amazing stress relievers other than fitness and meditation
what ways have you noticed stress relief in your daily activities other than exercise and meditation?
we had a mural painting session at work with a consultant last week. 9 people from work painted individual canvasses that, when arranged together, formed a larger mural. our mural will be mounted to a blank wall in the office.
i noticed an immediate release of stress while i was doing this.
piano - several years ago, i went back to taking piano lessons as an adult. i was practicing a difficult classical piece, and i noticed the tension in my neck and shoulders went away, plus some underlying "worry" in the back of my mind seemed to have disappeared.
although i meditate on my commute to work (i catch the bus) and exercise, painting and piano seemed to have provided another way to relieve stress.
come to find out, a lot of studies have shown measurable reductions in cortisol in people who paint or create art. we're always told that "stress is everywhere" or "you need to calm down" or "it's because of stress that you are _____ [fill in the blank]." i feel encouraged that there's another tool that i can use to reduce stress.
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~jeannine
Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.
[walks away, still making circular motions with hands] ~ Pat Morita, The Karate Kid, 1984
disclosure: in the years 2002-2004 i had a professional relationship with a distributor of fitness videos; see profile.
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