"One good thing about music: when it hits, you feel no pain."
-Bob Marley
For me, music that I know and enjoy helps calm me down. If that works for you, great; if not, maybe try something new. Try listing to some soothing jazz or classical piano to relax. Occasionally, I'll sit and listen to Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player famous for introducing the instrument to the Beatles. It's not music I usually listen to, but it always helps me de-stress. Concerts are also great stress-relievers, assuming the one you choose to go to isn't too much of a wallet-drainer.
Possibly the ultimate anti-stress activity. Find yourself a nice yoga class and you won't regret it. If you've taken a class before and know how to do yoga correctly to prevent injury, you can even do it on your own time in your own place. Not only will yoga relax you; it has many benefits both physically and mentally, including improved strength, flexibility, and stamina.
In meditating and detaching yourself from your thoughts, which can be quite chaotic, stress will typically disappear for the time being. Your body relaxes, your posture improves, and your mind thanks you for its newfound tranquility.
Go on Flickr and look at beautiful photos. Go to an art museum or gallery-hopping and just indulge in looking at beautiful images. I included extra photos in this post for exactly this purpose. Just as you can get lost in a great song, it's possible to become entranced by a beautiful image or work of art. Viewing art is a sort of meditation of its own, after all.
If you're reading this, you're off to a great start. Learn about a great philosopher or read some classic quotes. The whole reason I originally created DailyZen was to help people learn what I've enjoyed learning so much of from the internet. We forget what an incredible resource the internet is for knowledge; never have so many people had so much information available right at their fingertips. Take advantage of it and keep learning. The cathartic, accomplished feeling that follows learning something new is a great aid against stress.
On the other hand, you may find yourself stressed because you've overstudied. You crammed for a test at school, or prepared too last-minute for a work deadline or presentation. If so, take a definite period of time and just unplug. Whether it's six hours, 12 hours, a day, or a week. No TV, no internet, no cell. Much of our stress can come from mental clutter; clearing out distractions, even if they've become integral in our lives, will almost always lead to a lower stress experience. I took a week without electronics back in August and it felt great.
Huh? Work makes you stressed, why would you do it to de-stress? What makes us stressed about work is usually not the completion of the work itself. It's the thought of the completion. Contemplating work we have to do or approaching deadlines is a huuge source of stress. So, get it done. Treat your work as a meditation and plow through it. Not only will you impress whoever you're working for; you'll impress yourself. Your productivity will skyrocket and your stress will turn into contentment at having finished what once seemed like a daunting task.
(photos courtesy of some awesome photographers on Flickr. click photos to see more of their stuff.)
