Each Week Elleinadspir, A Place to Share and I will be working our way through the Listography 2011 Book with a rotating Link Part-tay! To find the list of the years topics, check out the Listography Link above.

Today’s Topic: List your de-stress recipe

This is pretty timely for me. I’m settling into a new job that requires a longer commute and my husband’s back in school for the year which means that all three of our little family are working long days. This Sunday I am running a 10K and last week my husband and I had to literally sit down and plot out when I could go to the gym and run because our schedule is that tight. It makes me long for the days when I was simply too lazy to excercise. That said, being a working Mom has given me some A+ tips on how to de-stress when life gets a little whacky. Here’s my de-stress recipe:

1. Cut back on everything.- Batten down the hatches! I can’t worry about returning phone calls on time, non-essential social events, cleaning to our normal standards or walking the dog. I like to do things a certain way(uptight), but I’ve also learned to let stuff go. As we speak our front yard is a blight on our street. Half-done lawn, half constructed pathway, black tarps everywhere. The whole caboodle. It’s been like that for a few months, it will probabably be like that for a few more months. I’m choosing sanity over appropriateness.
2. Exercise-It is SO hard to find the time to exercise but especially when stressed it makes a huge difference. After my first scheduled “run” time last week I came home positively euphoric. To contrast? I burst into tears immediately preceding aforementioned run. Let’s review. Before run=crying in the car in the gym parking garage. After run=cheerfully singing at the top of my lungs on the way home.
3. Yoga-Sitting down to breathe deep for an hour does wonders for your nervous system. I am totally uninterested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, I lie on the floor and think about what I would like to eat for dinner, and still… it works!
4. Sick Day-If you are stressed to the point where you are starting to have physical reactions it’s good to take a day off, from work, or chores or whatever it is that you do that tires you. Stress is a real sickness, that’s what sick days are for, but if you do this, you don’t get to “de-stress” at the spa. You get to de-stress at home, with chocolate and a good book.
5. Pray-Sit down. Beg God to help you calm down. Repeat. I won’t lie, this doesn’t always work, but it’s never hurt me either.