4 Stress Relief Strategies From My Husband (+ a $500 PayPal Cash giveaway!)

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Even typing the title for this post had me smiling! It was definitely crucial for me to include the fact that these stress relief tips come from my wonderful husband, because I am not particularly qualified to offer stress relief advice at this point! Perhaps someday. 😉

My husband Bjorn is such a “steady Eddy,” something I am consistently noticing and am grateful for! To have someone like him in my life has been an incredible blessing. Bjorn doesn’t stress the way that many people so often refer to – your stomach in knots, your mind swirling at night when you’d rather sleep… Since we’ve been married, I’ve begun to pick up on the major stress relief strategies (big and small) that my husband incorporates into his life. Here they are:

4 Stress Relief Strategies From My Husband

1 // Don’t catastrophize. This one is huge. The army has something called MRT (Master Resilience Training) in which they discuss this phrase. Catastrophizing refers to mulling over the worst possible scenarios that could happen, and entertaining them as viable situations that could occur. One of the biggest things I tend to do is play the “What if?” game. “What if that actually happens tomorrow at work – then what will I do? And then what will happen next?” It can become a mess of circular thinking very rapidly if we don’t stay in control of our imagination.

2 // Stretch. I was in ballet, but in my day-to-day life, I am quite possibly the world’s worst stretcher. When people recommend a stand-and-stretch break during a meeting, I really don’t even try. 🙂 But my husband is so great at this! He has mastered the art of a true, relaxation-inducing stretch and I am truly jealous of it. He wouldn’t say that it is something he consciously does, but I’m convinced that stretching is yet another facet of Bjorn’s stress relief strategies that I should take to heart.

3 // Practice contentment. Bjorn rarely ever finds himself wishing for what he does not have. Is he ambitious? Yes, very much so!! He is one of the most ambitious people I’ve ever met! But he is extremely self-disciplined to the point of waking up cheerfully each day, working hard, and then coming home (often after teaching all day and farming during the afternoon and evening) with a smile on his face. He knows the goals he has for the future and he knows that this is how we get there! Whenever I check in with him and ask, “Are you happy, Bear?” (that’s his nickname), the answer is always “Yep! Why shouldn’t I be?” His spirit of contentment runs so deep that it takes a lot to shake him from living a daily life of gratitude.

4 // Have faith. My husband and I took a spiritual gifts survey in which my top gift was Discernment (striving to make sure that truth is represented accurately) and Bjorn’s top gift was Faith. Now, that seemed a little self-explanatory for a spiritual gifts survey, but delving into the survey’s deeper definition of the gift of Faith brought about this point: the spiritual gift of Faith doesn’t refer to saving faith (believing what Jesus Christ did for you and what that means for your life and eternity), but it actually refers to trust, certainty, and confidence in God and His works. Bjorn and I have discussed this countless times – he trusts God and God’s plan for us wholeheartedly, and then steps out in confidence that God will act and be glorified through any given situation. This is the most important point to me. Having certainty, assurance, and confidence in God, no matter the circumstance, can be hugely impactful in our daily life.

Do you struggle to remain stress-free, or are you more like my husband? What are your stress relief tips? Please do share! 🙂

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20 Comments

  2. I tend to be very anxious, which invites more stress into my life. I really like the first tip, as I tend to play the “what if” game in my life (and the situation NEVER ends up being as bad as I think, so it’s just wasted energy). I think I use stretching as stretch relief without even thinking about it!

    I remember a while back you talked about using essential oils for anxiety. Is that something you still find helpful? If so, which specific oils do you use?

    Love this post, Hannah! Keep it up!

    1. Brianna, it’s so neat that you already find yourself stretching to relieve stress! That’s awesome. 🙂 I really need to work on that one! And the “catastrophizing” one is huge. It’s one of the very hardest things for me…always wondering “what if”! I’m sorry you struggle with being anxious as well. Hopefully these tips were helpful to you! 🙂

      About the essential oils: I used to use oils called “Joy” and “Peace & Calming,” among others that came with my Young Living starter kit. I loved the scents and I really do feel that scents can be calming to us (like when they have wonderful-smelling scents during a massage or something). But to be honest, I’ve decided that for now, essential oils aren’t an investment I’m continuing 100% wholeheartedly with. I’ll continue to diffuse some oils that I have left in my house, but as time went on, it was hard for me to believe that putting oils on my body was making a big, life-changing difference. I’ll still enjoy the smells of the oils I have left, though! 🙂 I hope that makes sense! 🙂

  5. Those are great tips. My husband plays the exact same role in our relationship. He’s always been so laid back. I can remember him teaching me deep breathing exercises when I was stressed in college (before we were even dating!). – Jenny

    1. Jenny, thank you for sharing! 🙂 And yes, that sounds a ton like my husband! I distinctly remember several times when my husband has had to remind me to breathe!! 🙂

    1. Thank you, Daisy!! I figured I wasn’t quite the best expert on sharing stress-relief strategies…so I turned to the person closest to me! He does such a good job at not letting life “rattle” him! Thanks for your kind words! 🙂

    1. Wonderful! Thank YOU for reading along, Pia! I’m glad you found these tips (from my husband!) to be useful! He said the post was very accurate so I know these tips are legit! 🙂

  10. Haha I’m so glad you mentioned catastrophizing! I definitely do that too and hubby is not a fan. Stretching is a big one for me too! It helps me to relax and stay calm, especially at night. Thanks for sharing these! 🙂

  11. I never believe stretching could have such a positive effect, that is, until I started giving it a shot. I still get impressed on how relaxed I get afterwards, it’s pretty much a yoga vibe.

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