Release stress and emotions from your body by trying these simple ideas. When we form habits that cleanse our body of anxiety, pain, & tension on a regular basis, this makes life very nice.
We all have emotional stress in our bodies; from an early age, we learn to “hold things in”, stop breathing, clamp our teeth, curl our toes, hold a fist, tighten our stomach, and more.
Your body can be like a garbage can for all of this emotional stress & tension through the years, until at some point, it’s full. Now, your poor body has too much tension (Trash) built up, needs a break, and needs you to “take out the trash”!
This is why the pains “just show up overnight from no-where”.
“I was doing fine last week, and now I have constant shoulder pain.” You can fill in “your pain” to that last sentence.
Here are 19 simple ways you can release stress and emotion from your body! The best way to use this list is to see how many you can add together!
You got this! Take a deep breath! ?
Related: How Does Your Body Ask For Help?
Disclaimer: Check with your doctor to see if you are in good enough health for these activities. Try these ideas at your own risk.
1. Breathe Deeply
- 2 second breath in
- 10 second hold
- 3 second breath out
- 3-10 times per day
Breathing deeply, as an intentional way to cleanse your body of emotional stress, is the quickest & easiest action to choose on this list!
This can be done anywhere: in the car, in bed, in the shower, sitting in a class or in front of an interview. No special equipment is needed! It’s instant.
The difference is your INTENTION, and you KNOW that this action is to create calm and to relieve any anxiety or stress you are feeling right now.
You will get better at this, and each area: breath in, hold breath, breath out, will get easier and will increase in time.
This seems so simple and obvious, but so many of us have tension in our bodies because of how much we hold our breath!
Do you catch yourself holding your breath?
Maybe you needed to stay quiet in a corporate fight, in a hide n seek game as a kid, or in a combat situation? These are times when holding your breath really paid off!
But, not so much when you are trying to be calm, relaxed and simply aware.
We breathe differently in the U.S., using more of our neck muscles and the “fight or flight” set of breathing muscles instead of our diaphragm.
Really be mindful of which muscles you tighten when you take a deep breath, and you can teach yourself how to control some of the torso tension you feel.
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2. Meditate
- Sit quietly
- Count your breath
- Think only about the breath
- 5-10 minutes per day
Meditation has been offered as stress relieving help for 1000’s of years, yet it’s very under used.
We do not teach our children consistently how to meditate, at least in the U.S.. Some countries make it front and center, and that is positive for their entire country’s future.
But please try this, read the many books about it and make it a part of your daily life.
Your mind will wander. It will fight with you and declare that this is a waste of time. You are so busy and there is entirely too much to do. Trying to meditate is just a waste of time, says your mind.
The monkey mind will jump from the grocery list, to yesterday’s fight with your spouse, to today’s news stories at breakfast. It will seem completely logical to abandon all meditation practice.
Yet, this practice is all you need to find the calm you are looking for. And, your monkey mind is wrong. Just scared.
Keep practicing. Even 1 minute per day.
3. Pray
- Write down 5 people/things to pray for
- Add your own healing to the prayer list
- Make statements you can memorize
- Have pictures handy to make visualizing the people/things you are praying for easy to see in your mind’s eye
Prayer can be a very powerful form of cleansing emotional stress from their body, yet many people don’t add themselves to the list to pray for.
Be specific with what you are requesting, visualize it, and pray for it daily.
Add 5 others to be thankful for and pray not only for their need, but FOR their existence. Be grateful for them. Send them love with your prayers and gratitude. Visualize you hugging them, serving them, encouraging them.
Also, see them listening to you, and what you are praying for and requesting. See them hugging you, and offering their support, love, encouragement & healing to you.
I see the Holy Spirit in the form of bright light, coming into my body and cleansing me, and going to whom I’m praying for and healing them.
Depending on how you pray, this may be a helpful visualization for you. But, how ever you pray, add yourself & send gratitude, healing and love to 5 others.
Related: What Is Emotional Pain?
4. Stretch
- Stretch your arms above your head
- Twist in both directions
- Touch your toes
- Cat & cow stretch
- 5 minutes per day
Stretching is an amazing daily habit to have in your life and is one of the best ways to release stress and emotions from your body!
When you have more flexibility in your muscles and joints, this improves how fast you heal from injury, how fast you recover from a cold, AND, in my opinion, creates flexible THINKING & Observation as well.
It can be as simple as raising your arms above your head, or rolling your wrists in a circle.
Specific motion indicates awareness of your body and the needs it has, which shows a certain teamwork.
This teamwork is missing, or at least diminished in 1000’s of clients I do massage on. They are simply unaware in their thinking of what their body is feeling. “I feel great after my car accident rollover!” Yet, when I press on their back, the entire body tenses and they feel pain. “Wow, I didn’t realize I hurt there.”
They aren’t aware of what their body is up to.
THIS disconnect, and bridging that gap between our body’s movement and our ego’s awareness of the body’s movement is reason enough to stretch daily.
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5. Exercise Lightly
- Walk in place
- Go for a walk
- Sit down & stand up several times
Exercise in general helps our bodies release stress and emotions.
I say “Exercise Lightly” which means different things to different people. What I mean here is to “Exercise calmly to Intensionally relieve stress WITHOUT causing bodily harm”.
Some people exercise daily anyway, and some of those exercise enthusiasts exercise TOO much, hurting their bodies ever so slightly each day by doing so. They know they are pushing it too hard, and when a doctor, friend or spouse gently suggests that they might back it off at bit, the exerciser gets angry.
On the outside, these exercisers seem healthy and very grounded and balanced, but when they get injured to a point where they CAN’T physically exercise for a time…they are unable to deal with the stress that they felt was “dealt with” by exercising.
If this is you, please choose a different option to release emotional stress from your body, like meditation or writing in a journal, or crying.
For the purpose of this list, to exercise to relieve stress means to happily move your body on a walk or hike, to do a gentle yoga class or throw a ball with your kids. NOT running a 5 minute mile without shoes on, or spending 3 hours in the gym trying to better your Personal Record.
Just calmly move.
6. Hot Bath With Aromatherapy
- Draw a hot bath
- Add a bath bomb or baking soda & drops of aromatherapy oils
- Soak for 20 minutes
A hot bath is a wonderful way to release stress and emotions from your body! This has been used for centuries and is simple and easy.
Try to use the hottest water you can handle, have a big glass of water close by, put towels or other padding under your tail bone and behind your head so you can truly relax.
Another tip is to have a small towel near by to wipe sweat and water from your face.
Breathing in the wonderful smells you have added to the water is a big bonus in this “Me-Time”. Try some lovely bath bombs from LUSH!
Maybe you have some wonderful candles to create a calming atmosphere.
Add some soothing music, or just STAY QUIET. I prefer quiet, since I’m around noise all day long.
If you need to, lock yourself in the bathroom. My entire family, kids, dogs, and husband have been know to “check on me” all at the same time!!! Just keep in mind that keeping the door unlocked is better in case you slip… just sayin.
7. Tea Time
- Heat the water
- Pick your tea
- Pour the hot water, and sip
Did you know that tea is the most consumed beverage in the world? It’s true! The U.S. is a bit behind on the best beverage for stress relief, but we have been catching up.
Drinking hot tea is a wonderful way to release stress and emotions from your body! It’s not just the drinking of the tea that helps, but the entire process, from the choosing of a tea flavor, to the sound of the hot water pouring to the smell of it all.
The heat of the tea cup in your hands is just has calming as the warm liquid soothing your body.
Another strong form of stress relief with tea drinking, is with whom you get to sit and enjoy this time with. Even if it’s alone time, this is a quiet moment to breathe, reflect and to visit, if you are lucky enough to have a friend to sit with.
Here in Albuquerque, we are lucky enough to have St. James Tea Room, in which to meet great friends for tea and crumpets. But, you can easily create this time at home for yourself or with some friends.
Tea time relieves stress, anxiety and can boost your immune system, help you sleep and so much more.
Drinking tea is a smart habit to have.
Related Article: How Tea Can Benefit Your Self-Care Routine
8. Hot Shower
- Take a long, hot shower with aromatherapy
- Add singing, deep breathing, prayer & visualization
- Shower stretches
Cleansing our bodies is important and daily, but doesn’t always include even a moment to relax and enjoy the moment.
Take a hot shower with the intention of releasing stress and emotions from your body!
Feel the heat relaxing your muscles, and the water running down your skin, taking all worry and anxiety with it. Add a shower spritzer (like a bath bomb but smaller) to add safe aromatherapy to the steam.
Maybe dim the lights? Possibly add a chair to your shower and sit for a bit?
Try some simple “shower stretches” with your neck under the water, and add some rib cage stretches under the running water.
Heat and water have a wonderful way of dissolving stress away, and doing so in a shower makes it available quicker than with a bath, and for those who may not a have a bathtub.
Also, if you are in a hotel with only a shower, you can use that hot water to relax your shoulder muscles and calm a tight neck.
As with all the items on this list, taking a hot shower with the INTENTION of relaxing, makes it possible.
9. Hydration
- Drink water or good tea
- Use good oils to eat
- Rub nurturing oil and lotions on your skin
Hydration is an important piece in the road to healing and releasing stress and emotions from your body.
Remember to hydrate your body with plenty of water, but also to give it plenty of good oils for your joints to utilize, and oils to keep your largest organ: your skin, Lucious and happy.
Dehydration is a HUGE FACTOR in disease! Sometimes, a muscle pain, constipation, headache, joint pain, lack of sleep can be traced back to lack of hydration in the body.
First of all, make sure this isn’t you. It’s the MOST IMPORTANT daily habit each human needs.
It’s such a simple fix, and I’ve seen people be very stubborn about this, swearing that they are drinking “plenty”, but they don’t take into account the coffee, alcohol, salt, and sugar they are consuming which cancels out the little water they actually drink.
Love your body. Give it plenty of good, plain water.
For those of you who consume a healthy amount of water, please also include some nutritious oils on your skin, and some lovely oils on your foods.
Hydrate both inside and out, and your body will thank you by working and feeling better.
This item on our list to release stress and emotions from the body can easily be added to other items! Be creative!
10. Massage
- Get a professional massage or
- Ask your spouse/partner
- Do self-massage
Massage is healing, and if every person had a massage once a week, our world would be a more loving and understanding place.
When you feel like you just can’t get to your emotional stress or you don’t understand why you are suddenly hurting out of no where, getting a massage is a great place to start.
Massage is one of the best ways to release stress and emotions from your body, and it feels great, so double score!
Be open and tell your body that it can let go, and maybe you can get some insight to why & how your body is feeling pain & tension.
Our muscles and body motions tell a story and a massage therapist can read that for you and help interpret your body language for you to understand it better. If the statement, “tell your body that it can let go” is very strange for you, then getting a massage is great, because your body will understand this as the massage is going on.
Maybe you can’t get to a professional massage therapist, and don’t have someone around to help. Instead, you can try some self massage techniques on your neck, head, hands and feet that can get the ball rolling.
Use some nice oils or lotions and start with your feet or with your neck. Go slow, do your best, and just know that touch with loving intension is always healing. So, be loving and compassionate to yourself.
11. Talk To A Trusted Person
- Talk to a trusted person for 10-60 minutes
- Make a dedicated appointment time
“Talking it out” really does work to release stress & emotions from your body.
It’s not easy to find a person who has earned that right with trust, compassion and understanding, or who has the time when you are ready to talk. But, if you have someone, this is an amazing way to let things out.
Finding a counselor or therapist is helpful, but also not always available.
You don’t need to have someone in front of you, and you can always call someone with whom you can share.
Once you have a person, be open, honest and vulnerable with this special listening opportunity to help you destress. Don’t beat around the bush; instead, get right to the hard parts.
The best thing I can suggest is to notice where your body tightens up when you are talking about certain subjects. You may notice tension in your neck or chest, in your low back or your hands forming a fist.
These responses are different for every person, but there will be a reaction in your body to the subjects that are deep, hidden and hard to admit or talk about.
If you can put physical tension together with specific subjects, you have made a huge step into healing your emotional stress. The next step is to have the conversation and NOT respond with the physical tension. This takes practice. And talking it out is a great way to do this homework.
12. Write In A Journal
- Write one page per day
- Use writing prompts if needed
Writing can be healing and effective to cleanse your body of emotional stress.
Sometimes we don’t have someone to talk to, or don’t want to share these thoughts with anyone. But, the act of writing is very helpful to release your emotional stress, and you can get a lot of feelings on paper that would be harmful to say to someone in person.
Also, when using a “stream of consciousness” style of writing, you can write to yourself and read back to have a revelation of ideas or truths you didn’t realize before.
Write your feelings down.
Just like when you are talking it out, you can also write it out, to support deep guttural physical pains to leave your body.
As a great piece of body homework, you can pay attention to your body as you are writing and notice where you get tight when writing about certain subjects. **Noticing is the first step.** The next step is to write about the same subject yet keep your body calm instead of tensing up. How do you do this? Start by breathing deeply when you feel the tension start to happen.
Writing is a great daily habit!
13. Laugh
- Belly laugh at a movie or joke
- Laugh with friends/family
- The best kind is when your sides hurt afterwards
Laughing is a fun way to release stress and emotions from your body. Not just a chuckle, mind you, though this helps also.
I mean a hurt-your-6-pack-abs, make-you-pee, snot-rolling-down-your-lip type of laughter! The best kind.
Sometimes you can create this type of laughter with a tickle fight, or a round of jokes with friends.
One of the best reasons laughter is so helpful for releasing emotional pain and tension is that you don’t need to say ANYTHING about what’s bothering you or what has been bottled up. The laughing goes right to the spot and lets it go.
Another way to create this type of cathartic laughter is to watch some great comedies, or movies that have both funny parts and sad parts.
Sometimes, when we are holding onto some deep feelings that cause pain in our body, the thought of letting them go can be scary or overwhelming.
So, if you find yourself in the middle of a tickle fight or a great movie at the very funny part and you aren’t laughing, try to let go. Notice where you are tense, tight, holding on.
Possibly in your neck? Or stomach? Have you stopped breathing? Or is your jaw very tight or locked?
It’s ok if you didn’t laugh during a funny part. If you recognized that fact, you are already healing, by taking the first step.
14. Cry
- Cry hard, with actual tears and hard breathing
- If it’s hard for you to cry, watch a sad movie
- When you feel your throat tightening or hurting, try to relax and breath
Crying is the quickest way to release stress and emotions from your body! Over all the other options on this list, crying is the most powerful!
“Having a GOOD CRY” has been something all cultures talk about to let go of emotional tension. It’s powerful and gets right to the tension and/or pain.
Sometimes this type of crying comes on without warning, and can surprise you, but try NOT TO STOP IT.
Having stopped this in the past is possibly why you have deeply stuffed tension in the first place. Notice the embarrassment, or the fear associated with this display, and where your body tightens up. Is it your throat? Or your chest?
Having a pattern of holding emotions back, with even years in between, can have an intense and negative effect on your body!
Not only can this pattern stop you from crying, but it can also stop ANY emotion, ANY feelings of pain, until you are not easy to be with, even with yourself. But, you survived. And that, my friend, was amazing at one point in your life, and kept you alive and is deserving of some kudos.
But that was then.
Now, it’s time to finally heal. Find the space, the safety and the time to belly cry and let it go.
If you want to let go of stress, emotional pain, grief, anxiety and tension in your body, crying the is BEST way.
15. Dance & Sing
- Dance to music at home like no one is watching
- Dance in the car
- Sing in the shower or car
- Dance & Sing while cleaning your house
Dancing moves the body in ways that can loosen even the deepest of tension. You can start slow, even sitting down, moving to some good music and your body will thank you.
And Singing vibrates the throat which helps it let go of emotional stress! So sing when you are in the shower, or in your car. Even humming helps. You can hum certain sounds and really help.
The tension built up in our bodies over the years from stress takes its toll, and one of the ways it can be so debilitating is when we don’t move.
Movement is one of the main ways we release stress and emotions from your body!
But, many of us don’t move much anymore. Not intentionally to let go of tension, anyway. Instead, we move to get a job done, or get from place to place, or doing exercise because it’s part of the “to-do list” instead of fun & playful.
These ways of moving our bodies help a bit, but over time can hold our tension even more in certain areas.
Dancing is a creative way to move muscles we don’t think about everyday, yet are important in how our bodies let go and heal. Singing is a natural part of dancing and you can add joy to your movements.
Listen to some of your favorite music, move with it a bit, sing a bit, then try to move more and more.
If you have someone to dance & sing with, even better! Try to break a sweat, to laugh and breathe deeply! Respect and honor what your body can do, and let it flow.
16. Garden
- Get your hands in some dirt and plant a few things
- Tend a garden, pulling weeds and caring for the plants
- Make a vegetable garden in a few pots, especailly if you don’t have much room
- Hand water some plants, trees or grass
Gardening is very grounding and can refresh your body with fresh air and sunshine. Grounding yourself emotionally is very helpful in the healing cycle. I have found that this area tends to be associated with deeper emotional pains and back pains.
When we are grounded, we look at **what is**, and not how we feel about what is, or think about what is.
A major life event, like a move, getting fired, the loss of a loved one, etc, can change us. We can sometimes loose being grounded and don’t know where we belong in our world anymore.
There are volumes of books about this, but one of the simple ways to get grounded is to garden.
When you get down in the dirt and use your hands to make a hole with tools, this helps you. Use dirt and water to plant seeds or a plant, the dirt “brings you down to earth” and grounds you.
It’s a way of being “present” with right now, and thinking about nothing else but what is in your hands, right in front of you.
Gardening is also a great way to grow gratitude.
When you are in your thoughts too much and you get headaches, acid reflux and can’t sleep, find or make a garden. You can pot some potted plants with your bare hands to release some stress and emotional “in your head too much” tension.
17. Go Into Nature
- Take a hike
- Go on a picnic
- Drive through the mountains or by the ocean
- Enjoy a sunset or a sunrise
Going into nature can be very healing for your entire being and can let go of emotional stress from your body.
So much of the world do not get into any type of natural setting for weeks, months and years at a time.
I hope this isn’t you.
When I’m grumpy, my hubby knows to take me to the mountains, the beach or even to a park. Our favorite is to go into the Jemez Mountains or to Chimayo.
Know your favorites, the ones that take 2 hours, 4 hours, half a day or are an over night trip. When you look forward to it, for any amount of time you have to spend in your natural spaces close to you, it makes the time even better when you get there!
Breathe in the mountain or beach air! Listen to the sounds of the area, and the entire ecosystems doing their thing right in front of you.
Give your body permission to relax when you get there and enjoy the moments. Try to feel your shoulders drop and your spine relax.
Going into nature is one of my favorite ways to relax and unwind, and to release stress and emotions from our bodies.
18. Skin Brushing
- Stand on a towel BEFORE you get wet
- Brush your skin with a natural bristle
- Brush up, towards the heart
- Brush each area (except the stomach, face and neck) 7 times
- Use a more gentle brush on the face, stomach and neck
Skin Brushing on dry skin can release stress and emotions from your body, and also get rid of old skin, and improve your circulation.
Use a natural bristle brush for your legs, arms and back, like the wooden brush that slides on the handle so you can also brush your back.
For your face, stomach and neck, use a more gentle brush.
There are many skin cells that come off, so make sure you are standing in the bath or shower, or standing on a large towel.
This can feel very good, very cleansing and always boosts my energy and mood! Try this if you haven’t checked it out yet!
If you are going through major changes, or letting go of some tough or bad stuff, this is great for you! As you body changes, this helps get those old cells out and gone! It gets you ready for a “new you”!
Remember to skin brush your feet.
Don’t OVER BRUSH and get carried away, haha.
If your skin gets pink or hurts, stop immediately!
Then, take your bath or shower and put some lovely nurturing lotion or oil all over your brushed skin. Be sure to hydrate with a nice nurturing tea blend and plenty of water.
This is great right before journaling or before bed. For extra effect, put clean sheets on your bed and wear freshly cleaned PJs to bed! Do whatever you can to support your “new you” and breathe in confidence and power!
Related article: Acne Treatment From Home
19. Give & Receive Hugs
- Give & receive hugs each day
- Pets count.
Hugs are awesome and are NOT AS possible during a pandemic, so take full advantage when you get the chance to give a big ‘ol bear hug!
Humans need contact, and during the pandemic I have seen an increase of people just needing touch. It’s amazing how much we touch each other out in the “pre-pandemic world” and how much people are craving it now.
When we feel isolated, our bodies tend to hold things in even more than normal, so keep that in mind, and seek out some hugs when ever you can.
Hugs with a person, cat, horse, dog can release stress and emotional tension very quickly! Just like with crying or laughing, you never need to say anything about what’s bugging you, because it melts away with a good hug.
You can mix several of our list with your hug, like a deep breath, a prayer, laughter or crying, and get a full sweep, haha.
On the flip side, if you see a person (whom you can touch) is down or grumpy, offer a hug! Pay it forward!
Conclusion: 19 Effective Ways to Release Stress and Emotions From Your Body
Our bodies hold stress and other emotions inside especially if we don’t have the perceived time or energy to get rid of them.
Many of us have forgotten or never realized that we knew how to do literally shake off the stress.
But we did.
Remember doing “The Helicopter” spinning game as a kid? Or sitting on a fence with your legs dangling, and they were spinning away underneath you? These are ways our bodies would shake off stress.
My favorite explanation of this concept is about the Antelope and the Cheetah.
You’ve probably seen the video clips of an Antelope being chased by a cheetah, only to sprint, twist, turn, and outrun the Cheetah! In the next few minutes after realizing that they are safe, the Antelope will jump into the air, and their entire body will-In the words of Taylor Swift”- “Shake it Off, Shake it Off”. And the little Antelope goes on their merry way with no more stress and little memory of the peril they escaped.
Be like the Antelope.
Stress is on the rise, and we need to remember the simple ways to ground ourselves and let go.
Please try some of these easy ways you can intentionally let go of stress and have a wonderful day right now.
I invite you to pick 3 to do each day for 3 days, and let me know how it goes.
