From running through schedules, fixing meals, paying bills, planning events, walking the dog to school drop-offs, date nights and more, our pursuits keep growing each day and we feel stressed, crushed and pressured. And the greatest pursuit is trying to keep it all together and putting up a strong front. In theory, stress isn’t all that bad, it does help us cope with our situations, perform tasks, prepares us, strengthens us and helps us grow through our problems. In reality, we still need skills and tools to help us face, tolerate and break through stress. One skill that is simple and easy to practice is called self-soothing.
Self-soothing refers to practices that help calm or soothe our five senses while experiencing feelings of stress, exhaustion or fatigue. Self-soothing doesn’t necessarily resolve the stressor or cause of stress, but it helps us face and cope with our feelings until we are ready to work through and resolve the actual situation/circumstance.
We perceive the world around us through our five senses and each of them sends messages to the brain, through which we interpret reality and make judgments. When we help our senses to feel calm and soothed, they send “we’re safe” messages to the brain, which then helps us to actually feel calm and grounded. This feeling strengthens us in the face of stress and exhaustion.
Here are ways we can calm and soothe our different senses:
Smell: Sniff a comforting scent, take a whiff of roses or inhale diffused essentials oil for aromatherapy.
Taste: Drink warm chamomile tea, eat your favorite snacks, or grab a pick-me-up.
Hearing: Play a calming soundtrack, talk to a loved one, or hum favorite tunes.
Vision: Look at memorable photographs, walk into nature, watch a feel-good movie or read a book.
Touch: Move your body, practice deep breathing, hug a loved one, wrap yourself up in a weighted blanket or apply your favorite body products.
Here’s how you can make this work for you. Get a little crafty and create your own DIY self-soothing box filled with prompts or things to soothe your different senses! Make a list of the different things that might help you when you’re stressed (peek into the above ideas to spark your imagination). Fill the box with prompts such as “make yourself some chamomile tea”, “go for a walk” and/or things such as photographs, fragrance strips, playlists, movie titles or more from your list (try not to drop in anything edible since you don’t want the ants to find them before you do)! If you’d prefer a digital self-soothing list, that works perfectly fine too.
When feelings of stress get overwhelming, grab this self-soothing box or open your self-soothing note to give you tons of reminders of what you can do to feel better. This tool is all about making things easier as you cope through your emotions.
Grab an old shoe box and get started!