how do you manage stress in ways that aren’t exercise??

[jacobk]

@porcelainrose I used to be like this. I started exercising in my early twenties as a way to deal with a severe bout of depression. The exercise really helped lift me put of that horrible place, but I did realize a few years later that I was getting really neurotic about it, and would get upset and anxious when I couldn’t exercise for a few days.

Through therapy I’ve learned that I was using exercise as a way to escape and avoid negative feelings. Obviously I don’t know your particular headspace, but it if you’re like me then you may be using exercise to make your negative emotions and stress ”go away”. What worked for me is learning to accept and be curious about my anxiety/stress/sadness/etc, instead of always trying to make it go away with exercise or other coping mechanisms.

Easier said than done, as it’s taken years of therapy, but next time that antsy stressed feeling comes up, try to just sit with it and accept it, instead of immediately trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

 

[dawn16]

@porcelainrose So many great suggestions here! Just wanted to add one more voice for EMDR, and also for crafting and being creative! I made a quilt top last month, and I already have a second one started because it feels like creative expression to me. I have a friend who is a great baker and baking is one of her stress outlets, I feel like making beautiful things can be relaxing and you feel like you're making your corner of the world a bit brighter.

If you're considering therapy due to trauma or abuse, I would also highly recommend pets! Having a dog has improved my ptsd and decreased my daily watchfulness/vigilance.

Also, if you've got a PC or gaming system, there are so many chill games! Abzu seems very chill (swimming underwater and looking at fishes), I love simulation and building games. There are a lot of not-shooty games that are great for relaxing and winding down

 

[kd_1p48]

@porcelainrose Massages help me a lot because I carry a lot of tension. In particular pressure point therapy.

Meditation.

Reading.

Journaling.

 

[markxiii]

@porcelainrose I am a grad student who's trying to keep an active lifestyle, so I definitely feel you on a lot of aspects.

The thing that never failed me to sort of manage stress is that I daydream. Music is an extremely vital component of my life and I listen to a lot of instrumental/soundtracks and just... go into my own world. Taking the commute made it easy to have that routine, but now that everything is from home, I am now dedicating 30min to 1 hour (even if just before bedtime) to go into my bed, lay down with my earphones and just... day dream.

It's not a nap, but for me it's about as fun as reading and a fantastic way of just winding down. I guess this is the closest thing to this meditation that people keep talking about.

 

[preetcher]

@porcelainrose I’ve really struggled recently and I ended up getting medical help along with therapy, I’m now on 20mg of Prozac and I feel better than I have in years. I have a lot of medical ptsd and have struggled with eating disorders but I absolutely feel brand new. I also suggest a book called the Miracle morning, I’ve done it for about two years now and I love it. Meditation and yoga have also been amazing for my mental health and stress.

 

[dawn16]

@porcelainrose This is a great question. I’m not a person who can “sit with my feelings” or whatever-that shit drives me crazy. If you’re a person who deals through exercise, I’m gonna guess you can’t either. So I suggest: baking, reading, going out with friends, learning a new skill or volunteering. Honestly though-it sounds like you really need a few years of good sleep. Just be sure that whatever coping you try doesn’t end up becoming just as unhealthy you know? If you pick up piano or baking, you don’t need to be Mozart or Martha Stewart. Try to be good to yourself. You deserve peace.

 

[%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%88]

@porcelainrose I recently heard twins Emily and Amelia Nagoski discuss their new book called “Burnout” regarding the stress cycle and how important it is to complete it, because removing yourself from the stressful situation situation isn’t enough of a physiological input for your body to understand that you’re out of harm’s way. They name several ways, physical activity being one of them, breathing exercises, laughter, creative expression, a good cry, and some others.

 

[drdeck]

@porcelainrose

1. Get on a sleep schedule.
2. Eat enough, and eat things with nutrition.
3. Learn to listen to your body's cues.
4. Cut back on whatever is not essential.
5. Do things that bring you joy.
   

And yeah absolutely therapy. It helps me to remember that my brain is the command center of my body. What happens to a system, or a machine, if there's something wrong with the command center? It breaks. Society tells you your mental health is less important than anything else. It's not. Mental health IS physical health because your brain is the most important physical part of you, and it controls everything.

 

[ksg9109]

@porcelainrose

• Meditation
• Any kind of artistic activity - doesn't matter if the result is "good"
• Spending time with animals - if you like animals but don't have any, maybe ask a friend or neighbor if you can play with theirs; as a puppy owner a lot of us are trying to find creative ways to socialize our pups during the pandemic so they might be happy about it
• Calling a friend
• Writing
• Reading a book - if I'm really stressed out I reread old favorites or reach for light books / YA even
• Hobbies - ex learn to knit, play an instrument, bake bread, whatever sounds like fun to you
• Go for a walk somewhere green, sloooowly because the point isn't the exercise; maybe take photos to slow yourself down and make yourself focus on the world around you, or find a green place to just sit instead of walking
• Antidepressants - I'm certainly not saying you should consider meds, I'm just speaking for myself here lolol

 

[dawn16]

@porcelainrose Sounds a bit obvious but have you considered getting really into sleep and sleep hygiene? Like trying ways and methods to get the most hours and highest quality of sleep? Sleep itself is restorative and obviously important for health and relaxation, but all the things you will do to help get you there will also help e.g. baths, mood lighting, breathing exercises etc.

 

[danielfn]

@porcelainrose Adaptogens!
There are somewhere like 12 main kinds. Do some research to find the one that is best for you. Schizandra was literally a lifesaver for me!

 

[trinity101]

@porcelainrose My cortisol is exceptionally high as well. I had two tests, the first was a straight cortisol then i had the one where you take a tablet that is supposed to suppress it and they measure it again.

Mine came down a little with that but was still out of range and my dr said she couldnt tell if it was a ‘false positive due to birth control’ (not really false positive but. Raised by the birth control not by some illness) and basically told me i could assume it was a false positive or come off birth control for 6+ months and pay to get retested.

I opted to wait it out with the option of coming off birth control and retesting later but i don’t think i’ve managed to lower mine much myself to be honest. I’ve been doing meditation and intermittent yoga but it doesn’t even bring my resting heart rate down much. Sometimes ‘forcing’ slow breathing makes me panic

Did they do both tests for you and do you take hormonal birth control? I assume you don’t as you mention losing your period.

 

[porcelainrose]

@trinity101 hi! i actually haven’t had any testing yet, my doctor just suggested to me that given my lifestyle and multitude (!) of physical/mental symptoms, it completely fits the bill. testing will happen in just a bit! ive actually have a non-hormonal IUD for going on 6 years now, i got it all checked out down there very recently and it all looked good apparently! and i’ve not had sex in many moons, lol, so pregnancy is also all the way off the table. unfortunately all the hormonal activity going on is totally my own.

 

[keithfin007]

@porcelainrose Crafting and fibre arts. Switches the area of your brain that's working.

 

[matrix80]

@porcelainrose I've loved getting into things that require my hands: embroidery, rug making, writing/journaling, plants. They require some amount of physical movement and allow me to feel as though I've "done" something that day.

I'm working on meditation. It's very hard to slow down and breathe. But I wish you luck!

 

[jaycel]

@porcelainrose Aside from what other people have suggested I would also mention that cannabis can be a great way to relax as is meditation, journaling and stretching (ya, I know still exercise) but it's important to do mobility and flexibility training so that you have an increased range of motion, reset posture, improve breathing abilities and let your body rest occasionally.

 

[sadmd]

@porcelainrose Crafts. Particularly simple repetitive movements like crochet, cross stitch and embroidery.

 

[amcbarnes]

@porcelainrose I feel compelled to reply as I have had so many similarities from my own lifestyle and have come on leaps and bounds in the past year. I am almost 30, I am in a very high pressure job, I used to get up at 5:45 every morning to do hiit sessions every day (sleeping 5-6hrs a night) and lost my period for 18 months. I have also been dealing with a trauma which I have struggled with for the last 6 years. I restricted my diet more and more. My cortisol levels must have been sky high.

I tried a lot of things to lift this dark cloud. I had therapy and was on medication. I also had weekly acupuncture. Although these things helped me get through the day I never found true release.

Covid arrived. I moved in with my mum for lockdown -
- I stopped spending 90% of the time trying to be 10% thinner - I ate properly
- instead of hiit I walked/light jogged with happy music and picked up dancing again which I hadn’t done in years
- I slept for 12 hours a night for 2 weeks

Suddenly I was out of the hamster wheel that my life had become and I just met my basic needs.

My period came back within a month. I have learned to build a bed routine that teaches my body that it’s time to wind down and so I sleep 8 hours a night, 10 on weekends. As I’m more rested I get more out of the therapy sessions. I have finally found a bit more space in my life and am a lot more calm which means I can rationalise what makes me feel balanced (so I stick to doing those things as much as possible) - this will differ from person to person.

What’s my point? High cortisol levels is your body in a panic state. Go back to basics - sleep, eat, do exercise that you enjoy and that will make you smile and don’t choose hiit just because it is the highest calorie burner. Going through personal trauma is a horrible thing to happen and I’m so sorry you have had that but this often teaches you to be compassionate and it sounds like it’s time to be compassionate to yourself.

Best of luck x

 

[joyfullyhis2347]

@porcelainrose I was in a similar place in my early 20’s, and then EMDR completely changed my life. I urge you to trust your doctor on this.
PTSD has a way of making me feel very very strongly about the “rules” that I follow in my life. Learning how to see the constraints you put on yourself will help you break through to a place where you can make a positive change, because ultimately what you’re seeking is a change.
Breaking my own rules allows me to do the exercises I think are fun simply for the enjoyment of doing it. Breaking my own rules allowed me to change my career to work in a less stressful field. Challenging the expectations you have on yourself is hard, but necessary.

 

[theo2020]

@porcelainrose -Prevention with exercise: I program a deload every 3-4 weeks, even when "I don't want to." That will mean I go lighter and slower for a whole week, or I won't exercise for a whole week.

Non-exercise:

-I call my friends and we go through our yearbooks together

-Pick a project and put things in my Amazon or whatever store's cart. Sometimes I don't buy anything, I just like planning projects and generating ideas. It's like a real-world etsy.

-Find new recipes and make edits.

-Scrapbook or arts and crafts

-Laying down and daydream

-Sitting in the sun

-Making my house smell nice (candles or those plug in things)

-Stretching

-Singing

-Dancing

-Writing reviews of products or movies or books and never sending them. I just like to write.

-Reddit

-Learning things (right now it's animation and singing lessons)

-Finding a nice cozy sweater

-Giving myself the grace and space to ignore people who stress me out. Or just because I need space.

-Trash TV

-Frequent breaks from draining tasks. That may be 10 mins every hour, or one break every few hours. Depends on my needs.

-Background noise during stressful tasks. I might watch mind numbing TV or listen to songs when I have to work on something difficult

-Drink tea while wrapped in a cozy blanket

-Naps