to counter acute stress effects. 

What Are 5 Ways To Fight Stress?

1. Intentional Journaling 

Think of the times your worry thoughts were running through your mind, causing you to spiral and feel out of control. You couldn’t find a better way to process them and they felt like they beat you, and they continue to beat you. Writing is a powerful tool for processing our inner thoughts and feelings regarding a stressful situation. When we don’t know how to process a situation that happens all of a sudden, our main goal should be finding a way that helps you name and interpret how you feel.

Instead of bottling up your emotions and thoughts, it is best to let them flow in a safe way. Journaling is, therefore, an important tool for this.

Not only can you process your emotions and let them flow as they come, but you also develop an improved sense of awareness about yourself. When you learn what your triggers are, you can begin to see certain patterns the make you tick surfacing through your writing.

Keep a journal as a safe space to air your stressful thoughts. It can be a place where you don’t have to worry about how you sound, how your thoughts may affect others, and allow yourself to simply be who you are.  

2. Guided Imagery 

Do you ever feel stressed and start to fantasize about being somewhere else? Especially, escaping somewhere peaceful such as a beach or for a hike through a rain forest?

Guided Imagery is a powerful meditation that helps your mind to declutter itself from racing thoughts caused by stress through the use of a peaceful image. You can either concur up an image of a beach, for example, or guide yourself into relaxation through guided imagery meditations people have thoughtfully put their time and effort into already. 

I love to go to YouTube and type in guided imagery. Choose a video based on how much time you have and what image looks the most inviting. It’s the most easy and efficient way to access tons of videos created for your pleasure.

You will see that as you do it, your brain shifts its focus from the acute stressful condition towards drawing that image in your brain.

This is a powerful method to move your attention away from troubling thoughts in times of stress and transport you to another place.

For best results, it is important you keep trying this meditation often. This way, it is engrained in your mind and easily accessible through memory. I watched a guided meditation before getting an MRI and it helped me escape to the beach in my mind and forget where I was so I could remain more still and calm.

3. Socialization 

When you are going through periods of acute stress, there is one thing that can aggravate your situation the most: Staying isolated. It is true because, as humans, we often bring a lot of focus on ourselves. In times of stress and isolation, we tend to magnify our problems and get into a vicious cycle of overthinking, which is difficult to break. It is best to divert our attention in these times. Socializing with other people helps to shift our focus from ourselves to others. 

There are two aspects of socialization: You get the emotional support you need by sharing and seeking help. If that is not the case, at least you take the spotlight off of yourself and bring it to other people. Instead of becoming centered on yourself, you play a positive role in thinking about other people’s problems. 

4. Taking Self Care Breaks

Your mental health matters in times of acute stress, and when you take care of yourself during these times, you are doing yourself and others a favor. Furthermore, when you implement self-care practices into your life on a routine basis, you have a better chance at maintaining a lower stress level, as opposed to using self-care practices only in times of stress.

Self-care practices are physical, emotional, and mental activities aimed at focusing on you. Some self-care practices include Exercising, eating a balanced diet, taking care of your physical appearance, saying no, journaling, being kind to yourself and others, meditation, engaging in a satisfying hobby, learning a new skill, socializing, etc. 

 Be ready to take pauses – don’t get too indulged in situations when you find yourself not having the emotional capacity to tackle them. By taking self-care breaks, you are protecting yourself from burnout and maintaining a calmer sense of self on a daily basis. 

5. Finding Humor

Whenever a stressful condition occurs, you don’t have to become stuck in a negative headspace. Overthinking and negative emotions can easily prevail in tough times, which will make you think worse of every situation.

To save yourself from this negative cycle, it is best to think of something productive or funny. Finding humor during tough times helps you to gain some resilience and insight into the situation. It also helps your mind to think differently from the perspectives that don’t go in your favor. 

For example, if you are late from a business meeting and you find yourself getting stressed, instead of thinking about the worst possible thing that could happen, allow your mind to focus on things that give you an instant giggle. You could think of something hilarious your kids or animal did. You could think about a funny show you watched, or a joke someone told you. 

The Takeaway

Dealing with acute stress doesn’t have to be difficult at all. Beat stress for good by using these mind hacks whenever stress arises for you. 

After all, you are the only person who is in control of what you do next after stress occurs. 

You can feel powerless to it time and time again, or you can recognize stress as a symptom of being human and take control with these mental health hacks. The choice is yours!

Are you having trouble deciding what holiday gifts to buy people this year? It is not surprising. First of all, you may have lost touch with people due to keeping your distance because of COVID-19. Second, many people aren’t doing the same things they used to due to staying home, which makes gift-giving more challenging. 

One thing is for sure, it’s hard to imagine everyone on your holiday list couldn’t use more support with reducing their stress level. 

That’s why I made your life easier by selecting this gift guide to help your loved ones stress less. Show them your thinking of them. Ditch the cheeseboard you have in your shopping cart and give them the gift of less stress. 

Give them something they didn’t realize they needed. Make their life a little easier during these challenging times. Give the gift of less stress this holiday season because we all need it now more than ever.

Holiday Gifts For Stress Relief 

1. The Weighted Blanket:

Weighted blankets can be beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep quality, and much more. Weighted blankets provide gentle pressure to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. Instead, the blanket helps your body release calming hormones such as oxytocin, melatonin, and serotonin. 

When combined, these chemicals relax the body and reduce stress. The gentle pressure of the weighted blanket provides a sense of security, slows your heart rate, and can even lower your blood pressure. All this from a blanket! People are raving about weighted blankets as they’re quickly becoming a staple item to sleep better and reduce stress.

The All Season Weighted Blanket. Including a bamboo cooling side for sweaty sleepers

Customer Review: “It is very comforting and helps me sleep better. It does make getting up harder.”

Custom Cotton Mosaic Weighted Blanket to Match Their Style with 12 different patterns

Customer Review: “It is very comforting and helps me sleep better. It does make getting up harder.”

2. Humorous Epsom Bath Salt, Christmas Gift, Bitch Relax

A little humor goes a long way when stress is high. Bath salts can help relax muscles and soothe achy joints. After a long day of pushing the body to its limit, bath salts can feel very rewarding. Taking a bath to relax is underrated. Throw your favorite feel-good movie on your computer or phone, play some soothing songs, or just enjoy the peace and quiet.

Gift yourself some bath salts or your loved ones to melt your stress away. These particular bath salts have the added benefit of being funny. In other words, bitch relax (love it!).

3. Bedphones Sleep Headphones

Headphones so comfortable you can wear them to bed. These headphones are ultra-small and covered in soft foam, Bedphones’ patented on-ear design lies flat on your pillow. Fall asleep comfortably to your favorite soothing music, podcast, or block out the snoring of your loud partner with a relaxing white noise app. 

Customers Review:

“I have searched for and tried many different wireless earbuds and nothing was comfortable, as I am a side sleeper. I am so thrilled to have Bedphones now and am sleeping soundly and comfortably through the night. The sound is great and I cant tell that I have anything on due to the comfort. I pair these with the calm app and sleep like a baby. These are so worth the money and I highly recommend!”

“Since receiving my bed phones and loading the perfect sleep music to my phone I’ve enjoyed the BEST sleep. My husband snores, and while the bed phones do not completely drown the noise out, it seems to just blend into the music. I am no longer being abruptly jerked out of sleep due to the noise coming from the other side of our bed. Thank you, Moonbow, for a product that has made it possible for me to have a good night’s sleep and which may have saved my husband’s life!”

Poor Reviews: 

“After about a year the battery life deteriorated. Works only about 7 hours – not a full night’s sleep.”

“I am concerned they may come off too easily”

4. Linen and Pillow Spray

These have been my favorite go-to for years to help me power down and sleep like a baby. Once you spray your pillow with soothing scents it triggers your mind and body to relax. 

Marpac Yogasleep | Premium Aromatherapy Linen and Pillow Spray Natural Essential Oil Blend for Sleep and Relaxation

Pillow Potion- Lavender Mist

Spritz on pillows & bed linens for a deep feeling of relaxation & a comforting, peaceful night’s sleep. This spray included essential oils which help naturally help you fall asleep.

Customer Review: WOW! My bedroom is a spa. To say this smells phenomenal is an understatement. The scent isn’t to heavy or intense and it doesn’t leave any residue on my sheets and silk pillowcase. It lasts a long time and really makes my whole bedroom smell so nice.

Pillow Spray/mist, Sleepy Head 100% Natural with Lavender, Frankincense and Chamomile 

Calming lavender has been blended with soothing chamomile and frankincense- a powerful combination to de-stress and unwind.

Customer Review: Could not be happier. Smells amazing and just about to order another one – the bigger size! I have fallen in love. Thank you so much! Super fast delivery too, packaged beautifully. Very very happy.

5. Give Em’ All the Self-Care They Need with a Self-care Gift Box

These gift boxes included essential self-care and pampering items sure to relax even the biggest worrier. Show them they are loved with items such as body oil, candles, french green clay face mask, bath salts, lip products, sweet treats, bath bombs, hair masks, hand & feet masks, jewelry, fragrances, serums, facial wipes, sprays, essential oils, body scrubs, and more.

Natural Spa Box Self Care Kit Gift 

Customer Review: “Beautiful gift set bought for a friend’s birthday since we couldn’t see her during quarantine. She loved every product and appreciated the at home spa day.”

Self Care Christmas Mystery Box 

Customer Review: “Purchased 2 Regular-sized Christmas Mystery boxes. And I definitely enjoyed opening them. Enjoyed the variety and can’t wait to gift them for Christmas to loved ones. I’m sure they’ll love it!”

Mental Health Self Care Package for Her – Self Care Box For Women Stress Relief Gift 

Customer Review: “I purchased the mental health self-care box for our daycare provider and couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out! The turn around time was excellent, the box is super cute and the items are quality. I will definitely be ordering again!”

6. Sound Machine

Holiday gifts are extra special when they improve someones life. Give the gift of sound for a night of better sleep and relaxation. White noise promotes relaxation before sleep by providing a constant, soothing sound. Stop your thoughts from circling in your head and allow your mind and body to relax.

Sound machines are also helpful for those who have a snoring partner or a noisy neighborhood. Help your loved one hit the pillow with confidence knowing their sound machine will gently drift them off to sleep with no distractions.

DUET WHITE NOISE MACHINE WITH NIGHT LIGHT AND WIRELESS SPEAKER

Featuring 30 sound options including white noise, pink noise, brown noise, fan sounds, nature sounds, and 8 lullaby tracks. Stream your favorite sleep soundtrack, podcast, or music from your smartphone directly to the Duet speaker wirelessly.

Dohm Classic Sound Machine

Customer Review: A peaceful sleep at last Review by Sherri R. on 18 Jul 2020review stating A peaceful sleep at last. This is the 2nd Dohm I have purchased. My boyfriend fell in love with mine, so I bought him one for his birthday. So much better than those other sleep noise machines. Really blocks out noise…”

GO™ TRAVEL SOUND MACHINE The Yogasleep GO provides great sleep anywhere with features designed for travelers. 

Customer Review: “The size of this machine is perfect for traveling. There are a number of sound selections to choose from but we prefer the standard sound. Its got a great volume and holds a good charge, even worked for a weekend camping trip”

7. Himalayan Salt Rock Lamp

A Himalayan salt rock lamp acts as natural sources of light and provides a relaxing amber glow. They provide some incredible benefits, such as helping allergies, breathing, reduce stress, and can help you sleep.

It’s the perfect gift for anyone who needs more tranquility and good vibes in their life!

Holiday Gifts To Reduce Stress

Holiday gifts that help reduce stress will let your loved ones know you understand their challenges. They will feel taken care of, appreciated, and loved. Don’t just give a gift to, well, give a gift. Give holiday gifts that are a game-changer for those you love. Give a gift that keeps on giving this holiday season!

Gift recap:

More Holiday Posts:

• The Holiday Gift Giving Guide To Help You Stress Less
• How To Enjoy The Holidays Without Alcohol
• Food and Holiday Stress

Disclaimer: This article contains a few affiliate links that I receive a small commission for at no cost to you. These are sometimes I fully recommend when it comes to celebrating self-love. Please read my disclosure for more information. Thank you for your support.

Does it feel impossible to start loving yourself? Practicing self-love isn’t easy. Past experiences have led to present beliefs that you don’t deserve to love yourself. You may not have the slightest idea where to start. To start loving yourself may feel like an impossible dream for you.

You remind yourself of all the things that have gone wrong in your life. That job you wanted that you didn’t get, that relationship the didn’t work out, the extra weight you’re carrying that you just can’t seem to lose.

You may start loving yourself but then you quickly take it away with some self-deprecating belief because you didn’t meet your expectations.

Why Is It So Important To Love Yourself?

Did you know that we have over 70,000 thoughts a day? Chances are, some of those thoughts will be negative. 

Does that mean these thoughts need unrelenting scrutiny? Nope. 

If you tend to behave in this manner, you don’t love yourself the way you should.

So, when you learn to love yourself, you breathe easier and let go of unwanted tension in your body and mind. You give yourself the opportunity to let the good things shine through, however big or small.

How To Start Loving Yourself

If you tell yourself it isn’t possible and you’re not wired that way, this infringes on your god-given right to be happy. Learning to love yourself is possible if you’re willing to keep an open mind and trust this is a journey.

Loving yourself doesn’t sound like a big ask, does it?

If it does, then be patient and allow yourself time to cultivate a beautiful relationship with You.

Start loving yourself by focusing on one item on this list each day. Then, start back at one, rinse and repeat.

1. Don’t Be Afraid To Put In The Work

Do you know how they say a relationship is work? Well, it’s a mistake to only work on improving your relationship with others before you work on yourself.

If at the end of the day you cannot rest your head down on your pillow and be happy with who you are, then you deserve to fix this.

Commit To Thinking More Positively

The more time you spend challenging thoughts that cause you pain and replacing them with messages of hope, the more relief you feel. Most importantly, choosing not to settle on negative thoughts creates a sense of control. Challenging your feelings, especially when you do not have evidence to support them, is when the real work comes into play.

To free yourself from negative thinking you need to challenging your thought process, again and again, and again.

If you find yourself automatically thinking about the worst case scenario for a potential outcome, simply notice this and correct it.

The most important thing is to stand up to your own mental bullying and fight back.

Let’s take a look at this in action:

How To Challenge Negative Thoughts

For instance, let’s say it drains you to be in social situations, but you crave this.

Thoughts often pop into your head such as “No-one cares about seeing me anyway,” “I’m not interesting enough to have friends, they will get bored of me.” or “I’m better off being alone.”

There are a lot of changes to be made, many challenges ahead. There will be moments in which your body and mind feel fatigued from being more strategic about the quality of your thinking. But, the moment you go against allowing your automatic negative thoughts to take over and suffocate your happiness, you will feel empowered.

Decide there’s got to be another way by committing to start loving yourself by putting in the mental work.

This will feel like mental jujitsu, but you’ll never feel more at peace than when your mindset defaults to positivity autopilot

2. Don’t Only Look For Love In Others

“The surest way to lose your self-worth is by trying to find it through the eyes of others.” – Becca Lee

If you only look for love in other people, when they express doubt you will feel unsafe and unstable. This will make you question what you know about yourself. This is why you must learn to accept who you are and reject the opinions of others who have caused you pain. 

Don’t let others shake your sense of self.

Having people to love and being loved in return is a beautiful thing. However, if you do not love yourself first, you will be incapable of feeling the love others have for you on a deeper and a more meaningful level. 

3. Stay True To Your Passion

Whatever it is in life that gets you excited, however big or small, don’t let it go. Try not to pay attention to what others think or if others find it interesting too. All that matters is how your passion makes you feel. 

Lose yourself in what you love. Allow all the noise to fade into the background and focus on that thing that makes everything go silent.

Join groups, read books, listen to podcasts about your passion. Whatever it takes to feel like you’re immersing yourself in something that ignites a fire in you. 

Whether it be playing an instrument, drawing, crafting, or running, pursue your passion. Whatever your passion is, never stop doing the thing that you can’t wait to get back to.

4. Take A Break From People Who Cause You Pain

If you find that certain people in your life often chip away at your self-esteem, it may be time to take a break. 

When you’re feeling vulnerable, it’s easy for others to make you feel inadequate. These may be people in your life that you don’t want to let go, such as family members. You can work on yourself and let them back in when you feel a little stronger. You don’t  have to let them go entirely, but set proper boundaries.

Moreover, it wouldn’t be fair to them if you didn’t have an honest discussion about how certain things they say or do affect you. This will give them a chance to improve how they communicate with you, if they are willing and able. 

Whether you tell them you’re taking a break from them or not, give yourself time to work on yourself. With less negative energy around you, you can see the world through a different lens. When you’re feeling better about yourself things that people say or do tend to have less of a negative.

5. Have a Self-love YOU day Once A Week 

This is a day where you commit to only do things that you want to do.

If someone asks you to do something, anything, you allow yourself to say No. 

Prepare a list of things you want to do on your “You” day ahead of time. 

You don’t want the day to feel like a chore. So, commit to 1-3 items on the list you’d like to do that nourish your body, mind, and soul. 

If you can’t have a You day, because you have kids or some other circumstance, dedicate a You hour to yourself. This can be at the end of the day when your winding down and seeking relaxation.

Some “You Day” ideas:

Exercising 

Watching a funny movie 

Take a relaxing bath

Reading a book

Meditating

Going for a nature walk

Giving yourself and manicure/pedicure

Writing in a journal to catch up with yourself. Speaking of writing in a journal…

6. Start Loving Yourself By Journaling

Journaling can be a very cathartic experience. This is a special time that you set to allow the free flow of your thoughts to soar across the page, phone, or computer. Journaling is good for your mental health. It helps you process feelings and situations, vent, and problem-solve.

In a study published in Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, researchers found that writing three to five times, for 15 minutes each session, was enough to help people deal with emotional and traumatic events. 

Set a timer for 15 minutes and begin writing. If you’re new to journaling it may feel odd or even self-indulgent at first. But, stick with it and you’ ’ll find that what you write will begin to feel more self-explorative. 

We have so many thoughts trapped in our brain and journaling releases some of those thoughts. It helps you take a closer look at them. Doing this will allow you to let go of thoughts that were causing you pain or tension.

7. Stay True to Yourself

Staying true to yourself means you remain who you are within your experiences.

Staying true to yourself means that if others are behaving in a certain manner, you don’t allow yourself to act the same.

When others get into the mix, there may be a habit of submitting to the moment. 

What I mean by this is, your friend is bitching about their boyfriend so you do the same about your partner. Then, you end up feeling bad and hadn’t intended to trash-talk him.

You can be there for someone without having to feel the way they feel!

For example, you’re going to lunch with your friend who is always in an anxious state. Allow that to be their emotion and just listen and try to understand her pain. 

Don’t take it in or try it on for size because it serves you no purpose.

Stay true to how you want to feel if you’re working hard to be happy. Hold on to the moments when you’re feeling hopeful and positive. Don’t allow people to tear them away from you. They may not be doing this intentionally.

However, you’re entitled to not have to walk in others shoes to understand what they’re going through.

It’s up to you and you alone to remain in a positive headspace.

8. Practice Using Positive Affirmations To Love Yourself

Use statements you can repeat to stay in a positive headspace every day. The morning is best for positive affirmations. You will start your day prioritizing being kind to yourself, which is one way to love yourself. Start each day by telling yourself something positive.

Positive Affirmations:

“I am happy and calm and I will not allow anything to take this way from me”

“ I worked very hard today and I’m proud of myself.”

“Self-care is important to me and I deserve to stay in a positive headspace.”

“I choose to see people who love me a gift and I will love myself the same way.”

9. Ask Yourself One Question, “Whose Going To Love you Better Than You?

My mom always told me my Uncle said “Whose going to love you better than you? He said this in response to my mother cringing at the amount of money he spent on himself. 

I’m not saying you have to spend money you don’t have. Instead, treat yourself with relaxation (this doesn’t have to cost a dime), your favorite treat, or something nice within your budget. This will help you radiate confidence because these actions help you take pride in yourself.

If you walk around in a stretched out, wrinkly shirt, it will convey a sense that you’ve likely given up on yourself and other people’s perception of you. 

Aside from material things, we only have ourselves at the end of the day. So, if you are your punching bag or treat yourself like a receptacle, trash-talking yourself constantly, you’re going to feel like garbage. 

Be patient with yourself. Take a slow, relaxing breath when you become frustrated. Learn from your mistakes and try not to allow yourself to repeat these mistakes. Treat yourself with respect and try not to judge yourself so often. Do not label yourself negatively.

These are some of the ways you can love yourself.

10. Meet Yourself Where You Are

If you’re having a rough day, it’s ok. Saying to yourself “Why do I have to feel this way?” Or “Something bad always happens to me.” perpetuates the pain. It sends yourself a message that you’re unlucky or unable to be happy due to life circumstances. 

Take the power back by recognizing that every day and all moments cannot be good and thats okay. All things cannot be perfect each moment of your life. 

Accept your imperfections and wear them like a badge of honor. These imperfections make you uniquely you as much as your strengths do. 

If you tell yourself you’re having a bad day, well, you’ll likely have a bad day.

But, if you challenge this, by choosing to view your emotion as momentary and fleeting, you will allow the next moment to be a fresh start.

Doing so sends allows yourself to move on, adapt, and let each moment have its own emotional response, and then LET IT GO!

11. Treat Yourself As You Would A Friend To Start Loving Yourself

When I’m meeting with a client who is judgng themselves and discussing their failures since we last met, I remind them of one question to ask themselves. “Would you treat a friend the same way you treat yourself? 

That question always resonates with people because it’s eye-opening. 

If you called a friend lazy, had no patience for them, and judged them for their mistakes, do you think they’d still be your friend? Not likely. 

So, why would you do these things to yourself?!

Stop and notice the moments in your day when you’re being impatient and unkind to yourself. Remind yourself of how you would relate to a friend if you wanted to cheer them up. 

You deserve to give yourself the same positive attention and affection you give to others.

12. Do Not Compare Yourself To Others

Are you someone who tells yourself beliefs such as, “If others succeed, it means I’ve failed” or “If other people like that person, they don’t like me as much” 

When you’re in a constant state of competition with coworkers, friends, or family members, you’re always on edge.

This creates a feeling of defeat. Don’t put yourself down because others are doing well.

Choose to view their success as a motivator. Strive for what will make you feel successful and happy.

This could be within your job or within relationships. Though, I recommend ensuring you don’t put all your self-worth into your job because it won’t always be there).

13. Talk to a Therapist      

If you find that learning to love yourself feels like an impossible feat, it’s okay to ask for help. 

A trained professional can offer you skills to put into practice to work on loving yourself. If loving yourself has been a challenge for many years, you may need a little extra help and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

There are many different types of therapy, so I suggest researching them.

Check out my article about CBT for millennials to learn more about short term therapy. Therapy can provide you with lifelong skills necessary to make every day better.

14. Let Go Of The Past

You may have made mistakes. Maybe you’ve done things you’re not proud of. What matters now is that you see things clearly and you’re willing to interact with the world more healthily. 

Let each new day be an opportunity to write over the past and create a new story that will make you proud. It’s uncomfortable and shame may still rear its ugly head. 

However, be patient and trust that you will forgive yourself. If others aren’t ready to forgive you, give them space. It is their right to protect themselves and hopefully, they will come around. Especially if they see you’re working toward self-improvement. If they’re really important to you, show them you’ve changed by proving it with your actions. 

Don’t settle for obsessing over your mistakes. Take a moment to reflect on these mistakes and remind yourself who you strive to be. Write it on a giant poster board if you have to so you don’t forget your intention. Allow yourself to let things go and make the next moment a pleasant and healing moment.

15. Hold On Tight To The Good Times

You’ll have good and bad days. However, if you’re struggling to love yourself, you’ll have more bad days than good. 

Take the moments where you feel happy, accomplished, loved, helpful, excited, productive, etc., and write down your thoughts while you’re riding this high. 

Don’t wait until tomorrow because you may not feel the same way. Capture these moments because you can look back later and gain insight into how your mind works in these moments. Use this to your advantage. 

As a result, you will find you are more patient, social, flexible, more forgiving when you’re feeling your best. 

Use this knowledge to learn more about how you interact with the world when you’re feeling good. Push yourself to embody these qualities to the best of your capability in the present moment.

16. Tune Into Your Thought Process

As always, it’s crucial to pay close attention to your thoughts. Specifically, the negative thoughts that are causing you pain. Be sure to read my article on how to challenge negative thoughts and how to use them responsibly.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, one of the most common and effective types of therapy, focuses on teaching someone how their thoughts affect their emotions and how this ultimately affects their actions.

A person’s inner dialogue dictates every move they will make after they have a thought. If that thought is negative, their next move is often unhelpful.

Building cognitive awareness and understanding how your thoughts affect your mental health is a life-changing practice. Though it isn’t easy, it essential to loving yourself.

If you find your thoughts are judgmental, unkind, or discouraging, work on challenging your inner thoughts. It is the most important skill you will ever learn in your life.

Naturally, this will require work and mental strain. You will likely fall back into negative thinking. But, expect this will happen because habits are challenging to break. If you expect this, then you can prepare yourself to keep charging through, despite setbacks.

Be sure to read more about CBT to learn if it’s right for you.

Read my article on CBT For Millennials here.

Learning to love yourself is a process. So be patient and kind to yourself. Self-love should be practiced, like anything else that matters in life. 

Consider it a journey you’re embarking on. There will be pumps, and you will stop and go again with your practice. But, don’t give up because “Whose going to love you better than you?”

Self-love is the most valuable gift you can give yourself to reach your full potential, find happiness, and stress less! 

Check Out These Inspiring Products To Enhance Your Journey Toward Self-love (I’ve starred items that are must-have’s!)

Live Love Be Yourself Personalized Recipe Book

**Love Yourself Face Mask

**The Self Love Handbook E-book

Loving Yourself Art/ Quotable People

Oscar Wilde Quote Print Art

Love Yourself First Lucille Ball Magnet

Charles Bukowski Quote Wall Art

**You Matter Poster

**Self-Love Journal: Change Your Mindset in 90 Days 

Love Yourself : Mindfulness and inspiring words Coloring Book

**2021-2022 Love Yourself 2-Year Small Monthly Planner (Big Seller)

Fall In Love With Yourself Bookmark

Wear It Proudly

Be Yourself; Everyone Else is Taken Quote Ring

Love Yourself Wrap Ring

Love Yourself Empowerment Shirt

Be yourself, Love yourself, Trust yourself T-Shirt

**You Are Enough Necklace

Chronic stress can make a person do things that do not make them proud. From self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, overeating, relationship issues, or poor sleep, stress can rule your entire world. This is why challenging stress is so important for your overall wellbeing.

Reducing chronic stress can provide a sense of calm and mental clarity, good health, and overall happiness.

So, how can chronic stress be confronted and decreased?

1. Focus On Relaxation Every Day 

Unlike doing a load of laundry or food prepping for the week, challenging stress should occur every day. 

Stress reduction as a lifestyle is the name of the game, and trust me, you want to win.

Stress causes mental fog and a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that can even lead to depression. I always tell clients the best “baseline skill” to start with is diaphragmatic breathing.

Focus on your breathing, slow it down, and breathe strategically (yup, that’s a thing). It’s only then that you can focus on overcoming issues you currently face.

Your stress is so real that you tell yourself, there’s no way out of how you feel.

In other words, your emotional response takes away your sense of control. We often think, feel, and act and feel this is an automatic way of thinking that cannot be changed. 

Seemingly, there is no other way, but with strategic relaxation exercises, stress relief is well within reach. Challenging stress is a simply matter of having the right tools.

Whether it’s through regularly implementing relaxation exercises into your routine or practicing challenging negative self-talk (hopefully it’s both), you need to focus only on relaxing to move forward and tackle your problems.

2. Rename Stress

Say the word stress out loud or in your head. I bet you feel a little stressed right now! It’s an ugly word, full of discomfort and a lack of control. 

Challenging Stress

3. Accept Your Stress

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), people aged 18-33 years old suffer the highest levels of stress in the nation.

 It sounds strange to allow stress into your life, because by now you’re sick of it and it’s annoying AF.

However, the more you analyze, judge, or become frustrated with your stress, the more stressed you will be. 

Try your best to normalize your stress and understand that this affliction affects so many others. Maybe then, you can learn to give yourself a break. 

It’s kind of like the whole separate but together slogan to increase the feeling of solidarity due to the coronavirus. 

There are many people out there just like you. 

So, don’t try to hide your stress. Unfortunately, it’s likely pretty obvious to others. 

Share your discomfort with those closest to you who you do not feel judged by.

When stress is affecting your social and occupational function, be sure to talk with a therapist.

The more you try to avoid it the more it knocks louder on your front door, demanding your attention. 

Accepting stress as a part of your life is a way of challenging stress. This is because you’re not trying to push it away; which becomes exhausting. Your owning it and therefore giving it less power.

4. Take A Moment to Analyze Your Thoughts 

As people, we often engage in automatic thinking. Meaning, we don’t think about our thinking, we simply think automatically.

 In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article summarizing research on human thoughts per day. According to this study, the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. 

When you think about this, it sounds maddening!

They concluded that 97% of our worries, is not based in fact, but rather they are simply things we worry may happen or have happened. 

Many people subscribe to “overthinking.” In the case of what I’m suggesting, this is a good thing. 

The real work is when you practice being mindful of what kind of thoughts you’re having. Be it angry, anxious, scared, jealous etc. If you can name your negative thoughts then you can put them under a microscope and challenge them.

I always say to my clients, if you can allow your mind to conjure up the worst-case scenario that hasn’t actually happened, doesn’t it make sense to leave room to challenge your thoughts with a positive potential outcome too?

It’s no surprise, the more time you spend worrying, the more stress you experience. 

I’m not going to lie to you, it hurts your brain at times to stop and “think about your thinking.” However, the more you put in the work now, you increase the likelihood of changing your negative automatic thinking into positive thinking.

If you can’t do this entirely (which is nearly impossible), you will have at least decreased the amount of time you spend thinking negatively, feeling lousy, and behaving in ways in which you’re not proud of as a result.

This leaves more room for concentration, focus, and a sense of control. All of these elements are crucial for mental health stability.

Consider these affirmations to silence automatic stressful thoughts when you notice them:

“I will not think about the worst thing that could happen. Instead, I’ll allow myself to focus on the best thing that could happen.”

If you’re naturally prone to spending most of your time in your head, shouldn’t you work on making it a more peaceful place to spend your time? 

5. Consider What’s Missing In Your Life

Stress could be an indication that something needs to be changed in your life.

Maybe you’re missing a partner to share life with, missing out on your career potential because you’re stuck in a dead-end job, or missing having a passion for someone or something that you can call your own, creating a sense of pride. 

Stress can be a sign that you are not meeting an important emotional or physical need.

But, emotional needs can be harder to take hold of than physical needs. It can be more challenging to realize we lack the feeling of connected to someone than food, for instance.

So what might stress be causing for you?

What do you need more of in your life?

What’s missing that is causing a feeling of incompletion and causing an ever-present “… “ feeling for you?

Take some time to sit and consider things that make people feel whole. Consistent food, clothing, shelter, financial security, love, a sense of community, a hobby, a skill, a mindset you’re looking for?

Go on a journey of self-discovery and find what’s missing. Grab a piece of paper and see what thoughts you write on the page.

Make life more exciting by searching for what must be found to make you feel whole. 

Takeaway

The more we choose to label our stress as challenges, we can step over a puddle, rather than feeling we’re swimming an entire ocean. 

What do you do to challenge stress and find inner peace? I’d love to hear your strategies for challenging stress in the comments below.

Have you ever heard the expression idle hands are the devil’s playground? 

A report from Forbes.com found that sources of millennial anxiety may include a difficult job market, student debt, and psychological issues such as ambition addiction, career crisis, and too many choices.

With all of these stresses, it is often much easier to feel overwhelmed and therefore decide to put off tasks.

The Effects Of A Lack Of Routine

When you put off tasks you are choosing to have no established routine. This is what leads to a general feeling of stress and perpetual chaos. 

Many people resist establishing routines because they don’t want to feel like every day is a mundane. They want more individuality. 

However, having no routine (which ultimately is a lack of structure) is so much more draining mentally, physically, and emotionally.

When there is no set routine to fill your day a person is much more likely to engage in excessive behaviors. These behaviors could include overeating, drinking excessively, a sedentary lifestyle, oversleeping, etc.

Why Is Having A Routine Important?

Consider the lifestyle of the people you know that are successful. You’ll likely find that they engage in an everyday routine. People who establish and maintain routines are almost always physically and mentally healthier and more productive.

When you make plans with a mentally healthy person, they check their calendar because they are organized.  

For disorganized people, the morning can be very difficult. Beginning a new day can feel like a major challenge when there is no structure. 

All of your to-do list items are frantically bouncing around your head, if they haven’t been freed from their cerebral prison. 

How do you free your mind and make room for mental clarity? 

Having a routine can significantly help with stress because there is predictability in your life due to more action being taken. 

Routines are a set schedule one creates for themselves to get things done and maintain structure is an otherwise chaotic world. 

When there is a set schedule for tasks such as doing chores, work tasks, exercising, paying bills, schedule doctor’s appointments, food prepping, etc. the world becomes a more predictable place. 

The predictability of routine can provide a sense of direction in an otherwise unpredictable world.

There is peace and a sense of calm in knowing what will happen next as opposed to “I feel too overwhelmed to get anything done!”

You keep repeating in your head “Make sure you go grocery shopping, make sure you go grocery shopping.” 

Maybe you do go grocery shopping, but not at the expense of having tasks like this take over your mind with repetition because your worried you will forget.

Things you need to accomplish week after week can easily be recorded somewhere so you don’t have to worry about forgetting.

Most importantly, you are causing yourself unnecessary stress. Unburden your mind with a routine you can visually see.

When Considering Your Daily Routine…

Get It Out Of Your Mind

Trying to store our “to do” list in our memory banks can feel overwhelming and you could miss important deadlines in which things need to be accomplished.

With technology today, there is no excuse for being disorganized.

Ways in which to organize your information include using a paper calendar or digital calendar such a google calendar, setting reminders on your phone, and so on. 

Some people like to have an actual planner they can write in and keep with them.

Others prefer to do everything electronically. Whatever type of person you are, staying organized is your key to success. 

Writing out a list you can see works by reducing chaos and lending structure to your day. To write an effective list, start with your top objectives for the day. 

Keep it small, realistic, and focused. 

Write out everything that you need to accomplish in the week ahead.

Next, list these things in matters of importance. Consider ditching the items that are low on a long list, because they could be weighing you down and are unnecessarily distracting. 

Be sure to add tasks you complete every day of the week, such as making the bed, laying out your clothes and food prepping. Include everything so it can have its place within your daily routine.

Once this becomes your normal routine, it’s easier to accomplish even more tasks because you feel a sense of control by creating a good habit that encourages an organized lifestyle.

Prepare For Your Day The Night Before

Before bed, take some time to plan out what tomorrow will look like, including all the chores and tasks you need to get done.

This can include making a to-do list in order of what is most important or time-sensitive.

This can also include setting an intention for the next day so that you feel a sense of direction. 

You can put reminders on your phone for tasks that are outside of your normal routine (i.e. making an appointment with your doctor), to ensure you complete your tasks. 

Wake Up Around The Same Time Everyday

If you start work at 9 am and you leave yourself enough time to brush your teeth and throw on clothes, you will feel disheveled and you will start your day feeling anxious. 

This leads to a feeling of discomfort and chaos. Instead, be sure to leave yourself enough time where you do not feel like you have to rush. 

Start slow and steady and you just might have a more relaxed day.

Declutter Your Life

If you tell yourself you would like to be more organized from here on in and your living space looks like you got robbed, you’re not setting yourself up for success.

 Keep your space, especially your workspace, as neat as possible and throw away things you do not need. 

Then, you will see less physical clutter and therefore feel less mental clutter. This leads to feeling better prepared to take care of business.

Have A Morning Routine

This could include getting out of bed and brushing your hair, washing your face, brushing your teeth, mediating, exercising, setting morning intentions. 

If you are not a morning person, have your clothes laid out for you the night before so this doesn’t slow you down. 

Have a coffee pot with a timer that brews your coffee for you at a set time each day (also a great way to save money rather than convincing yourself, you need to buy fancy designer coffee every day!)

Whatever it takes to ensure you have predictability in the morning. 

Plan Ahead

Sure, it’s exciting to be spontaneous. However, when there is consistently a lack of structure in your day or week, this causes a sense of chaos. 

Do things to prepare ahead of time for your week ahead. 

For instance, Sunday is a good day to decide on meals for the week, plan out your days to the best of your ability, and decide which tasks can realistically be completed on each day and at what time. 

Make Sure To Consistently Eat and Drink

So many clients say to me “I get so busy, I just don’t have time to eat.” This is an epic mistake. You need food and water to keep up your energy and remain productive.

If you’re putting off eating, you’re more likely to feel fatigued, irritable and your mind will be cloudier. 

Make food a priority to maintain good mental health and physical balance.

Exercise 

Ideally, this would be in the morning. If you make mornings a lot harder than they have to be like me, this may not happen! Be sure to get some sort of exercise into your routine. 

You could decide to not exercise because you don’t have the time available you would like to commit to it or choose exercising in whatever amount of time is feasible. 

It’s a much better decision to get any exercise in that you can. Youtube.com has a multitude of short interval exercises such as 5-minute ab workouts, High intensity, full-body 15-minute workouts, etc. 

Do not forget to include exercise in your daily routine any way you can and you will notice how much more energy you have. Often, you make better food choices as well.

Be Selfish!

Putting your needs first and ensuring that your mental health is as stable as possible helps create a sense of control and aides in having better relationships.

It is for the greater good for yourself and those you love in the end.

You can be there for your loved one’s once you’ve taken care of business.

Set A Routine That’s Right For You

The best way to approach establishing a routine is to be as specific as possible by adding tasks to your schedule at a set time each day or week. 

Making things as predictable as possible and leaving very little room to deviate from your schedule is where you will see success in your routine. 

More importantly, you will feel more grounded, in control, and less stress overall. 

Once You Have Your Routine…

Once you’ve established a routine, give it a little time and it’ll start to feel like second nature.

It is at this point that you can now challenge yourself by adding something new and valuable to your life each week. 

Be mindful of the things that you’d like to add to your routine, but have felt too overwhelmed to add, such as regular exercise and social interaction.

For example, if you’re a morning person, you may want to establish a routine in which you commit to exercising two to three days a week at 7:00 am for 20-45 minutes.

If you do any more than this, amazing; you’re ahead of the game. However, it is important to start realistically and be honest with yourself when seeking goal acquisition. 

Your routine has to work with who you are.

If you like to stay up late, setting the intention to get up early as part of your routine may decrease your success of feeling a routine is within your capability.

Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium, takes a break in the middle of his day to go to the gym.

“My focus is usually great first thing in the morning, so going to the gym first is a trade-off of very productive time. Instead, I’ve started going mid-morning or late afternoon.”

Creating a daily routine that includes sleeping, eating, exercising, and recreational activities in a busy schedule, allows you to work better, be more efficient, and stay fulfilled. It keeps the momentum going.

Consider The Best Mental Health Routine

However, many people create a routine to help them physically and fail to consider the importance of doing the same for their mental health. 

Getting into a daily routine can benefit your mental health because it creates stability, structure, and predictability.

You may already incorporate relaxation skills or distraction behaviors into your routine to maintain good mental health.

If not, some to consider are meditating, diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, setting daily intentions, etc.

The way we think and therefore behave is crucial to our overall success in life.

Monitoring and challenging negative self-talk can make space in your mind for a sense of clarity and direction.

Negative thoughts, or pessimistic thinking, can prevent you from enjoying life. This type of thinking can distract you from focusing on what’s important and drain your energy. 

Practice challenging your negative thinking every time you have a negative thought that does not serve any positive purpose. Here’s how.

Having a daily routine can help significantly reduce stress. When you try to rely on your memory to accomplish things from one day to the next, you’re more likely to lose information and become frustrated when you keep forgetting to do things. 

Trying to remember things can be stressful and can fill our brains with everything on our ‘to do’ list; which can be incredibly overwhelming. 

Routine can take the guesswork and uncertainty out of your day, which allow you to feel more in control and less stressed.

The benefit of having a daily routine is that you are allowing yourself to reduce putting things off, you’re focusing on what matters to you, and keeping track of your goals. 

Having a routine can help cultivate positive daily habits and to prioritize self-care. Organizing your time increases the opportunity to schedule important things.

Organize yourself around your values and goals and allow your best self to shine through.

There are times in life when you feel so alive. You’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the next adventure. Especially when your a kid or teenager and trying new things and having new experiences, everything feels so exciting. 

As we get older and life, and things can become more monotonous, we can lose the ability to feel that excitement. Sometimes, life can get a little boring. You may have forgotten what it feels like to invite excitement in as easily as when you were a kid.

Doing the same things day in and day out becomes tedious. When you’re stuck in a rut, it can feel impossible to come up with ways to fill your time. What’s worse, is if you feel unmotivated and are living a sedentary life. This can sometimes be caused by depression or debilitating symptoms of stress.

Especially right now, you may be wishing you were somewhere else and doing something else. It’s important to feel like life is exciting again. Excitement is up there with one of the best feelings a person can experience. Bring back the excitement to your life with 15 ways to make life more exciting.

1. Eat Outside

This may seem lame, but if you’ve felt trapped in the house, having just one of your meals outside can be an easy way to change up the scenery and use more your senses. Observe what’s happening around you, feel the breeze on your skin. Let the leaves rustling on the trees soothe you and the sun invigorate you.

2. Try New Recipes

I love suggesting trying new recipes because we all have to eat. The more you prepare your food, the better your relationship with food will be. Create a trip around the world by preparing food from different counties and cultures. 

Trying new tastes helps to literally spice up your life and will create a sense of adventure. 

Let each bite take you to the destination where the food originates.

3. Exercise Any Way You Can

I suggest exercise on most of my posts. There’s no better way to get you feeling excited and to keep you healthy. Just because the gyms are closed and many public spaces are too, doesn’t mean you can’t get moving. With the weather as nice as it is, this could be yard work or a bicycle ride.

Getting your heart racing is sure to excite you. Follow along with an exercise routine with someone with a bubbly personality or exercise to your favorite songs.

Maybe you can go hiking somewhere new? Maybe hiking is new to you? Do something that distracts your mind and gets your skin glowing to feel more alive. 

4. Create A Spontaneous Date Night 

Create a spontaneous date night where you dress up and make a good meal for your partner. Feed each other and light candles to set the mood. Being stuck at home could be taking its toll on your sex life. If you need a change of scenery, prepare a late night picnic on-the-go and go somewhere you both love. Cover the bed with rose petals and give your partner a massage. Play some relaxing music to heighten your experience.

Lay together on the couch if you’re watching a movie (the contact will help excite you and get you ready for later). Lay a blanket in your living room and have some wine and cheese. Surprise your partner with a night they didn’t see coming.

To go even further…

5. Use Sexy Coupons

I know how funny this sounds, but if you’re looking to spice things up with your partner and you’re afraid to suggest certain things, you can blame it on the sexy coupon! Give them as a gift and tell your partner they can issue one sexy coupon whenever they want and visa versa. If you’re a little shy, the sexy coupon will allow you to find your adventurous side. Etsy has some for under $2.

6. Get Excited About The “Small” Stuff

If you don’t allow yourself to get excited over seemingly small things, then you only feel the excitement when major events occur. The problem with this is that the bigger moments in our life are few and far in between. We’re the ones in control over what is meaningful in our lives. If we don’t stop to appreciate the little things, we miss out on encouraging ourselves to do even better, to do more, to push our capabilities to the limit. 

Consider this, let’s say I decide I want to weigh lose 30 pounds. I start eating healthier and exercising. I lose my first 2 pounds in one week, however, I am determined to lose thirty pounds. Now, I’ve unfortunately missed out on praising myself for working hard and losing those 2 pounds. It doesn’t have to be two pounds, it could be 2 POUNDS!!!!!

7. Say Yes

 If you’re a chronic overthinking, often assessing the risk versus reward in everything you do, give it a rest! If someone asks you to do something spontaneous, just go with it. Your adrenaline will be pumping and your instinct will be to flee, but don’t give in. You will be so proud of yourself for taking a chance.

8. Host A Get Together

When you’re the one in charge of the evening, you are at home and more in your comfort zone. You can also set up something fun to do, like a game night or anything that you feel excited or confident doing. For our current situation, check out the app House Party where you can play games with family and friends to catch up and keep things exciting for all.

9. Do Something New

Learn a new language, a new recipe, or a new skill. Get lost in a new hobby that challenges you. This could be a good way to connect with new people or to feel a sense of confidence and achievement.

10. Dance By Yourself or With Others

Have you ever turned up the music and danced until you were sweaty? Has it been too long? Do this by yourself or with family and friends you are living with. It is a sure-fire way to bring on the laughter and excitement. Dance like nobody’s watching, because if you’re doing this by yourself, they aren’t. Don’t worry about your moves, just let it go to a song that pumps you up. My husband and children often have dance parties and it’s guaranteed fun!

11. Sing As Loud As You Can

Drive around in your car, stay put in the shower, go for a walk, or sing as you do mundane things such as cleaning. Sing with a partner, family, or friend for added fun. The same principle as above, get lost in the music. Music can transport us to another place and time. Escape for a while, be silly and let it all out with a go-to pop song.

12. Plan An Exciting Trip

Even if you can’t take a trip right now, researching, planning can add excitement to your life and prepare you for the time when traveling is a thing again. Create an itinerary and get lost in the logistics of planning. With all of this downtime at home, hopefully, you’re spending a lot less money than normal. Save money for when that day comes and you’ll be prepared to add excitement to your life by changing up the scenery. 

For now, check out the travel website World Virtual Tours for virtual tours around the world. Learn Art and History with Professional Archeologists such as touring the pyramids in Egypt. They have FREE virtual tours around the world, bringing adventure and excitement to your home!

13. Read or Watch Something Exciting for Inspiration

Getting excitement can happen right on your couch. Watch something that gets your blood pumping. For me, any Marvel movie will do the trick. Movies and shows have the power to take you on an adventure you cannot obtain in real life. There are dozens of people working hard to get a good show or movie into production for your viewing pleasure. Sit back and enjoy the experience. 

If you’re not a television person, reading an adventurous novel has the same effect. Even better, reading before bed is a great way to fall asleep faster because it promotes relaxation and is far less stimulating than watching any technology.

14. Be Someone Else

Go out and pretend you’re a different person. Maybe go to open houses or a bar and try out an alter ego. Be someone you’ve always wanted to be more like, but don’t feel like you have the guts to embody in your everyday life. 

Create an alter ego online and play this part on social media. This doesn’t have to mean you don’t like yourself or your aim is to do this in a sinister way, it’s to try something new. It will be nerve-wracking and thrilling!

15. Meet New People

Do you ever feel like you always have so much to say when you meet someone new? You’re figuring each other out and it’s new and exciting. There are times in the journey of life when we encounter a person who exudes energy we can relate to and admire. 

Spend time with people who are passionate about life and allow them to inspire you. Ask to join in on the fun if they’re doing something that seems exciting to you. This doesn’t mean ditching those that have been loyal to you and who you truly feel love you. It is about mixing up your social circle and finding inspiration from those that, well inspire. There’s nothing wrong with this because being around successful or exciting people can rub off on you in the best way. 

Self-care is so important, now more than ever, in these uncertain times. A key component to learning to be mindful is being aware of your five senses to ground yourself in the present moment. A self-soothe kit is perfect for increasing this awareness.

Our senses are a very powerful set of tools. For some people, certain smells can transport you back in time, to a particular childhood memory.

For others, what you hear can be more powerful, like a particular song placing you at your wedding, singing as loud as you can with all of your family and friends and puts a huge smile on your face.

Seeing a beautiful sunset can elicit a sense of tranquility and gratitude for being alive. 

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What Is A Self-Soothe Kit?

I formerly worked at a therapy practice that mainly provided Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

This type of therapy is very structured and creative. One activity offered to clients to create for themselves is a “self-soothe kit.”

A self-soothe kit includes actual items a person finds comforting when their emotions get the best of them.

Using actual items that serve to distract and self–soothe help a person feel more in control and in touch with their current reality.

In other words, you feel less lost in your thoughts because you’ve got tangible items or skills to bring you back to the present moment.

Having things in your routine you can use every day to easily get to a state of relaxation that you can see, touch, taste, and smell is the perfect way to know you’re here and you are safe.

I always talk to my clients about taking all the skills they learn in therapy and creating their own “toolbox.”

This can be tangible skills to help them feel relief, such as lighting their favorite smelling candle and taking a bath to relax or relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation. 

What Do You Put In A Self-Soothe Kit?

To create a self-soothe kit, consider all five senses and choose items that will bring you back to the present moment when all else fails.

It’s up to every person to create their own and tweak it when something isn’t useful to them. Here are some ideas for creating your very own self-soothe kit.

Smell

Candles are great for sight and smell. They can also be a very helpful tool during meditation to help you feel relaxed and focused. Relaxing smells include: citrus, eucalyptus, vanilla and  lavender. Lavender is especially good for sleep and chronic headaches. Spray lavender and chamomile spray on your pillow for enhanced relaxation.

Check out this stress relief candle with lavender, vanilla and white sage. Peppermint and eucalyptus tend to help with stress and are often said to regulate your mood. Use this Peppermint and eucalyptus bar of soap to invigorate your senses (great for sense of touch too). 

Citrus tends to be uplifting and invigorates the senses. Try this citrus aromatherapy room spray to help wake you up and jump start each new day. Go for a walk in a wooded area or by the ocean and take in the scents of nature. Cook a meal or bake and take in the delicious smell as you prepare your food.

While many choose to keep a self-soothe kit at home, it’s also helpful to have a go-to calming object in your pocket, car or purse.

We can’t always be home, (except when quarantined there!) so keeping a small bottle of aromatherapy oil on you can help redirect your senses. Closing your eyes and smelling soothing lavender can be just the distraction you need when times get tough out in the world.

Taste

Tea: Chamomile, similar to lavender, is often associated with being helpful for sleep. It naturally increases serotonin and melatonin levels in your body, which are hormones necessary for sleep and happiness. Many different types of tea can help with stress.

Tea with chamomile is soothing and caffeine free to help you unwind before bed. Check out this article to learn more about the best teas for stress and anxiety.

It may sound strange, but I often enjoy a hot cup of water. The heat is soothing and I’m not always interested in any caffeine or strong flavors.

Feel free to have a cup of hot chocolate if you need more flavor. This unique blend of gourmet hot chocolate and lavender feels like your sipping a warm hug.

Food: There is so much to love about food. If you love the smell of fresh baked cookies, bake some. Whatever it is you’re cooking, make sure to take the time and savor your favorite meal. Really try to enjoy every tasty bite.

Touch

Lotion: Rubbing lotion on your skin, including calming scents like orange, lavender, vanilla or cocoa butter, helps you feel relaxed. Lotion is also great for the sense of smell for the same reason.

Slime or silly putty: Everyone in my family knows I love things like glue and slime (weird I know). My niece and nephew have tons of it and it is always soothing to move around in my hands. Check out this stress relief aromatherapy dough to squeeze your stress away on tough days.

Take a relaxing bath with warm water and bubble bath. Particularly soothing blends are bath products with lavender and melatonin which are both naturally relaxing and natural sleep aides. Baths are also an elevated, therapeutic experience when you add bath salts to help you relax and unwind after a long day. You earned it!

Stress balls have been around for a long time for a reason. They are a useful stress management object and particularly helpful for those who need to relieve tension when feeling stress. Squishing a stress ball allows you to force frustration or stress out of your body and transfer it into the stress ball.

Neck Wraps are terrific for body pain and/or stress relief. These all-natural aromatherapy wraps work wonderfully to relieve tired muscles, alleviate neck pain, migraine relief, sinus pressure or to help unwind after a stressful day.

A weighted blanket is a soothing object that invites your entire body to relax. The pressure from a weighted blanket has been known to relieve tension and feel like a big hug. Studies show that weighted blankets can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality and treating conditions such as PTSD.

Wear your most comfortable clothes and feel how good they feel against your skin. I like to wear a soft scarf when I’m feeling stressed. It is nice to caress and it helps you feel more secure.

Vision

Seeing something you find beautiful or meaningful has the power to reset your emotions and bring you to a place of serenity and peace.

Nature: Take a walk through your yard, in a park or around your neighborhood and observe all there is around you. Watch leaves being carried away, the children playing.

The soon to be arrival of Spring has brought beautiful flowers back to life. Notice them growing more each day until they’ve fully bloomed for you to enjoy. If you don’t have a yard or peaceful neighborhood, videos on YouTube.com of nature will be sure to take you away to a peaceful place.

Images of family, animals-especially baby animals, and babies-because they’re adorable! These can provide an air of innocence to an otherwise dark moment. 

It has been challenging coming up with items I have in the backyard to keep the kids busy during this quarantine.

Funny enough, I have found blowing bubbles to entertain them has been relaxing for me. Something is calming about watching bubbles slowly being carried away into the blue sky, glistening in the sunlight. Maybe it’s taking that slow exhales to blow the bubbles or feeling like a kid again.

An item that brings you to a cherished memory. For instance, I have a rock in my yard my husband and I found on the beach when we were on vacation in Montauk together.

Every time I see it, I remember how we said we would save this in our home one day. That was about ten years ago and this rock is placed in our backyard of the home we purchased four years ago.

Sound

Lastly, many of the items I’ve listed under vision can apply here. These two senses often go hand in hand. 

Sounds of nature: walk through your yard, in a park or around your neighborhood. Listen to the birds chirping, the wind blowing, or leaves being carried away.

If there isn’t enough to marvel at from your neighborhood, look up videos where to can hear the ocean. Listen to sounds of nature right from home. Close your eyes and imagine you’ve escaped to your oasis and leave your troubles behind. The mind can be so powerful when you’re patient and open-minded.

Undoubtedly, music is perhaps the most transcendent way a person can use their senses to find comfort. Rely on a playlist of music that soothes your soul or reminds you of times past that make you smile.

Listen to music to create a playlist for good times to come so you remain hopeful for the future. Have a track that can enhance your next adventure, however big or small. 

Listen to a white noise machine.

White noise machines are heavenly devices that promotes relaxation before sleep by providing a constant, soothing sound that helps you gently drift off to sleep. These can be life changing when it comes to improving relaxation and sleep!

Cherish the sound of your child or a loved one laughing or learn to play an instrument.

My self-soothe kit includes seltzer to invigorate my senses, cherry chapstick, my human stress balls (my kids!), face mist to give me a little wake-up and peach flavored tea.

Make Your Self-Soothe Kit Uniquely You

As stated, some items for self-soothing cannot be put in a box because they are skills and not actual items. For those, they can be written on a nice piece of stationary and placed in your self-soothe box to remind you to practice this skill.

For those that can, decorating your self-soothe kit can be a great way to distract yourself with an activity. Tap into your artistic side and enjoy something you’ve created.

Take a shoe box that you have lying around and cut out pictures from a magazine or newspaper that speak to you. Do the same thing by cutting out certain words that mean something to you and go ahead and decorate your box.

If you are a person who enjoys keeping arts and crafts items around such as glitter, ribbons and felt, go wild and make your self-soothe kit uniquely yours. Doing so will make you gravitate towards it more often in times of stress.

Self-Soothe Kit For First Responders: 

First responders are dealing with stress and loss most people cannot even begin to imagine, nor would they want to. Consider making a first responder a self-soothe kit they can use at home or work. Create a mini self-soothe kit with just a few items to help them find stress relief during difficult times.

Some of these items may include: a mini bottle of aromatherapy oil, a stress ball, lotion, gum, a small furry object, a postcard of a beach, soaking bath salts – made with mineral rich himalayan salts and lavender essential oil. Be sure to include a card personalized note expressing your well wishes and gratitude so they really feel the love.

Etsy has self-care kits that come already made if this is easier.

Self-soothe kits can be kept in your home, in your can, indoor pock or purse. Leave some items at home or take some with you so they are always on hand. It is uniquely yours.

We all experience stress at times; some more than others. A self-soothe kit can be a source of comfort during those moments. They can help you feel more skillful and prepared for any stress that comes your way.

What’s in your self-soothe kit? If you haven’t created one yet, what would be in your ideal self-soothe kit to make it uniquely yours?

Don’t forget to have fun making it!