April is Stress Awareness Month- Ways to Self-Soothe

Tips for Self-Soothing in the Moment

April is stress awareness month and I know many of us are having a lot of stress The world is a chaotic place and the stress we feel in our own lives. Here are a few ways to manage stress in the moment.

Remember that stress or anxiety is temporary.?We need to feel to heal, and that resistance creates more stress.?Selfcare is preventive and should be part of your daily routine. Self-soothing is dealing with the moment. When you are in the moment of being stressed, anxious, angry, etc. It’s time to self-soothe.?You self soothe to calm your mind and body, reduce your anxiety, and think clearly.

Deep Breathing: take deep breaths slowly in and out for 1 – 2 minutes. When we are stressed, we tend to shallow breathe or hold our breathe.

Shake your wrists: Bend arms upright at the elbows, let your wrists droop and rapidly shake your hands at the wrists as if shaking away any stress or anxiety. Our body is called the pain body and the best way to release the tension is through movement.

Chew Gum (check with your dentist if you have dental work or clench or grind your teeth). If not gum, carry around something you can chew repeatedly like celery, carrots, peanuts, pretzels, etc. Chewing helps reduce nervousness and worry.

Therapeutic Self-Touch:

Do what comes naturally and feels right to you, be it touching your collar bone, stroking your arms or cheeks, or placing the hands on the heart and/or stomach. During the practice, concentrate on the breath and the pleasant feelings of pressure and warmth to activate the body’s soothing and contentment system. Stay with the pleasurable sensations as long as you need.

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique:

This technique will take you through your five senses to help remind you of the present. Take a deep belly breath to begin. There is no specific order.

5 - LOOK: Look around for 5 things that you can see and say them out loud. For example, you could say, I see the picture frame, I see the cup, I see the computer.

4 - FEEL: Pay attention to your body and think of 4 things that you can feel and say them out loud. For example, you could say, I feel my feet warm in my socks.

3 - LISTEN: Listen for 3 sounds. It could be the sound of traffic outside, the sound of typing or the sound of your tummy rumbling. Say the three things out loud.

2 - SMELL: Say two things you can smell. If you’re allowed to, it’s okay to move to another spot and sniff something. If you can’t smell anything at the moment or you can’t move, then name your 2 favorite smells.

1 - TASTE: Say one thing you can taste. It may be the toothpaste from brushing your teeth, or a mint from after lunch. If you can’t taste anything, then say your favorite thing to taste.

Take another deep belly breath to end.

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Box Breathing:

Also known as four-square breathing, inhaling to a count of four, holding air in your lungs for a count of four, exhaling to a count of four, holding your lungs empty for a four-count, then beginning the pattern anew.

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