Six Ways to De-Stress That Don’t Involve Food or Alcohol

We all have those days. Either we come home from work with shoulders tight with stress or simply emerge from our living room wired for sound. We need a way to take a break, get 10 minutes to relax our muscles and our minds, hit the reset button because bedtime isn’t even on the horizon. Cue the bottle opener and cut out the center of that pan of brownies and…

Wait. What happens if we don’t like alcohol, or are in a non-drinking season of life? What about those times when baking a pan of brownies is it’s own rabbit trail of stress and triggers? Where do we go then?

Here are six quick non-alcohol or food-related ways to kick stress to the curb, hit refresh, and get your head back in the game.

  1. Take a walk. You don’t have to power walk and you don’t have to go five miles. If you’ve got ten minutes, grab your shoes and GO. Around the block, around the yard, the movement and change of scenery can have you focused in no time. Conversely, sometimes the weather is just not having it.  In which case, load up a Yoga By Adriene video on YouTube and stretch it out.
  2. Take a shower. I found during college (when a bathtub was out of the question) that a quick hot shower was a great way to hit the reset button. Even now that I have a bathtub, setting up for a good long soak takes more time that I have most days. I still defer to a super hot shower and then get back at it.  
  3. Set a timer and invest in a hobby. I love to read, look at shoes I can’t afford online, or scroll through Instagram.  Sometimes all three and all of them done in the closet where no one can find me and ask for things. My friends sew, knit, paint, scrapbook, garden, and play music. (Gosh, I love them). As moms we hear it all the time but do we really hear it — take the time to continue to stoke that hobby that fills your bucket.
  4. Get outside. A little fresh air can be a mood-changer. Maybe you like to garden or work in the yard. Even if you don’t (I’ll raise my hand here) picking up sticks in the yard while taking some deep breaths can reduce my stress level. Sometimes, I’ll pick to sit on my covered deck or watch a storm roll in from the garage.  It’s still fresh air. It’s still outside.
  5. Try meditation or deep breathing. This takes practice. I’m still not a master of meditation but it’s a quick little exercise that helps me focus. As for deep breathing, once you start to notice your breathing, you might start to remind yourself to breathe more fully throughout the day. Oxygen is life. Take it all in.
  6. Dance it out. This is probably my favorite one. Anyone else? Turn up the radio and go for it. Most songs are less than five minutes so maybe string together a couple. Shake out your stress, and breathe in deep and feel your mood change while you’re at it. Word of caution: many parking lots are now equipped with cameras. If you’re going to dance it out in/by your car, dance like someone IS watching and just waiting to make you internet famous.  

I work in wine and spirits so for me, wine is my job.  It’s also the one thing outside of my family, friends, and pay equity that gets all of my passion. I take wine (and brownies) seriously, so it’s rarely my go-to stress reliever.  Maybe my hobby is looking for new ways to transition from work to weekend, or put a particularly stressful day on the shelf. Help me out!

What are your favorite ways to leave stress in the dust?

Kristina Haahr
Kristina is an El Dorado native who spent a lot of years trying to live "anywhere else.” She returned to El Dorado with husband Chuck (m. 1994) and their children Isaac (b. 1998) and Isabelle (b. 2003). A SAHM for 16 years, Kristina is now a wine rep for Demo Sales Inc., living her dream of a wine-saturated life. Kristina is a Geographer (BS K-State), Historian (MA WSU), and wrangler of two tiny dogs. She loves to travel, shop for shoes, and spend time with her teenagers, though she’s probably on her back porch saying “there’s no place like home.”