Guest Post by Lily Little of https://marriedwithdogs.com/

Life is a beautiful journey, but bumps along the way can leave you feeling defeated, deprived, and mentally drained from time to time. Neglecting your mental health can lead to serious consequences that penetrate every aspect of your life and derail your future. If conventional treatment, counseling, and medication don’t fit your lifestyle preferences, you can use many out-of-the-box tools to manage your symptoms of stress and anxiety.

1. Adopt a Pet

Adding a pet to your household can be a wonderful stress management tool. You may think you’re too tired or too busy to keep a pet, but you may change your mind when you start to reap the benefits of an animal companion, some of which include:

• Sticking to a daily schedule
• Experiencing unconditional love
• Increasing confidence through caring for a living being

2. Telecommute More Often

The time you spend commuting each workday is time you could be using to relax, exercise, organize your space, or spend time with your loved ones. If you can negotiate a remote work schedule with your employer, you can reclaim precious moments for your self-care needs. This will not only improve your mental health but also make you a more motivated and productive employee.

3. Try Chess Therapy

There are many different types of therapy that don’t require you to lay on a couch and be emotionally vulnerable to a complete stranger. If you play chess or wish to hone your skills a bit, you can find a chess therapy practitioner who can help you find solutions to your daily problems while also teaching you how to focus, strategize and think ahead to your next move.

4. Retreat Into Nature

While the modern world offers convenience and connection, the disconnection from nature may be detrimental to your peace of mind. Studies show ecotherapy decreases anxiety and negative feelings.

5. Join a Book Club

Escapism through reading is an incredibly healthy exercise for managing mental and emotional stress. Joining a book club full of like-minded people with similar reading interests adds a social component to your self-care practice.

6. Declutter and Organize Your Home

Your home should be a place where you can relax. If your home is full of clutter, this can breed negativity and create tension. Take some time to declutter, organize, and let more natural light into your home.

7. Take Regularly Scheduled Naps

If you have trouble being still, you can try training your body to relax by implementing a daily naptime. The benefits of napping include increased energy, mood enhancement, and improved performance throughout the day. The key to successful napping is consistency, so you should commit to shutting off your devices and closing your eyes for 20-30 minutes at the same time each day.

8. Learn to Cook

Culinary therapy is a widely-used technique for treating restlessness, panic attacks, and depression. If you’re looking to address physical and emotional distress, learning to follow recipes and cook for yourself is a great mental health strengthening tool.

9. Build a Bookshelf

Finding a hobby is a time-tested technique for managing mental stress. Specifically, hobbies that result in a finished product, such as woodworking, build confidence by giving you a tangible reason to value and validate your abilities.

10. Celebrate Your Birthday

As you get older, you may not feel accomplished enough to celebrate yourself on a regular basis. However, your birthday is an annual reason to party and you shouldn’t feel guilty about planning a special event and indulging.

There’s no single solution for mental and emotional stress that works for everyone. Whether you’re adopting a pet, decluttering, or working from home more often, these unique tips can help you calm your mind and find peace within yourself.

Thank you to Lily Little of https://marriedwithdogs.com/ for providing this post.