Running a business, being a mom of two teens and a wife require lots of activity, quick decision-making and driving! Add to that holiday parties, shopping and meaningful gift giving (which usually means homemade gifts from me) and it can feel like the stress is a physical weight on my shoulders. Coloring mandalas and creating art have been two important ways for me to relieve stress in recent years.
Creative play is a powerful tool for helping us to relax and stay present in the moment. In fact, when I make time for more creative play, I not only feel better, I usually come up with creative solutions to challenges I am experiencing. I also find it easier to make quick decisions. In 15 years as an entrepreneur, one lesson I learned is that business success is all about making quick decisions and staying in inspired action. And the second lesson is that stress keeps me feeling stuck and overwhelmed, especially at the holidays.
The key to relieving holiday stress is discovering what type of creative play works best for you.
If coloring mandalas isn’t your thing, here are two additional ideas for creative play dates. Hint: what was fun for you as a child? I didn’t live someplace where it snowed very often, but I loved to play in the mud after a big rainstorm.
Here are 3 suggestions for creative and fun ways to relieve holiday stress:
- Color mandalas with crayons!
Remember how it felt when you were a child with a new box of crayons?
All those brilliant colors, sharp tips and funny names! Opening a box of crayons will remind you how to be creative again. Whether you go buy a new box or raid your kids’ stash, print out a mandala template, grab a few crayons and just color. You don’t have to create a picture of anything. There is no judgment about quality. This is not about making fine art, it’s about relaxing into joy for a few minutes.
Focusing on what you are coloring will help relieve stress in three ways:
- It is a distraction from whatever negative thoughts you were focusing on.
- Coloring keeps your hands busy, allowing your mind to wander. I solve a lot of problems and come up with some creative ideas when I am doodling.
- Connecting with our creative source is healing. We are all creative beings. Remembering how to be creative is a powerful way to relieve stress. When we remember how creative we are, we know we can solve any problem.
Here is a link to a fun page full of mandala patterns for coloring. I own several mandala coloring books created by Susanne Fincher. My kids and I love coloring her mandalas and will often spend a Sunday afternoon coloring in the craft room while listening to a book on tape or watching holiday movies on the Hallmark Channel.
- Play with Playdough!
No kids with Playdough at home? No problem, here is a simple recipe to make some play-dough or go buy some at the local dollar store. It’s time to get physical!
- Allow yourself to really play with the playdough like you did when you were a child.
- Feeling sad or anxious? Pound the playdough flat with your fist or palm.
- Shape the playdough into a ball and throw it at the floor to see what happens.
- Make snakes, towers, rocks, flowers, whatever inspires you! Allow yourself to play for 15 to 30 minutes.
This type of tactile experience is a great way to relieve stress, anger, frustration or disappointment. When we allow ourselves time for self-care, we are better able to manage stress. The more time we give ourselves to play freely, the closer we can come to eradicating stress from our lives.
- Play in the mud! Or plant something in your garden!
Did you make mudpies as a child? I did, and I made my brother taste them. My cousin Lainy and I loved to play in the mud and my aunt would give us left over aluminum pie plates to fill with mud and doodle bugs.
I still love to dip my toes in the mud, squish them around, cover my hands and let the mud ooze out through my fingers. Don’t say, “Oh, gross.” Don’t worry about getting dirty, we are washable and so are our clothes, just wear grubby clothes.
Do you live near the beach? You can do this in the sand, too!
I have never lived anyplace where it snows regularly but if you do, go make some snow angels!
Playing in the mud will help you relieve stress by:
- Getting outside in nature
- Getting some fresh air
- Remembering what it feels like not to care about getting dirty
- Reconnecting to earth in a playful, child like manner.
- Allowing you to be silly!
As you can see, there is a theme to my little known ways to relieve stress. PLAY is a powerful tool for managing stress and reconnecting to what makes us happy. We have to be intentional about how me manage stress if we truly want to eradicate from our lives.
How do you relieve stress by playing?
