May Gray stresses me out.

(Total credit for this picture is given to miss Dorothy <dorotehh.tumblr.com>)

Hello there, my friends! Happy May! Today we will be talking about taking things easy. Lately I've realized that I've been letting certain, very stressful things rule my life. I've been breaking out, crashing into my bed at 3 o'clock in the morning and dreamlessly sleeping, and running around thinking about EVERYONE and EVERYTHING but the one most important thing....myself! Don't get me wrong, I promote being selfless and caring for others, but how is a person supposed to properly care for other people when they're a mess? Take some time and answer these questions. Are you stressed? When was the last time you sat still and took time to think about yourself? Is your body maintaining homeostasis? Just a few hours ago, these were my answers: Yes. I can't remember. No.

I felt as though I was being suffocated by my own life. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, and when I tried to sit down to just relax, I couldn't do it. I realized that's it's been forever since I remembered one of my dreams, and dreams used to be a HUGE part of my life! I used to go to sleep just so that I could dream, just because I loved analyzing what my mind can come up with on it's own. 

So I came to the realization that I needed a psychological detox.  I figured out how to do this and wrote down step-by-step instructions on the topic. So here they are!

1. Breathe. Sit down, get comfortable. Close your eyes and take a deeeeeeeeeep breath in through your nose (or through your mouth if you're terribly congested due to seasonal allergies or other nasal problems). Hold it in for a second or two, and then slowly release. Repeat this as many times as you wish. Feeling better already, no?
2. Open your eyes and look around you. What's making you stressed? Is it that pile of books and school papers sitting on your desk, waiting to be done? Is it the fact that everything is just a mess and you don't know where to even begin cleaning? Is it your little sibling running around, making you want to rip all of your hair out? If you can't seem to figure out why you're stressed, just breathe again and focus.
3. Once you've determined what it is that's making you stressed, either solve the problem or temporarily forget about the problem (I did this by turning off my cell phone, which made me stressed because I was relentlessly checking it). Leave your schoolwork in a neat "do later" pile. Clean up your room, one item at a time. Threaten your little sibling until they leave you alone, it doesn't matter! It's just a temporary solution, you can deal with it later when you're feeling calmer. Right now, just take it easy.
4. Soften your surroundings. Start by dimming the lights, putting on some music, lighting a scented candle etc. Open the window if it's nice out and if the pollen won't kill you. Listen to the rain against the windowsill. That always calms me down.
5. Do something that is truly calming to you whether it's taking a bath, watching TV, taking a nap, writing, drawing, anything at all! Just focus on what YOU like to do, and YOU only. For this step I decided to play a little bit of easy-slow melodies on my guitar. Songs like "Details in the Fabric" by Jason Mraz followed by some Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. It really got me in a peaceful mood, man.
6. Then, finally, slowly work your way into fully taking care of the thing that made you stressed in the first place. Rationally think it over and don't worry too much about it. And since you already made a calming and peaceful environment, things should feel a lot better for you! If not, you need to repeat this process again or work on your de-stressifying skills.

And that's it! Your stress has been reduced by about 95% by now. Feel free to use these steps every time you feel like you need a moment to just focus on yourself. You're adding years onto the end of your life by doing this, I'm telling you! Good luck, my friends!

Signed,

Victoria