Do you have those days when you feel like yeast-less bread because of being stressed out? Life can cook up many challenges, and at this time of the year we are starting to feel just a tad stressed. The demands of work, emails, projects, correcting, meetings, trainings, volunteering, and planning for the upcoming holidays, can certainly make us feel like a dense flop.

Well, try not to be discouraged and give up on the recipe of less stress. Here are some key ingredients to make sure your stressed-out days turn around and become like sweet morsels to the soul:

Eat dessert: Dessert first, please. Stressed spelled backwards equals desserts. Sweeten your day by dishing up a small bowl of ice cream, savoring a chocolate chip cookie, or sinking your teeth into a juicy apple. All are sweet morsels for our palate and our soul. No – we didn’t say enjoy with no limits. If that is what you think you read, then refer to our September blog regarding the SACS 30 Day Challenge.

Color: Who says you have to be a kid to color. Find a box of crayons, a coloring book, and a quiet spot and color away. Oh the joys of coloring. It will make you smile. Do try to refrain from taking over your (or someone else’s) child’s school project, however. One of us can tend to get carried away with coloring and needs a reminder that we passed first grade already. Anyway – if you don’t like to color then try this…

Zentangle®: Maybe doodling would be more calming. Use Zentangle® to relax and create a beautiful doodling image. Check out the Zentangle® Beginners website to get started; it will definitely help you find your zen.

Laugh: Laugh out loud daily and laugh often. Try this…when you wake up in the morning and before you get out of bed, force yourself to laugh. It’ll seem so silly that you’ll end up laughing…out loud. Okay – we might be going over the edge with this one. LOL.

Walk: Any type of exercise will help the stress disappear. Walk, run, play racquetball, ride a bike, or dance Zumba style. Just move and it’s guaranteed that you will be less stressed.

Hot bath: Remember the commercial, “Calgon, take me away?” Take its advice and take a nice hot bath and lose yourself in luxury. Feel the stress wash away. Speaking of bath…

Sing: Just like Julia Roberts did in her movie, Pretty Woman, sing like no one is listening. Play your favorite music. Pretend to be Carrie Underwood, Prince, or even Chris Rice on his Pandora station and belt it out.

Drink: Drink lots and lots of H2O. It is said you are supposed to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water. So, if you weigh 120 pounds, you should be drinking 60 ounces of water a day. Dehydration can cause lots of bad side effects so stay hydrated!

Read: Pick up a book and connect with a character.  Read to someone else. Let someone read to you.  Read alone. But read! Reading can truly take you places if you only let your imagination take you there. It is definitely a stress-buster and reading is part of the recipe for success.

Unplug: Smart phones, computers, iPads, Kindles, and all electronic devices can drain us of energy throughout the day. Give your devices a curfew and shut them down at that time. Take a mini vacation from your technologies and you’ll be recharged in the morning just like your devices will be. Goodnight iPad, good night Doom, good night bird launching over the moon….Good night pop stars, good night MacBook Air, goodnight gadgets everywhere.

Take charge of your stress so the day won’t be a dense flop. Just like you are in charge of baking up some light, fluffy, airy bread; you can also be in charge of whipping up a light, fluffy, airy day. Throw on that apron and make each day delicious!

Stay Calm & Lead On!
Profs Dr. C. & Dr. V.