ELEMENTS OF A HIPPIE

Welp, I’ve been M.I.A from my blogging world for a little while now. And I don’t want to make excuses but it’s because of stress! It’s only getting worse too … because Finals Week is around the corner, which means studying, which means more stress and I’m graduating which adds extra stress and preparing for the Pace Psychology Conference is just stress stress stress and don’t forget the stress of being a broke college student added to the stress of applying to graduate schools. STRESS!

Well because of the stress that I have been dealing with, I decided that I should compile a list of ways to deal with stress .. because well if I’m dealing with this much stress, I could only imagine what some of you may be dealing with. And quite frankly, I don’t have very good coping mechanisms for dealing with stress.

Anyways here’s what I came up with:

Identify the source of your stress and decide how you must deal with it

The first step to dealing with your stress is to identify what exactly is causing you to stress out. It could be anything; becoming a new parent, school, money, relationships, acne .. anything really. After doing that, it’s up to you to sit back and think of the right way to deal with it. I always tell people that there are really 2 ways to tackle things like this and they are 1) To accept it and decide to move forward and not let whatever it is hinder your growth or progression OR 2) To decide to change whatever it is and move forward. Either way you’re moving forward and that is what’s important. Once you’ve figured out which one is suitable for you, you’ve accomplished what most consider to be the hard part.

Make a “To Do List”

I’ve found that when I plan out my day, week and month that life seems to be a bit more organized. It’s really easy to become lost in work and school that you forget to make time for yourself. For example, planning out the time and date of each one of my finals has helped me organize when I should study for a specific final. It doesn’t only work with school but when it comes to work, friends, family, extracurricular activities and (most importantly) your alone time, making a “To Do List” can really be beneficial.

Make time for things that make you happy

This one is really simple. Sleep, Read, Hang out with friends .. do whatever.
Sometimes we get so worked up over things that need to get done that we lose sight of our other needs. You’ll begin to see improvement once you start taking time out to do things that make you genuinely happy (even if it’s just one day a week).

Find a positive support system

This is probably one of the best things that you can do. Get a good support system. It can be friends, family, co-workers, blogs (wink wink), internet friends (I don’t know, whatever your thing is). The point is, that no one wants or needs negative people in their lives. You need people around you that are going to help reduce the stress in your life and tell you when it’s time to take a break and re-focus your priorities.

Focus on the positive things going on in your life

This may be one of the hardest things for me to do. When I get stressed out, I become the ultimate downer. Which is just bad. Sometimes it feels as though I can’t help it but that’s not much of an excuse and I’m trying to learn that. It helps to focus on ANYTHING that you find positive going on in your life. Whether it be something small or big, positive is positive. If you can’t think of anything just be thankful that you woke up this morning ! 🙂

Talk about it/Write about it/ Just voice it

This speaks for itself. Find a way to express how you’re feeling. Either talk about it with someone, get a journal and write it down, scream … listen just find a way to voice how you feel! Trust me it will make you feel better.

Live a healthy life

This isn’t the hardest for me to do but mannnnnnn it’s my least favorite! Lmao. Too bad it really does help. Eating healthy, just makes you feel gooooodddddd. It gives you energy, better rationale and insight on how to deal with things. Adding exercise to that only helps with releasing that pent up frustration, anxiety, and anger.

Try Yoga

This ties into living a healthy life but I suppose this is more subtle. Lol. If exercise isn’t your thing (ehem, points to self) then try yoga. If you’re really brave, you’ll even try hot yoga (which is amazing, just saying!) Check out this website if you want to learn more ways that yoga helps improve your daily life.

Meditate and/or Breathing Techniques

I’ve never really gotten into meditation but I do know many people who have and it has helped them. Recently my boyfriend has been continuously (like he won’t shut up) about mindfulness meditation and so I finally decided to do my own research and look it up. It is the Buddhist practice that involves intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of your attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment. Basically, focus on ‘the right now’. I found this really cool article that explains it more in depth and that will give you better understanding if you are interested. I also found this awesome video on YouTube if you decide to try it out.

Just Relax/Take A Break

Sometimes we just forget to relax. To me, this is the most important thing. Sometimes, you just have to stop what you are doing, breathe, stop thinking so hard, and relax. It’s during these times that you need to take a break from not only what is stressing you out but from everything. Trust me, the feeling of not worrying about ANYTHING will make you feel a little bit better. It’s only a starting point, but it’s a step in the right direction.

---

Sometimes, it feels like it’s the end of the world when you’re stressed out but it’s not. You just have to find ways to handle these things that seem to be taking over your life. Whether it be lack of money, work, school or relationship problems .. figuring out a healthy way to deal with your stress can dramatically help you. It’s just up to you to decide that you’re worthy of getting yourself that help. I hope that these tips do help you whether it be now or in the future.

xoxo Cielo.