by Angela Arndt, @aearndt

October is almost here. Where did the summer go? Instead of editing one book and researching the next, I spent my time begging contractors to fix a leaky roof (for the fourth year in a row), managing doctor’s appointments and fighting pain. It’s hard to create when you’re overwhelmed.

I finally broke down and talked to a counselor. She offered a few exercises to reduce all that tension and suggested I try them before I get out of bed each morning. (But if you’re under a doctor’s care, consult them before you try them out.)

Deep Breathing Exercises

Deep breathing slows your heart rate, helps reduce blood pressure, and calms overworked brains. This exercise is the base for the others. 

1. Lie on your back or sit up straight in your chair. Place your hand on your stomach.
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose, pushing out your stomach as you inhale.
3. Exhale slowly through your mouth, pursing your lips like you’re blowing out a candle. Tighten your stomach and core muscles until all your breath is released.
4. Repeat five times before moving to the next exercise.

Muscle Progression

You can do this each morning and at bedtime to help you go to sleep. Be very careful doing this if you’re subject to muscle spasms. 

1. Lie on your back or sit up straight in your chair.
2. Tighten your toes into a hard curl, breathing slowly through your nose, then release those muscles slowly, exhaling through your mouth as you did above.
3. Repeat steps 2 and 3 separately with each part of the muscle group, moving up your body:
   1. Legs – Feet, calves, thighs, then Gluteus Maximus, in that order.
   2. Arms and Neck – Fingers, hands, forearms, shoulders, then neck muscles.
   3. Face – Tighten these at the same time: brows, eyes, nose, mouth and chin. 

Find Your Happy Place

Have you ever gone on vacation and dropped all your tension when your suitcases hit the floor? There have been several studies to show that reliving good memories relieves tension.

Build your own happy place with your imagination and your five senses. Do you love the sound of waves crashing on the sand or filling your lungs with crisp mountain air? Perhaps a leaf-littered forest and rippling creek is more your speed. 

Here’s my happy place: a clear blue Carolina sky bows above a deep blue-green ocean. Curling waves fringed in white foam crash and swell on an expanse of beige sand that stretches to the horizon. Seagulls and terns cry in the breeze. A little wave splashes into my shoe as I sit on the beach and feel the mist on my face. I can even taste the salt air as I reach out to touch the fine dry sand that sifts through my fingers like silk.

Sound like fun or just another stressful item to tick of the list? That’s okay. Several new studies suggest virtual reality can help stress and even relieve pain. There are VR headsets and app packages that cost hundreds of dollars, but Google Cardboard is an inexpensive ($15) alternative. The cardboard viewer holds your smart phone sideways and comes with an app with 3D images and the same deep breathing exercises as above.

Bible Verses and Prayer 

The best way to beat stress is prayer. If I stop to pray first thing every morning and give him all my plans and problems, I stay in His will and cope much better.

And there’s our instruction manual: the Bible. Pick out the verses that speak to you and focus on them as you do the other exercises to give your stress a “double whammy.” Here are a few of my favorites:

• “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Ps. 27:14
• “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
• “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Ps 27:1

What helps you most when you’re overwhelmed? Share it with us by leaving a comment below.

Angela Arndt writes women’s fiction with a thread of romance, telling stories of strong, independent women in difficult situations set in small Southern towns. Her biggest hope is that she will encourage her readers to overcome their own “back roads” and find joy in the Lord again.  Represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such Literary Agency, Angela has a Master’s Degree from the University of South Carolina and continues learning the craft of writing fiction through the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Novel Academy. Connect with her at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram