3 Give yourself a massage
If there’s no one willing or able to work out the tension in your muscles, you can do it yourself. “There are sensory receptors in the skin that send messages to our brain, signaling that it’s safe to relax,” says Kiera Nagle, MA, LMT, CPMT, the Director of Massage Programs at Pacific College of Health and Science. It also makes you more aware of where in your body you’re feeling tense, so you can consciously relax those areas, she adds. Some good spots are that big ropy muscle at the front of your neck, your shoulders, the hinge of your jaw, and pressure points in the palm of your hand. Check out Nagle’s awesome videos if you can’t picture it.
4 Point your brain at a problem
If the stress is more mental than physical and you feel your mind looping around itself, give yourself a discrete task, such as organizing your shoes or doing a word puzzle. “When you’re stressed, your brain may be saying, ‘we’ve got a problem to solve’ so it keeps spinning. That’s a good time to engage your mind,” says Kissen. If you give it a task to focus on, you’ll feel calmer and be better able to deal with what’s actually stressing you out.