Following *Butternut*

My stress buster is pulling a room apart and giving it a good scrub out, and if that has not worked I move on to the next room, and by then I might not have dealt with the stressed but I am worn out.

Well I guess i can relate to that (she says doubtfully, being not really into housework) but when my son was on high dose chemo and therefore vulnerable to infection, i cleaned like a demon (relatively) . And cooked.
But when it comes to trying to calm myself down I draw on the things I have learned from antenatal teaching and yoga. Deep relaxation. A range of breathing techniques. And also, getting outdoors and exercising.
Talking to someone on the phone. Talking to a professional counsellor.
When i am really fed up I do forget to use these resources.
Playing solitaire is one I would like to give up.

kitty and glass - would you like to come and de-stress in my house? I am a very reluctant cleaner so you would get satisfaction from seeing a huge difference when finished.
My stress-busters would be gardening or brisk walking, I hate being indoors.

ooooh ...what a wonderful idea shysal!

Please come to my home too ...kitty and glass ...you'd be sooooo relaxed by the time you'd got my home sorted!

I find knitting very relaxing ...or doing some internet research on something I'm curious about.

I don't get stressed often enough (or my house is so grubby!!) to offer my services around. I also garden shysal but it's too miserable out there for that at the moment!

I have found that hurling buttered cream crackers at a mirror disperses all feelings of stress.

absent what a fab way to stress-bust!

Yes, absent - but who cleans up?

I always find that I am so relaxed by that time that it is no problem to clear up – once I've stopped laughing.

I was stressed this morning, but then I looked out the window and saw the full arc of a rainbow above the Bristol channel with a lovely blue sky!
See we needed that emoticon!

I walk in the mountains or if it is night and I cannot sleep, I picture that first glimpse of the coral reef as I swim out over the sea grass.

Greatnan for sharing a beautiful experience with us

absent, I LOVE your stress buster! I laughed out loud. What a good way to make one clean a mirror too! I suppose it would work with windows as well.

What I do is go and chop some wood or wander round my garden looking for the tiniest plants, like Bog Pimpernel, or cudweed, to see if they are still where I saw them last. Weird really, but they are so tiny and so "hangin' on in there" that I find them encouraging.

I am buttering cream crackers now
I too laughed out loud and I haven't done that for a couple of weeks[Thanks]

On a serious note, there is quite a difference between feeling down and feeling stressed.

I once threw a plate of spag bol at my OG. My DS was only a few weeks old and I was at the end of my tether and he in my eyes was being very unreasonable to be going out again so I just lost it and threw the plate at hi. He moved and the spag bol slid down the door, he then went out and I had to clean it up, but I was laughing at myself as I was cleaning it up, never did it again.

My MIL used to polish silver (she had a lot) when she was stressed. When DH had his transplant she came to stay after he came home as I had to go to work and, not knowing about the silver fetish habit, I felt quite aggrieved at all this (apparently useless) effort (we also have a bit) - I would much rather she had done the ironing or hoovered!!
I can understand it now - a mindless repetitive task, preferably to a background of Womans' Hour is very soothing.

I'm a big cleaner in times of stress and worry - the activity gets rid of some of the negative worry behaviour like endlessly drinking tea and going to the loo and then I feel so good that the fears I have are allayed by being clean and organised. Don't know how or why but it seems to work. before i was trying to lose weight I would bake enormous batches of cakes and scones which rose even better if I was angry!

When I had two under-twos I used to make a big pan of porridge for DH and me for an early breakfast while they were still asleep, then add some water and reheat it for the children a couple of hours later. One morning I inadvertently left the heat on under the pan between breakfasts, and by the time I had one child in a highchair and the other sat up at the table, all of us hungry, there was nothing but a dried-up gluey lump. I swore and hurled the pan into the sink.Then I saw that an arc of sticky porridge had decorated the still-closed venetian blinds. It was less dried-up than it looked.

I agree - it is easier to clean up while you are laughing (and feeding toast to the children)

phoenix I agree, which is why I started a different thread. To me, feeling "down" or "blue", so long as it is a passing feeling and not true depression, means a bit of self-indulgence is ok but, when I am stressed, it feels like an explosion is on the way and needs to be diverted hence the cleaning I suppose. Best not to waste a good burst of energy!

JessM - I'm addicted to Solitaire too and wish I could stop. Hours seem to pass in the blink of an eye and my mind is totally switched off.
I also use Rescue Remedy when things get too much.

If I am feeling stressed I clean all the paintwork,door frames skirting boards and window frames,DHs always remarks to Barney our JR "look out mate you could be next if you stand still for more than 5 mins" thankfully it does not happen too often

Sorry haven't been around for a bit. I've been away. (In my head.)
Lots of stressful things happening - a grandson in trouble, a daughter depressed because she didn't find a house (she's being pushed out of her temporary council one because two of her sons have now left home) then very tense because the next house she found - to be seen on Monday - they want her, if she accepts, to move into by Feb 7th....yes, true!
Then she got bad toothache. When she is stressed, so am I.
Last week I painted the outside loo, nearly finished, which helped...then hurt my back.....

...but I read the Newsletter and had a good laugh, now feeling better.
I threw a frying pan at my H once.
I too am hypnotised by solitaire, and try not to play it, but it keeps happening...
My daughter does cleaning, but I hate cleaning, what ever I feel like.
Perhaps I should dig out my Rescue Remedy.