13 Natural Stress Relieving Activities

There are many reasons that we may feel more stressed out from time to time, but what is most important is that we learn how to manage our stress naturally. These 13 natural stress relieving activities can help you stay calm even when life gets crazy.

13 Natural Stress Relieving Activities

Read a Book

Sometimes getting lost in a great book is the perfect way to de-stress and relax. For me, I’m really not a huge reader, but I love learning and listening to podcasts or listening to audio books. So figure out what is best for you and start enjoying the calm.

Watch Your Favorite Movie

Many of us have that “go-to” movie that we could watch on a rainy day. Mine is probably “You got Mail” or “When Harry Met Sally” – I could watch these any day and go to my happy place!

Think about movies that make you smile and happy. Put one on and just laugh!

Take a nap

Full disclosure, I can’t nap… or at least I don’t nap very well. It takes me about 45 minutes to fall asleep and then I don’t feel very good when I wake up… so this isn’t a very good strategy for me – but sometimes just closing my eyes and laying down in a calm room is enough for me to recharge and get back to my day on the right foot.

Bake or cook something you love

Now, baking or cooking something fun that tastes delicious is a great way to get rid of stress and get your mind into some of the best things in life… food!

For some of my favorites, check out my healthy recipes here.

Take a bath

When I was pregnant, I would take more baths because it would help my joint pain and help me relax. Epsom salt is a great natural stress relief tool, so if you are going to take a bath I would recommend adding 1-2 cups of epsom salts to help you get in magnesium.

Magnesium is a natural stress relief and so many of us are deficient in it, so it’s always something you can add to your relaxing bath for best results!

Health Tip: Magnesium is best absorbed through the skin, so taking a bath is the perfect way to supplement with this natural stress relieving mineral.

Turn on some meditation or relaxing music

We started playing relaxing music for our girls at bedtime, because it was taking them forever to calm down after a fun filled day. This technique is so easy, because you can just close your eyes and enjoy the music (maybe even when you are taking your bath!)

Watch a funny video

Who doesn’t love to laugh? You can just feel the stress leaving your body after a good hard laugh. So find some funny videos that you love. Honestly, if you haven’t hopped on TikTok yet, I would totally escape for a laugh.

Yes, it is a fast growing platform – and for a lot of reason because people want a place to escape and just have fun!

Call a friend just to chat

We are always better when we are connected. If you can’t find a time to catch up with a friend over a coffee date – then hop on the phone and share a good story with each other.

Don’t use this time to complain or rehash what is going wrong in your life… but use it as a time for connection.

Spend 5 minutes of deep breathing

I don’t know about you, but I hold a lot of stress in. I can feel my back and shoulders get tighter and tighter when I’m feeling stressed. One easy strategy that has worked really well for me is just practicing deep breathing exercises.

You can learn the best skills from yoga videos, but if you aren’t quite ready for that then just breath in slowly through your nose and out your mouth. Controlled and steady breathing.

Drink a cup of tea or coffee

Now, I’m a totally coffee drinker and don’t love drinking tea. In all honesty, you would be best by drinking a warm cup of chamomile tea… but since I know myself and I know that wouldn’t happen, haha, I would pick a cup of coffee instead.

Coffee has a lot of great health benefits that you may not even know about, but for me just drinking a warm cup of coffee can help me relax and get rid of stress.

Diffuse lavender oil

Essential oils are a great way to help you relax and get rid of stress through aromatherapy. I personally have used lavender oil the most because it is a great essential oil to start with.

Spend time outside in nature

My happy place is walking outside on a trail through the woods. Thankfully we have a ton of those types of trails here in Arkansas! But if you don’t have access to nice trails, find a place where you can be outside and just enjoy nature.

I know for me just listening to the birds chirping and the wind blowing the leaves is enough to help me calm down.

Read positive quotes or daily affirmations

If you haven’t heard before that your thoughts control your life, I’m a firm believer that if you want to change something it starts with what you are thinking. One powerful daily action you can start doing today is using daily affirmations.

These are statements or ideas that you want to see come true or see yourself becoming that you read and repeat daily.

If you change your thoughts, you change your life!

You can grab my daily affirmations here.