How to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

We all have our ways to relieve stress and relax. You might go for a run, hit the gym, paint. There are many ways one can relieve stress. Writing is one way. And for a person like me who does all of the aforementioned activities above, writing beats all of them.

Writing is a helpful tool more than it is an act or an art. A lot of people don’t write because they think it requires a level of expertise or talent. When you are born, you first learn how to walk, and then how to talk. The third and fourth skill you learn is how to read and write. So writing is, in essence, a necessary tool rather than a gift or talent.

Once you understand this then you realize there is nothing stopping you from putting pen to paper. The beauty of writing is that you can write about anything and you can do it anywhere. You don’t need a stadium or a stage, you can write from wherever you are right now. On your laptop, or your phone. On the tube ride home, or sitting at the park taking in a nice cool breeze.

We all have thoughts and ideas constantly racing through our mind throughout every hour of every day. It can be a burden weighing down on our emotional psyche to keep those thoughts and emotions bouncing around inside our heads. Writing is a great way to relieve stress because it helps you process your thoughts and emotions in an organized manner. It allows you to introspect and address the topics that you care about the most. You release all those bottled up ideas.

Having your thoughts and emotions written down in front of you in clear, concise written words does wonders to relieve stress and unclutter your mind. The beauty of it is in the simplicity. It takes nothing to sit down with a pad and pen, or a laptop, and just allow your fingers to roam across the keys, tapping one letter after another, forming your opinions, bringing them to life, all while relieving you from your stress.

Maybe it isn’t stress at all, rather anxiety or frustration from doing nothing. Writing is a great hobby to have, to fill up that daunting free time. It provides that much-needed self-meditation. A moment of isolation, to take a deep breath and provide your afternoon with an hour of keeping your hands active, draining the thoughts that have clogged up your head.

Also, the process of creating is in and of itself, a release and a relief. The satisfaction of having created something, and enjoying the final product, helps your mind release dopamine, allowing you to feel happy and motivated.

You can keep the final written piece to yourself, or you can share it with the rest of the world, and allow others to partake in your ideas. Don’t be afraid to write without boundaries. Just be yourself. In the end, the process is about you. It’s about allowing a moment of ease to offload the weight of the thousand thoughts your mind has carried throughout the week. Don’t wait to feel stressed to start writing. Start writing now and train your brain to get used to the process. So that when you do feel anxious, your mind is already aware that this is how you relieve stress.