Those who know me know that I advocate ongoing self-care so that stressful situations are easier to manage when they arise. However, sometimes, life happens, and people need ways of reducing and managing when things aren’t going well. The following are all options to consider trying when life gets overwhelming.  If you don’t like these, also try making your own Emergency Stress Reduction list.

1. Neurofeedback (you knew that would be first!)
2. Meditation or centering prayer
3. Grounding (bare feet on sand, soil, or grass)
4. Establishing a regular prayer/meditation practice
5. Go for a walk
6. Seek counseling
7. Exercise vigorously
8. Seek spiritual direction
9. Have coffee with a friend
10. Walk a labyrinth
11. Play hooky from work
12. Go to a movie with a friend
13. Have a small amount of comfort food
14. Watch a comedy show
15. Go to an outdoor concert
16. Explore the root causes (for example, do you really hate your job, or is it just the commute?)
17. Make a gratitude list
18. Pledge to eat six servings of fruit/veggies a day for a week
19. Let go of one of your commitments
20. Challenge yourself to try something new
21. Have a good cry
22. Go on a retreat
23. Hire help
24. Take a 3-day vacation
25. Get a new job
26. Buy a plant for your home or garden
27. Give someone flowers
28. Attend a worship service
29. Tell a joke or ask someone to tell you a joke
30. Attend a worship service far outside your faith tradition
31. Clean out your junk drawer
32. Start keeping a dream journal
33. Organize your tools
34. Try keeping a diary/regular journal
35. Donate time to a charity
36. Buy a coloring book of mandalas and some pencils/markers
37. Stop wearing shoes that hurt your feet
38. Read a self-help book
39. Get a massage
40. Read the biography of someone who inspires you
41. Go for acupuncture
42. Next time you shop for clothing, choose something colorful
43. Get a physical
44. Have a picnic, even if it’s only in your basement
45. See a chiropractor
46. Spend time in a park
47. Buy fun eyeglasses or sunglasses
48. Admit defeat (or declare victory), and move on
49. Leave the abusive situation NOW
50. Fast for a day
51. Stop drinking soda or alcohol
52. Find or buy a worry stone, and carry it in your pocket
53. Make or buy prayer beads or a rosary, then use them
54. Make a meal for someone
55. Make a healthy dessert and take it to work
56. Send a greeting card to someone for no reason
57. Buy yourself flowers once a week for a month
58. Give time or money to a social justice cause
59. Consult a financial advisor
60. Go finish that degree
61. Go on a spending fast
62. Fix something broken in your home
63. Stop the diet
64. Take that friend’s annoying advice and follow it
65. Change your dietary habits
66. Go to a beach, shoreline, or river bank
67. Adopt a grandparent
68. Join a gym
69. Quit the gym
70. Try a new sport
71. Check with your pharmacist, especially if you take may meds
72. Go to a museum
73. Hire a babysitter or mother’s helper
74. Spend time with a child
75. Take a break from the kids
76. Go for a Reiki or other energy healing session
77. Take a break from social media
78. Try a binaural beats app
79. Give up the newspaper, or conversely, subscribe to home delivery
80. Stop reading the news
81. Make a summer reading list
82. Subscribe to a “not typically your thing” magazine or newsletter
83. Join a book club
84. Adopt a pet (but be committed for life if you do this)
85. Purge your books
86. Turn off the television
87. Face the music (to whatever you’re avoiding or procrastinating on)
88. Sit outside 15 minutes a day for two weeks
89. Make art
90. Listen to music every day for two weeks
91. Visit a botanical garden
92. Decide to forgive yourself
93. Go organic
94. Go on a spontaneous road trip
95. Do something for the environment
96. Study or learn about your ancestry
97. Call/reach out to an old friend
98. Join a group
99. Drop a group
100. Go to sleep
101. Take a nap

And, #102, call me to find out whether I can be of assistance in reducing your body’s stress reaction.