Dealing With Stress

When I looked up the definition of stress on Google, the definition I got was "A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances."

I've been feeling stressed recently because at my school, they thought the best idea was to dropped all this course selection and "life decision" speech all within four or five school days. 

If it takes me 20 minutes to figure out what shirt size fits best, how do they expect me to make choices that will affect my life for years after that?

I would be lying if I said I've been feeling a little stressed over this. I feel the need to follow in my older sister's footsteps, I feel the need to make my parents proud even if that means doing something I'm not happy with, I'm worried that I won't have all the credits that I need to graduate and so many other things. I'm not sure what program I want to follow.

I'm not even 100% sure what career I want to have when I'm older, so how do I know what classes to take so I set myself up to get into the right university courses?

I won't lie, I had two little cries today because I worked myself up too much.

Seeing as I'm feeling quite stressed out and others might be experiencing the same feeling, whether now or months after this is posted, I looked up a few ways to help reduce stress.

1. Listen to some music
Music is proven to help lower your blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Allow your mind to focus on the different melodies and harmonies and all of the instruments. There's no shame in cracking up the tunes!

2. Exercise
Many people enjoy different types of exercise, so there isn't a specific one you should do. Yoga and walking are great ways to ease depression and anxiety, but if you feel more like doing some powerlifting (or weights in general), or sprinting, or boxing, do whatever you prefer!

3. Laugh
Whether you watch a favourite TV show or you watch something funny on YouTube, laughing increases oxygen and blood flow to the brain which can automatically reduce stress.

4.Breath
Take a minute to focus on your breathing, filling your lungs with air. In through your nose and out with your mouth, breath in for five seconds and exhale for five seconds. Doing this repeatedly can make yourself feel calmer.

5. Light a Candle
Aromatherapy is a good way to relieve stress.Lavender is consistently shown to reduce stress levels. If you don't like the smell of lavender, that's alright, get the scent of something you enjoy!

Stress can be difficult to manage, but you should never turn to alcohol or other potentially harmful ways to deal with it, there's always an alternative and healthy way to deal with it. 


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