I was a christian for 26 years and was used to praying through the hard times to feel better. Now that I don't believe there is a god out there in control of everything, I've had to come up with other ways to de-stress. Sometimes I just remind myself of how far I've come and what I've been capable of. Sometimes I take deep breaths. How do you de-stress when things are tough?
Maybe go out and drink with friends. The friends part is important since hopeful the situation will be fun and alcohol if used in a safe manor can be a pretty good distressor but it can easily turn into a depressor if your not careful.
I think everyone else covered most of the ways to distress.
The best way for me to de-stress is to do one of two things, or both together. I make a conscious choice to stop thinking about whatever has stressed me, but I first must resolve the stress-trigger as best I can. The best thing for me is to spend time with my dogs. They are about a 400 year old breed, and have been called "comfort spaniels" because they are incredibly good at offering comfort, as they are intuitive and empathetic, not to mention soft and cuddly! Just the act of hugging and cuddling is calming, but brushing or stroking the dogs can do the same thing. I can take that time to move my mind to more pleasant subjects...
Listen to Solfeggio Frequencies, Theta waves, Hypnosis. Also close your eyes and do nothing but focus on your breath for 3 minutes. At the end of 3 minutes you will be completely relaxed
Breathe slow and loud; get into a good book; work up a sweat, usually a fast walk or an uphill hike; smoke a bowl; sip an alcoholic beverage; clean house; silly YouTube videos; sex (only this far down the list because I’m solo)
But mostly I avoid things that cause stress to spike, like TV news, any Trump news, cities, drama. Stress still rears is ugly head, hence the big bag of tricks listed.
>sex (only this far down the list because I’m solo)
"Best I ever had was me." -- Woody Allen.
Now don't start talking about finger licking good.
I head outdoors for a hike, or watch nesting desert birds from looking over our yard railing.
Photo I just took of a male curve-billed thrasher guarding his nest in a sagebrush thicket growing in desert area adjacent to our yard.
By the way this particular male comes to my sliding glass door at night to say "good-night" to me with a loud "WIT! WIT!" until I nod to him. His mate also calls to me from the thicket, and I can hear other thrashers all over the mountainside also echoing the "wit, wit" call before the male dives into the thicket and everything goes silent for the night.
I meditate. I talk to people. I positively affirm what I most desire. I lighten up. I get massages. I practice self care. I take a nap.
Keep putting yourself in successively more stressful situations on a regular basis until eventually everyday stress becomes an exercise in monotony and you can no longer understand why trivial things bother some people. Then de-stressing will no longer be required because you won't get stressed in the first place.
That is NOT FUNNY reminds me of Archie Bunker going on TV "arm all passengers with guns to give superiority over armed hijackers to prevent hijacking airplanes
@GreenAtheist I wasn't making a joke
@Happy_Killbot that "plan" is how us veterans were trained for war....so you want our Feminist Atheist comrade to militarize herself normalizing terror in her life ?
@GreenAtheist I think people secretly desire stress in their lives. If everyone lived with the expectation that things were going to get tough, stuff is going to break, people are going to die and the universe is ultimately going to destroy any and all hope that we ever have, everyone would find it easier to cope with the inevitable grief that dominates so many people's lives and is one of the principal reasons that religion exists in the first place.
Stress and grief increases the value of the pleasurable peaceful moments, and being able to cope with great amounts of stress gives you a decisive advantage in times of chaos. It's like working out, you normalize higher amounts of weight and activity then you can lift more.
Everything is just temporary. Glass of wine, temporary. Work out, temporary.
I just try to trick my brain into releasing the chemicals I want. Ever just hug somebody for like 30 seconds? Works amazing for killing stress.
Of course, that requires cooperation and advanced warning. You can't just like wrap somebody up for that long without their permission.
I took a 'Dealing With Stress' class once. One of the techniques taught was to sit in a chair, arms extended at your sides, and head leaning back. You close your eyes, and start imagining you are in some exotic place, you've always wanted to go. After awhile, you can "feel" the stress leaving your body through your fingertips. I've tried it. This actually seems to work!
Reading a book to learn something. When im done, i know more than before start the book. And thats amazing, and comes with amusing feelings.
Every morning, I start my day by going to the local YMCA (usually walking). I swim for twenty minutes, doing the backstroke with my eyes closed, and meditating in the pool. As best I can, my thoughts and focus are solely on my breathing and the movement of my body as I move through the water. When I am finished, I feel both relaxed and a bit exhausted from the workout.
I used to do it through drink and music. The drink part doesn't work so well any longer. These days my time is spent between 2 of my computers (I have 3) and keeping them in top shape for music, movies, TV, etc. all around the world. They are my "projects." These days I'm greatly into IPTV and also using my router to block ads and totally change my DNS.
If a woman was around we might try sex. That needs a lot of experimentation and practice also.